Frank Pallone

Today's hearing continues this committee's ongoing work to bring oversight and accountability to the Trump administration's relentless attack on people's healthcare.

I wanted to start with Ms. Oyama. In your written testimony you discuss YouTube's community guidelines for hate speech, and I am concerned about news reports that hate speech and abuse is on the rise on social media platforms.

I think putting pressure by modest changes to CDA 230 is the right direction.

We find it inappropriate for the United States to export language mirroring Section 230 while such serious policy discussions are ongoing.

Including provisions in trade agreements that are controversial to both Democrats and Republicans is not the way to get support from Congress.

These are all issues that we can't ignore, and tech companies need to step up.

I am a big free trader. But we are getting blown off on this, and I am tired of it.

I was disappointed that Ambassador Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative, refused to testify today.

We also have seen the darker side of the internet grow.

The internet has become a central part of our social, political, and economic fabric.

Section 230 has been an incredible success.

Misguided and hasty attempts to amend or even repeal Section 230 for bias or other reasons could have disastrous, unintended consequences for free speech.

I am not for gutting Section 230. It is essential for consumers and entities in the internet ecosystem.

It should not be the FCC, FTC, or any Government agency's job to moderate free speech online.

I do not believe these proposals are consistent with the First Amendment.

I fully support free speech and believe society strongly benefits from open dialogue and free expression online.

I was pleased to see the FDA's announcement that they would soon be conducting some level of enforcement on flavored e-cigarette products.

Whether it's mango, mint, bubble gum, or gummy bear, the wide variety of kid-friendly flavors of cigarettes rival any ice cream shop or candy store, and as we've heard from our witnesses today, that's by design.

Banning menthol cigarettes will lead to users migrating to nonmenthol cigarettes.

I am 100 percent supportive of raising the age.

We do have a legitimate interest as Congress in addressing public health concerns and the recent spike in the use of electronic cigarettes.

I've worked on this subject for the last 10 years. We've gotten bills passed in 26 cities that restrict the sale of menthol overall. No one's been arrested.

Some have argued that this is discriminatory since black people use menthol cigarettes more, and this--we should protect their product.

The predatory marketing of these products must be stopped, and we all should recognize this as a social injustice issue.

This legislation will also raise the tobacco sales to age 21, a key policy that successfully reduces teen access to tobacco products.