mr. speaker , today i rise in support of h.r. 1606 , legislation that will exempt blogs , e-mail and other online speech from campaign finance laws . 
when congress passed campaign finance reform in 2002 , the legislation did not identify political speech over the internet as a target of the new regulations . 
the proponents of the law argued its intent was to restrict money not speech . 
but in april a federal judge sided with campaign finance reform zealots and ruled the fec can not completely exempt online speech from the requirements of the campaign finance reform law . 
i 'm not here to revisit arguments for or against campaign finance reform . 
i 'm here today to call for congress to recognize the internet as a safe harbor for political speech . 
everyday thousands of bloggers register displeasure or support with congress , the supreme court , the president , even their local elected officials . 
but now , we are on the cusp of a new fec regulation that could stifle free expression . 
without congressional action today , arbitrary restrictions would be imposed on blogs and other web content deterring participation from the very segment of our population that we want to encourage to be politically active . 
thomas jefferson was right when he said : `` the basis of our government being the opinion of the people , the very first object should be to keep that right. '' mr. speaker , this legislation will protect , in its infancy , what could be a powerful medium ( or media ) for the opinion of the people to be heard . 
the way our nation communicates today is almost unrecognizable for those of us that were in washington , dc during the 1970s . 
we have seen the innovation and democratization of the internet in just the last decade . 
this legislation will promote democracy and shutter those who intend to manage through regulation this amazing engine of communication and knowledge . 
the internet , through such safe havens of individual expression and opinion like blogs , has put the power in the hands of the people , where it truly belongs , precisely where thomas jefferson wanted it . 
i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and thank the gentleman from texas ( mr. hensarling ) for introducing this important bill . 
mr. speaker , i yield back the balance of my time . 
