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 .  