Timothy Roemer: “I believe in his very first speech to this body, in his eloquent words, Speaker Gingrich talked about bringing a Russian…”

“I believe in his very first speech to this body, in his eloquent words, Speaker Gingrich talked about bringing a Russian delegation to the floor of the House, and he was very moved by the words of one of those Russians who said, ``This is the center of freedom.'' This body, this seat, this podium, that podium shared by Democrats and Republicans alike, is the center of freedom. We are free to debate, to dialogue and to discuss and, hopefully, in bipartisan ways, and I would say that all the American people watching today are moved, and not moved in the right direction about what has happened in this body today to limit that dialog and debate and discussion. Justice Brandeis said, ``The best antidote to offensive speech is more speech.'' Let us continue to debate more speech in this body.”