WASHINGTON, DC – Taking to the floor of the U.S. Senate, Senator Pat Roberts on Monday night defended the First Amendment against Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid’s attempts to silence opposition. Senator Roberts is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration which has jurisdiction over federal election law.

“Our founding fathers knew that those in power would be inclined to retain it and, unless constrained, would use their power to punish those who would seek to challenge them or remove them from office,” Roberts said. “The First Amendment denies us that power. It explicitly prohibits this Congress from passing laws that restrict the speech of the American people. With this amendment, the majority wants to try to remove that prohibition. They want to grant themselves the power to control speech – to silence their opposition.”

The Senator made the remarks during the floor debate on S. J. Res. 19, which would amend the Constitution of the United States to allow the Congress to regulate free speech and activity in federal elections.