David Skaggs: “I am deeply troubled that we are considering this resolution to condemn the speech given by Khalid Abdul Muhammad at…”

“I am deeply troubled that we are considering this resolution to condemn the speech given by Khalid Abdul Muhammad at Kean College last November. I am troubled not because the speech does not deserve condemnation, but because that condemnation ought not to issue through an official action of the Congress of the United States. The first amendment to the Constitution states that ``Congress shall make no law * * * abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble * * *.'' This resolution does not make law, so the first amendment proscription is not literally violated. However, because I believe that it violates the spirit and intent of what the Framers of the Constitution intended when they drafted the first amendment, I will vote no. The Constitution is clear that it's not the Government's place to tell citizens what they should and should not say. While what we consider today is a resolution that does not have the force of law, I believe that this body should not undertake to censure any individual American for saying what he believes--however mistakenly--to be true.”