Dems Reject Protecting Parents' Free Speech Rights

A Republican amendment to the Domestic Terrorism Act intended to exclude prosecution of parents for criticizing school policies was rejected by the Democrat majority on the House Rules Committee. The amendment was championed by Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn) who argued that “last fall, parents across the United States were accused of being ‘domestic terrorists’ for speaking out against their child's school’s curriculum. My amendment would bar the federal government from initiating a terrorism accusation against parents for peacefully questioning the instruction of their children.”

House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) characterized the Democrats position as “an abuse of federal power. Parents have a right to be concerned about the education of their children and to express those concerns to school officials at public meetings without being smeared as 'domestic terrorists' for voicing these concerns.”

House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass) asserted that “domestic terrorism is a serious problem in this country. The government must have unfettered authority to combat it by any means it deems necessary. What Republicans regard as free speech is often disinformation and can serve as a cover for nefarious intentions. We should not let a misguided respect for the First Amendment undermine the proactive deployment of anti-terrorist tactics to stem unwarranted opposition to the progressive curriculum that the public schools are trying to implement.”