We need to defend our Constitution. We need to defend freedom of speech, and that is really what is at stake here. Passing this bill is a huge mistake and this vote will mark a very dark day in American history. We are going down a slippery slope and no one can honestly say where it will stop. A vote for this bill is a frontal assault on our Constitution and the protections that it gives to the American people.
So spoke Representative Gary Ackerman, Democrat from New York, on the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, which flew through the House by a vote of 379 to 35 yesterday. Sparked by Janet Jackson's 2004 SuperBowl Halftime performance, the bill jacks up the penalty for what the FCC deems obscenity by a factor of 10.
The Chair of the FCC has applauded the bill's passage. President Bush says that he will sign it into law. Ackerman was one of the few voices on the floor of the House to oppose the legislation. His full speech can be found
here.