T. Gorton said "As it was they could take the money and avoid the heat. I thank the Senator from Kentucky for his courage in this matter and the clarity with which he speaks on it. We simply cannot, consistently with the Constitution of the United States, limit political speech. We can only limit responsible political speech. We can only force money from responsible challenges into less responsible ones. We can only increase the power of the press, the very group that is most anxious to limit speech by others than its own members, and/or do what some proposed to do just a few months ago, say the first amendment doesn't work anymore and we better change it. As I said at the beginning of my remarks, that may have been, as it was, terrible policy, but it was at least intellectually honest. To present us with an unconstitutional bill is neither." @ PoliticalQuotes.com

On the recordSeptember 26, 1997

As it was they could take the money and avoid the heat. I thank the Senator from Kentucky for his courage in this matter and the clarity with which he speaks on it. We simply cannot, consistently with the Constitution of the United States, limit political speech. We can only limit responsible political speech. We can only force money from responsible challenges into less responsible ones. We can only increase the power of the press, the very group that is most anxious to limit speech by others than its own members, and/or do what some proposed to do just a few months ago, say the first amendment doesn't work anymore and we better change it. As I said at the beginning of my remarks, that may have been, as it was, terrible policy, but it was at least intellectually honest. To present us with an unconstitutional bill is neither.

Said by

T. Gorton

Republican · Washington

Source

govinfo.gov

Editor's note · Context

Discussing the implications of limiting political speech and the First Amendment.

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