Louise Slaughter: “Mr. Speaker, as I close this debate I would like to make a few remarks that just reiterate what has been said. Obviously…”

“Mr. Speaker, as I close this debate I would like to make a few remarks that just reiterate what has been said. Obviously this has a lot to do with the First Amendment, the rights of free expression and free speech. Unfortunately over the number of years many, many people in this country have been denied their rights by people who obstruct them, who threaten them, who intimidate them, and that still comes under the definition of assault, and it is illegal. Mr. Speaker, we are not changing any definitions. We are not interfering with the first amendment in any way. We are simply saying that everyone's rights in America have to be attended to, not just that of the protester. It is also important, Mr. Speaker, that a person who works within a building have a sense that they are going to be able to go to work on a daily basis safely. It is also important that a person going to a health clinic to exercise her rights to health care be allowed to go without threats, shouts, and intimidation being visited upon her or any of her family. It is pretty simple. The violence that is practiced against those persons who are trying to exercise their own constitutional rights have made this legislation necessary, and I urge that my colleagues pass this rule and get on to passing this conference report so that we can sign into law a bill that unfortunately, because of the circumstances in the country, has become all too necessary.”