{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/conyers-slaughter-nadler-cohen-new-republican-rule-modern-day-gag-rule", "CONYERS, SLAUGHTER, NADLER & COHEN: NEW REPUBLICAN RULE IS A MODERN DAY GAG RULE", "2016-12-30", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC \u2013 House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), House Committee on Rules Ranking Member Louise Slaughter (D-NY), House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-TN), and Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Ranking Member, and former chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today released a joint statement on the proposed Republican Rules package,\u00a0 which, among other things, would delegate to the Sergeant-at-Arms the\u00a0 authority to impose fines of up to $2,500 per offense against any Member who uses an electronic device to photograph or record House floor proceedings.\u00a0 This is an apparent reaction to the Democratic sit-in on the House floor last June over the Republicans\u2019 failure to bring up common sense gun safety legislation in the wake of the Orlando night club shootings.\n\u201cHouse Republican Leadership, as one of its first priorities for the incoming Congress, seeks to impose a modern day and unconstitutional gag rule to restrict the First Amendment rights of Members to protest and engage in other forms of expression on the House floor as well as deny them due process.\u00a0 This unprecedented rule change, which appears to violate several fundamental constitutional protections, clearly is intended to undermine the rights of Members in the Minority to freely express their views on the House floor, which is a critical means by\u00a0which Members communicate to the American public.\u00a0 It is particularly egregious that such a controversial and potentially unlawful change is being implemented in the complete absence of hearings or input from legal experts, let alone the Minority.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cIn effect, this proposed rule change would empower a protocol official to unilaterally impose a fine against a Member who uses an electronic device to photograph or record House floor proceedings without affording the Member any due process.\u00a0 Even the threat of this fine would have a chilling effect on the right of Members to express their views on the House floor, which is one of the most fundamental protections under the Constitution\u2019s Speech or Debate Clause as well as the First Amendment.\u00a0 As the U.S. Supreme Court recognized more than 50 years ago in Mills v. Alabama, \u2018Whatever differences may exist about interpretations of the First Amendment, there is practically universal agreement that a major purpose of that Amendment was to protect the free discussion of governmental affairs.\u2019\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cIn addition, the proposed rule change fails to provide a Member any due process to contest the imposition of the fine before it is automatically deducted from the Member\u2019s salary, the diminution of which is protected by the 27th Amendment.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cRather than ensuring greater transparency and promoting full and fair debate, the House Republican Leadership has chosen to do the very opposite by authorizing \u2018speech police\u2019 to restrict the First Amendment right of the Minority to express their dissent on the House floor. Surely this could not happen on the floor of the U.S. House, given that we\u2019re sworn to uphold the Constitution.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/conyers-slaughter-nadler-cohen-new-republican-rule-modern-day-gag-rule"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.959297176450491, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}