Congressman Greg Walden and I have offered an amendment to the Financial Services Appropriations Bill. This amendment would prevent any funding to the FCC from being used to either reinstate the ‘Fairness Doctrine’ or enact proposed broadcast localism regulations during the next fiscal year.

The American people cherish freedom, especially freedom of speech and of the press. That was why President Reagan repealed the so-called Fairness Doctrine back in 1987. For more than four decades, the federal government actually regulated the content of American talk radio and the chilling effect of this regulation was undeniable.

Bringing back the Fairness Doctrine today would amount to government control over political views expressed on the public airways.

Democrats from Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Senators Dick Durbin, and John Kerry have called for the return of this kind of regulation to the airwaves of America, but thanks to the support of millions of freedom-loving Americans, we were able to mostly close the front door to this government censorship.
So now they are trying to sneak through the back door with regulations known as ‘broadcast localism.’ These regulations are just a Trojan Horse for unelected bureaucrats in Washington to determine what you can or cannot listen to.

In a time when we are witnessing an unprecedented intrusion of the federal government into various sectors, the last thing we need is a government takeover of America’s airwaves. It’s not what the American People want, and it’s not something this Congress should allow.

Let your Member of Congress and demand an up-or-down vote on the Walden-Pence Broadcaster Freedom Amendment. Call TODAY, Tuesday, July 14 because the Rules Committee is scheduled to meet at 3:00pm to decide which amendments to allow. If our amendment is made in order, it can be offered on the House floor when the Financial Services Appropriations bill is considered later this week. The Capitol Switchboard is(202) 224-3121.

Let’s get the word out: No More Government Takeover. This amendment would stop the government from taking over the airwaves and would preserve our cherished First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

President John F. Kennedy once stated that ‘We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.’

We believe that America is a nation of freedom and strong opinion-our government must not be afraid to entrust the American people with all the facts and opinions necessary to make the choices as an informed electorate.

If the Walden-Pence Broadcaster Freedom Amendment is brought to the floor of this Congress, it will surely pass; because every time freedom gets an up-or-down vote in the People’s House, freedom always wins.

It has been said on numerous occasions and by various politicians and pundits that it was an extraordinary week in the life of the nation of Iran. On June 12, from the very moment that the Iranian presidential election results were announced, the international community and the international press questioned the results. The primary reason for our disbelief in the declared result is that millions of paper ballots were collected and counted in mere hours. This occurred even before the extraordinary demonstrations in the street began.

The disbelief on the part of the international community was shared by many Iranian citizens. And while the defeated candidate launched a legal appeal, what ensued on the streets of Tehran, at least according to the BBC, were the largest public demonstrations in the Islamic republic’s 30-year history. It seems that many Iranians have gotten a whiff of freedom and are willing to lay down their lives in the streets of Iran to secure that freedom.

Sadly, as the people have rallied the Iranian government has responded with more violence and oppression, causing numerous fatalities and the arrest of dissidents. We have learned of reporters prevented from making their reports public and the jamming of electronic communications. We may well be witnessing a Tiananmen in Tehran.

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There is a war brewing between liberals on Capitol Hill and the hardworking citizens of the Midwest, notably those of my home state of Indiana.

It comes in the form of an energy proposal known as “cap and trade” which would cap greenhouse gas emissions from regulated entities and require businesses to acquire permits or “allowances” for their emissions. The bill should actually be called “cap and tax” because it basically establishes a national energy tax. Under the guise of protecting the environment, the bill will increase taxes on every American who uses any form of energy and would have a devastating impact on the Indiana economy and Hoosier taxpayers. Washington politicians love it because they can claim that they are taxing polluters when in effect they are actually taxing middle class American families and workers.

The Wall Street Journal recently editorialized about this proposal, noting the unjust burden this proposal would have on the Midwest: “But the greatest inequities are geographic and would be imposed on the parts of the U.S. that rely most on manufacturing or fossil fuels — particularly coal, which generates most power in the Midwest, Southern and Plains states… Coal provides more than half of U.S. electricity, and 25 states get more than 50% of their electricity from conventional coal-fired generation.”

Indiana, in particular, would be one of the hardest hit states in the nation because it gets 94 percent of its energy from fossil fuels.

Let me be clear: cap and tax is a job killer.

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These are very difficult times in the life of our nation.

I’ve seen the impact of this recession firsthand, meeting with farmers and small business owners throughout my district. They are practicing the kind of fiscal restraint necessary to get through these difficult times. And they want Washington to do the same.

Americans are working hard to preserve a secure and prosperous future, but the President’s budget would add nearly $1 trillion to the national debt every year for the next 10 years—for a total of $9.3 trillion. Instead of controlling spending, this Administration seems intent on spending money we don’t have and piling massive debt on our children and grandchildren.

Americans deserve better. That is why House Republicans laid out our blueprint yesterday for economic recovery that curbs spending, creates jobs, lowers taxes, controls debt and is built on principles of growth.

The “Republican Road to Recovery ” is a blueprint for a substantive, comprehensive budget alternative that will be introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives next week. The Republican budget will be built on the values Americans nationwide are practicing every day.

As a substantive debate about how to get our economy growing again begins to unfold, Republicans will continue to offer better solutions that are built on the time-honored principles of fiscal responsibility and growth. Let the debate begin.

Author’s Note: This post was written jointly by Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mike Pence. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida serves as the senior Republican on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. U.S. Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana serves as chairman of the House Republican Conference.

Over six decades after the Holocaust, we still must recognize and combat the continuing threat posed by bigotry worldwide. Hate-mongers frequently cloak their actions in democratic values; take the United Nations’ Durban Review Conference, which convenes in Geneva next month. Ostensibly aimed at combating intolerance, “Durban II” and its draft declaration have been hijacked by human rights violators and irredeemably distorted into an anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-freedom hate-fest – one funded by more than $2 million from the UN’s regular budget. Appallingly, Durban II’s organizers are attacking human rights, while falsely claiming to promote them – all paid for by American taxpayers.

With objections to Durban II mounting, the conference’s organizers are now trying to deceive the world by offering a “compromise”: discarding some of the draft declaration’s blatantly offensive provisions, while preserving language that still implicitly advances hate.

We should reject this duplicitous move. Like the struggles of years ago, we must never eschew what is right in favor of what is easy. We can abdicate neither our responsibility to address and reject bigotry wherever it lurks, nor our obligation to safeguard public funds as Americans face extraordinary economic challenges. To give meaning to the words ‘Never again,’ the United States and other responsible nations must not fund or participate in any part of Durban II.

The conference’s 2001 predecessor planted the ugly footsteps in which Durban II will follow, with the world’s most intolerant nations using it as a platform to promote hate. Despite efforts to rewrite history and minimize the extent of the hate at Durban I, that confab’s Durban Declaration and Program of Action was indelibly marred by its singling-out of Israel for accusations of racism. Disgusted, the U.S. and Israel walked out.

Durban II, like many sequels, will be worse than the original.

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Hey folks,

I wanted to make sure you don’t miss the charade that’s being carried out on the floor of the U.S. House today. The Drill-Nothing Democrats finally brought their no-energy energy bill to the floor of the House today for a vote.

We need your help to defeat this bill. Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and tell the Democrats in your state delegation to vote “NO” on Speaker Pelosi’s energy bill.

They bypassed the entire committee process in order to do this. In fact, just last week, the drill-nothing Democrat Congress announced they would bring an energy bill to the floor that includes more drilling, and now they say Republicans have to take “yes” for an answer.

I would suggest that they look at the fine print. The drill-nothing Democrat Congress has brought a bill that actually includes basically “drill-almost-nothing” provisions.

They say “yes” to drilling, but not in Alaska, not in the Eastern Gulf and not within 50 miles. They say “yes” to drilling but states must decide, even though they get absolutely no revenues for choosing to drill. I guess states are just going to allow drilling out of the goodness of their hearts. They say “yes” to drilling but litigation rules will allow environmental lawyers to tie up all leases from the very day they’re filed.

It’s time to end the charade! Stop playing politics with American energy independence! Bring a full and fair debate to this floor, and we will achieve a bipartisan result.

We need your help to defeat this bill. Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and tell the Democrats in your state delegation to vote “NO” on Speaker Pelosi’s energy bill.