BOISE – Idaho Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo announced Tuesday they both have joined Arkansas Senator Tom Cotto and 17 other U.S. senators in cosponsoring legislation that would bar federal funds from being used to establish a ‘Disinformation Governance Board’ at the Department of Homeland Security.
“The Administration has created a ‘Disinformation Board’ in the name of protecting the U.S. from threats,” said Senator Jim Risch. “However, the real threat to our democracy is giving unelected bureaucrats the power to chill free speech. I will continue to defend our Constitutional right to freedom of speech and support legislation to defund acts of government overreach that trample our American principles.”
Additional cosponsors of the legislation include: Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).
“Idahoans are rightfully concerned with the Administration’s latest attempts to brazenly establish a federal propaganda panel under the guise of countering disinformation,” said Crapo. “If the Administration truly intended to counter disinformation threats to national security, it would not have established this so-called Disinformation Governance Board under a months-long veil of secrecy. This Orwellian Ministry of Truth effort is an unconstitutional waste of taxpayer dollars and a threat to free speech. The Administration should stop playing games and focus on securing our southern border, addressing skyrocketing inflation and reducing its excessive overreach into the lives of Americans.”
Text of the legislation can be found by clicking HERE.