Notable House Floor Speeches, Freedom of Speech
On November 16, 1999, Cohen defended Philadelphia School District Superintendent David Hornbeck from calls by Tom Druce that incoming Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street should not reappoint him as Superintendent. He said "the fact that Mr. Druce or other members of this House may disagree with remarks made by the superintendent of schools is absolutely no reason to use the powers of this House to seek his firing. As Mr. Roebuck said (James R. Roebuck), people in this country, even people who are despised by every single member of the State House, have the right to speak. It is not a right we graciously give people because we like them. Freedom of speech for those we like is meaningless. Mr. Hornbeck's freedom of speech is not dependent on whether he has majority support in the House of Representatives or not; it is something inherent in every American citizen and every Pennsylvania citizen. To attempt to muzzle Superintendent Hornbeck's speech is an outrage. It is an invitation to endless further litigation.... The attempt to discipline a school superintendent because his remarks are disagreed with is at the very best a very, very foolish thing. I would hope over the next several weeks the maker of this threat would reconsider this threat and decide to let Mr. Hornbeck speak and to let a speech be just a speech and not an ongoing public issue."
Read more about this topic: Mark B. Cohen
Famous quotes containing the words notable, house, floor, freedom and/or speech:
“a notable prince that was called King John;
And he ruled England with main and with might,
For he did great wrong, and maintained little right.”
—Unknown. King John and the Abbot of Canterbury (l. 2–4)
“Of all the riddles of a married life, said my father ... there is not one that has more intricacies in it than this—that from the very moment the mistress of the house is brought to [child]bed, every female in it ... becomes an inch taller for it....
I think rather, replied my uncle Toby, that ‘tis we who sink an inch lower.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“The distant box is open. A sound of grain
Poured over the floor in some eagerness we
Rise with the night let out of the box of wind.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want ... everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear ... anywhere in the world.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“Nixon is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump for a speech on conservation.”
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965)