Springfield Standard

Senator Eric Schmitt, along with Senator Joni Ernst, has introduced an amendment aimed at prohibiting the use of federal funds to suppress free speech. Senator Schmitt emphasized the importance of this amendment, stating, “This common-sense amendment aims to stop government censors in their tracks, while preserving and safeguarding our First Amendment from unaccountable administrative state actors – something all freedom-loving Americans should support regardless of political affiliation.”

Senator Ernst also expressed her support for the amendment, highlighting the distrust many Americans have towards government intervention in speech. She stated, “Iowans and most Americans don’t trust Washington and don’t want the government or some state-sponsored group to tell us what we can and cannot think, say, or believe.”

The proposed amendment seeks to prevent the labeling of speech as disinformation or misinformation, as well as the coercion of online platforms to alter, remove, restrict, or suppress speech. Senator Ernst criticized the Biden administration, mentioning, “The irony is, the first name in such a registry should be Biden himself, because his State of the Union was full of so much disinformation.”

Senator Schmitt's history of defending free speech and limiting the power of the administrative state includes various legislative efforts such as the Censorship Accountability Act, the COLLUDE Act, the ERASER Act, and cosponsorship of bills like the Guidance Out Of Darkness (GOOD) Act and the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act.