Amendments to H.R. 140 – Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act

Each amendment gets up to ten minutes of debate

Clyde (R-GA) – Amendment No. 1 – Requires the Attorney General to submit an annual report to Congress evaluating the compliance of the Federal Government with the Protecting Free Speech from Government Interference Act. This amendment provides transparency and insight into any potential violations of the Act by government agencies or employees, and sunsets after 10 years – PASSED BY VOICE

Comer (R-KY) – Amendment No. 2 – Makes technical edits and adds a conforming clarification for the authorities of the Office of the Special Counsel to ensure that the Act’s monetary civil penalties under new section 7382(c)(2) can be fully enforced – PASSED BY VOICE

Bishop (R-NC) – Amendment No. 3 – Ensures that law enforcement can only take action against unlawful speech – PASSED BY VOICE

Perry (R-PA) on behalf of Foxx (R-NC) – Amendment No. 4 – Ensures that federal employees entering into collective bargaining agreements using taxpayer funded time (Section 7131) are prohibited from engaging in censorship of private entities- VOTE REQUESTED

Good (R-VA), Brecheen (R-OK) – Amendment No. 5 – Clarifies enforcement of obscene matters not protected by the First Amendment – PASSED BY VOICE

Jackson Lee (D-TX) – Amendment No. 6 – Strikes section 2(e) – VOTE REQUESTED

Ogles (R-TN) – Amendment No. 7 – Revises the disciplinary action consisting of removal, reduction in grade, debarment from federal employment for a period not to exceed 10 years, suspension, or reprimand – PASSED BY VOICE

Ogles (R-TN) – Amendment No. 8 – Revises the civil penalty for senior government officials to be $50,000 – PASSED BY VOICE

Rose (R-TN) – Amendment No. 9 – Requires mandatory annual training on the requirements of the underlying bill – PASSED BY VOICE

Rose (R-TN) – Amendment No. 10 – Adds a findings section that states that inspectors general should not less than annually for the next seven years publicly report the number of complaints and tips received, the number of investigations opened, and statistics on how investigations were managed and their disposition by that inspector general related to compliance with the underlying bill and the amendments made by the underlying bill – PASSED BY VOICE