Peter Welch: “as you know, in 1791, our Nation's Founders had the boldness to ratify the First Amendment to the Constitution. At the…”

“as you know, in 1791, our Nation's Founders had the boldness to ratify the First Amendment to the Constitution. At the time, it was an extremely radical concept--protecting our fundamental individual freedoms to religion, to speech, to assembly, to the right to petition the government, and to have a free press that would operate without fear or government censorship. The First Amendment deeply reflects our new Nation's view that we can have a society where individuals can freely voice their views, participate in civic life, and hold our political leaders accountable. These five guaranteed liberties are part of what makes us a free and democratic society. I believe that all of the Members of the U.S. Senate share the commitment to the First Amendment, but there are extreme divisions among us about what that means. Let me explain where I do believe right now there is a significant assault on the First Amendment. President Trump has sought to silence or to punish journalists who report negatively on him. This is not about a President because Democratic Presidents and Republican Presidents have been critical of journalists, but he is taking it to an entirely unprecedented level-- banning the Associated Press from parts of the White House press pool because they don't use his own personal preferred name for the Gulf of Mexico. He is controlling the viewpoint of the Associated Press, and they are not relenting.…”