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EXON CENSORSHIP BILL PASSES SENATE
- Subject: EXON CENSORSHIP BILL PASSES SENATE
- From: "Jane P. Davidson" <jdhexen@UNR.EDU>
- Date: Thu, 15 Jun 1995 10:42:15 -0700
- Message-ID: <"P2Rcz2.0.5G7.cUCCn"@sul2>
- Sender: Rare Books and Special Collections Forum <EXLIBRIS@RUTVM1.BITNET>
Sorry about the length of this, but I think it would be of interest to
some of our membership as a freedom of speech issue. Jane D.
>========================================================================
>
> CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE EXON/GORTON COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
> (SEE THE LIST OF CAMPAIGN COALITION MEMBERS AT THE END)
>
> Update: -The Latest News: The Senate voted to attach the
> Communications Decency Act to the Telecom Reform bill.
> Leahy's alternative was not attached to the Telecom
> Reform bill.
> -What You Can Do Now
>
>
> CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
> June 14, 1995
>
> PLEASE WIDELY REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WITH THIS BANNER INTACT
> REDISTRIBUTE ONLY UNTIL June 25, 1995
> REPRODUCE THIS ALERT ONLY IN RELEVANT FORUMS
>
> Distributed by the Voters Telecommunications Watch (vtw@vtw.org)
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>CONTENTS
> Background
> The Latest News
> What You Can Do Now
> For More Information
> List Of Participating Organizations
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>BACKGROUND
>
>The Communications Decency Act (sponsored by Sen. Exon and Gorton) would
>criminalize many forms of expression on online systems. Many believe
>it to be unconstitutional, and a fight to oppose it has been waged
>since its introduction. It was recently attached to the fast-tracked
>Telecommunications Deregulation bill, which is moving quickly through
>Congress.
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>THE LATEST NEWS
>
>Right up until the last minute, callers reported weary Senatorial
>staffers continued to report a deluge of incoming calls, almost all
>against the Exon/Coats bill and supporting the Leahy alternative. The
>Senate debated the Exon/Coats/Gorton Communications Decency Act and the
>Leahy alternative today (June 14, 1995) starting at about 3:30pm EST
>for 90 minutes.
>
>The debate was opened by Senator Exon who read a prayer to protect
>against computer pornography. Senators Exon (D-NE) and Coats (R-IN)
>spoke in favor of their position. Senator Gorton (R-WA) was
>mysteriously absent from the debate.
>
>Exon referred those that signed the petition to prevent his censorship
>bill as "selfish". Exon presented letters from many groups in support
>of his bill, including the Christian Coalition, the Family Research
>Council, the National Law Center for Families. He also stated that
>75% of computer owners have refused the join the Internet because the
>obscene material they feared on the Internet.
>
>Senators Byrd (D-WV) and Heflin (D-AL) cosponsored the Exon bill at
>the last minute.
>
>Senators Leahy (D-VT) and Feingold (D-WI) spoke passionately about the
>First Amendment and the Internet. Feingold warned against the dangers
>of chilling free speech. Leahy brought out the monster petition in
>support of his alternative (it looks pretty impressive on television)
>and proceeded to try to debunk the myths Exon promulgated about the
>Internet. He also trumpeted the success of the Internet, and pointed
>out it wouldn't have been nearly as successful if the US government had
>tried to micro-manage it.
>
>Both Exon and Leahy then gave back extra debating time and went to a vote
>on the bill. The Exon bill was successfully attached to the Telecomm
>Reform bill (84-16). The Leahy alternative was not attached to the
>Telecom Reform bill.
>
>Questions and answers:
>
>Q: What does this mean?
>A: It means we lost this round. The unconstitutional Exon Communications
> Decency Act was attached to the Telecomm Reform bill.
>
>Q: What's the next step?
>A: Next, we need to ensure that a House equivalent to the Exon
> Communications Decency Act is not attached to the House Telecomm Reform
> bill.
>
>Q: Where can I find more information about the bill?
>A: Check below.
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW -- U.S. and non-U.S. citizens
>
>1. Familiarize yourself with the version of the bill that passed,
> and the transcript of the Senate debate. (directions to obtain
> these are below)
>
>2. Check the voting list below. It wouldn't hurt to send a nice
> letter, email, or fax to the Senators that voted to defeat the
> Communications Decency Act. Hateful mail to Senators who did
> not vote your way is not only *bad form*, but likely to become illegal
> soon anyway, under the Communications Decency Act.
>
> In other words, take some time to cool off.
>
>3. If you don't receive Coalition alerts reliably through mail or news,
> join the mailing list by sending mail to listproc@vtw.org with
> "subscribe vtw-announce Firstname Lastname". We'll have to fight
> this battle in the House soon and you should be informed.
>
>4. Relax, it's not the end of the world. We still have this battle to
> fight in the House of Representatives and then in the conference
> committee. This is a setback, but we haven't lost yet.
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>RESULTS OF THE SENATE VOTE
>
>Senators who voted to defeat the Communications Decency Act
>(A polite letter to congratulate them for defending your free speech
> rights would be appropriate.)
>
> D ST Name (Party) Phone Fax
> = == ================== ============== ==============
> D CT Lieberman, Joseph I. 1-202-224-4041 1-202-224-9750
> D DE Biden Jr., Joseph R. 1-202-224-5042 1-202-224-0139
> D IL Simon, Paul 1-202-224-2152 1-202-224-0868
> senator@simon.senate.gov
> D IL Moseley-Braun, Carol 1-202-224-2854 1-202-224-2626
> D MA Kennedy, Edward M. 1-202-224-4543 1-202-224-2417
> senator@kennedy.senate.gov
> D MI Levin, Carl 1-202-224-6221 na
> D MN Wellstone, Paul 1-202-224-5641 1-202-224-8438
> D NM Bingaman, Jeff 1-202-224-5521 na
> Senator_Bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov
> D NY Moynihan, Daniel P. 1-202-224-4451 na
> D OH Glenn, John 1-202-224-3353 1-202-224-7983
> R RI Chafee, John H. 1-202-224-2921 na
> D VA Robb, Charles S. 1-202-224-4024 1-202-224-8689
> Senator_Robb@robb.senate.gov
> vascr@CapAccess.org
> D VT Leahy, Patrick J. 1-202-224-4242 1-202-224-3595
> senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov
> R VT Jeffords, James M. 1-202-224-5141 na
> D WA Murray, Patty 1-202-224-2621 1-202-224-0238
> D WI Feingold, Russell 1-202-224-5323 na
> russell_feingold@feingold.senate.gov
>
>
>Senators who voted to support the (CDA) Communications Decency Act
>(They voted for the CDA and to curtail your free speech rights.
> Writing them an impolite and nasty letter would be a bad idea, and
> may soon be illegal under the CDA anyway. Take some time to cool down.)
>
> D ST Name (Party) Phone Fax
> = == ================== ============== ==============
> R AK Murkowski, Frank H. 1-202-224-6665 1-202-224-5301
> R AK Stevens, Ted 1-202-224-3004 1-202-224-1044
> D AL Heflin, Howell T. 1-202-224-4124 1-202-224-3149
> R AL Shelby, Richard C. 1-202-224-5744 1-202-224-3416
> D AR Bumpers, Dale 1-202-224-4843 1-202-224-6435
> D AR Pryor, David 1-202-224-2353 1-202-224-8261
> R AZ Kyl, Jon 1-202-224-4521 1-202-228-1239
> R AZ McCain, John 1-202-224-2235 1-602-952-8702
> D CA Boxer, Barbara 1-202-224-3553 na
> D CA Feinstein, Dianne 1-202-224-3841 1-202-228-3954
> R CO Campbell, Ben N. 1-202-224-5852 1-202-225-0228
> R CO Brown, Henry 1-202-224-5941 1-202-224-6471
> D CT Dodd, Christopher J. 1-202-224-2823 na
> R DE Roth Jr. William V. 1-202-224-2441 1-202-224-2805
> D FL Graham, Robert 1-202-224-3041 1-202-224-2237
> R FL Mack, Connie 1-202-224-5274 1-202-224-8022
> D GA Nunn, Samuel 1-202-224-3521 1-202-224-0072
> R GA Coverdell, Paul 1-202-224-3643 1-202-228-3783
> D HI Akaka, Daniel K. 1-202-224-6361 1-202-224-2126
> D HI Inouye, Daniel K. 1-202-224-3934 1-202-224-6747
> D IA Harkin, Thomas 1-202-224-3254 1-202-224-7431
> R IA Grassley, Charles E. 1-202-224-3744 1-202-224-6020
> R ID Craig, Larry E. 1-202-224-2752 1-202-224-2573
> R ID Kempthorne, Dirk 1-202-224-6142 1-202-224-5893
> R IN Coats, Daniel R. 1-202-224-5623 1-202-224-8964
> R IN Lugar, Richard G. 1-202-224-4814 1-202-224-7877
> R KS Dole, Robert 1-202-224-6521 1-202-224-8952
> R KS Kassebaum, Nancy L. 1-202-224-4774 1-202-224-3514
> D KY Ford, Wendell H. 1-202-224-4343 1-202-224-0046
> R KY McConnell, Mitch 1-202-224-2541 1-202-224-2499
> D LA Breaux, John B. 1-202-224-4623 na
> D LA Johnston, J. Bennett 1-202-224-5824 1-202-224-2952
> D MA Kerry, John F. 1-202-224-2742 1-202-224-8525
> D MD Mikulski, Barbara A. 1-202-224-4654 1-202-224-8858
> D MD Sarbanes, Paul S. 1-202-224-4524 1-202-224-1651
> R ME Snowe, Olympia 1-202-224-5344 1-202-224-6853
>
> R ME Cohen, William S. 1-202-224-2523 1-202-224-2693
> R MI Abraham, Spencer 1-202-224-4822 1-202-224-8834
> R MN Grams, Rod 1-202-224-3244 na
> R MO Bond, Christopher S. 1-202-224-5721 1-202-224-8149
> R MO Ashcroft, John 1-202-224-6154 na
> R MS Cochran, Thad 1-202-224-5054 1-202-224-3576
> R MS Lott, Trent 1-202-224-6253 1-202-224-2262
> D MT Baucus, Max 1-202-224-2651 na
> R MT Burns, Conrad R. 1-202-224-2644 1-202-224-8594
> R NC Faircloth, D. M. 1-202-224-3154 1-202-224-7406
> R NC Helms, Jesse 1-202-224-6342 1-202-224-7588
> D ND Conrad, Kent 1-202-224-2043 1-202-224-7776
> D ND Dorgan, Byron L. 1-202-224-2551 1-202-224-1193
> D NE Kerrey, Bob 1-202-224-6551 1-202-224-7645
> D NE Exon, J. J. 1-202-224-4224 1-202-224-5213
> R NH Gregg, Judd 1-202-224-3324 1-202-224-4952
> R NH Smith, Robert 1-202-224-2841 1-202-224-1353
> D NJ Bradley, William 1-202-224-3224 1-202-224-8567
> D NJ Lautenberg, Frank R. 1-202-224-4744 1-202-224-9707
> R NM Domenici, Pete V. 1-202-224-6621 1-202-224-7371
> D NV Bryan, Richard H. 1-202-224-6244 1-202-224-1867
> D NV Reid, Harry 1-202-224-3542 1-202-224-7327
> R NY D'Amato, Alfonse M. 1-202-224-6542 1-202-224-5871
> R OH Dewine, Michael 1-202-224-2315 1-202-224-6519
> R OK Inhofe, James 1-202-224-4721
> R OK Nickles, Donald 1-202-224-5754 1-202-224-6008
> R OR Hatfield, Mark O. 1-202-224-3753 1-202-224-0276
> R OR Packwood, Robert 1-202-224-5244 1-202-228-3576
> R PA Santorum, Rick 1-202-224-6324 na
> R PA Specter, Arlen 1-202-224-4254 1-717-782-4920
> D RI Pell, Claiborne 1-202-224-4642 1-202-224-4680
> D SC Hollings, Ernest F. 1-202-224-6121 1-202-224-4293
> R SC Thurmond, Strom 1-202-224-5972 1-202-224-1300
> D SD Daschle, Thomas A. 1-202-224-2321 1-202-224-2047
> R SD Pressler, Larry 1-202-224-5842 1-202-224-1259*
> R TN Thompson, Fred 1-202-224-4944 1-202-228-3679
> R TN Frist, Bill 1-202-224-3344 1-202-224-8062
> R TX Hutchison, Kay Bailey 1-202-224-5922 1-202-224-0776
> R TX Gramm, Phil 1-202-224-2934 1-202-228-2856
> R UT Bennett, Robert 1-202-224-5444 1-202-224-6717
> R UT Hatch, Orrin G. 1-202-224-5251 1-202-224-6331
> R VA Warner, John W. 1-202-224-2023 1-202-224-6295
> R WA Gorton, Slade 1-202-224-3441 1-202-224-9393
> D WI Kohl, Herbert H. 1-202-224-5653 1-202-224-9787
> D WV Byrd, Robert C. 1-202-224-3954 1-202-224-4025
> D WV Rockefeller, John D. 1-202-224-6472 na
> R WY Simpson, Alan K. 1-202-224-3424 1-202-224-1315
> R WY Thomas, Craig 1-202-224-6441 1-202-224-3230
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>FOR MORE INFORMATION
>
>We will be archiving the version of the Communications Decency Act
>that passed, the roll call vote that went with it, and the transcript
>of the Senate debate.
>
>We will make these available through the methods below as soon as
>they are available through the Government Printing Office (this usually
>takes about 24 hours). Please try to use the Web or Gopher sites first
>before using our email server.
>
>Web Sites
> URL:http://www.panix.com/vtw/exon/
> URL:http://epic.org/
> URL:http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/
> URL:http://www.cdt.org/cda.html
>
>FTP Archives
> URL:ftp://ftp.cdt.org/pub/cdt/policy/freespeech/00-INDEX.FREESPEECH
> URL:ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/Alerts/
>
>Gopher Archives:
> URL:gopher://gopher.panix.com/11/vtw/exon
> URL:gopher://gopher.eff.org/11/Alerts
>
>Email:
> vtw@vtw.org (put "send help" in the subject line)
> cda-info@cdt.org (General CDA information)
> cda-stat@cdt.org (Current status of the CDA)
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>LIST OF PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS
>
>In order to use the net more effectively, several organizations have
>joined forces on a single Congressional net campaign to stop the
>Communications Decency Act.
>
>
>American Civil Liberties Union * American Communication Association *
>American Council for the Arts * Arts & Technology Society * Association
>of Alternative Newsweeklies * biancaTroll productions * Californians
>Against Censorship Together * Center For Democracy And Technology *
>Centre for Democratic Communications * Center for Public Representation
>* Citizen's Voice - New Zealand * Computer Communicators Association *
>Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility * Cross Connection *
>Cyber-Rights Campaign * CyberQueer Lounge * Dutch Digital Citizens'
>Movement * Electronic Frontier Canada * Electronic Frontier Foundation
>* Electronic Frontier Foundation - Austin * Electronic Frontiers
>Australia * Electronic Frontiers Houston * Electronic Frontiers New
>Hampshire * Electronic Privacy Information Center * Feminists For Free
>Expression * First Amendment Teach-In * Florida Coalition Against
>Censorship * Friendly Anti-Censorship Taskforce for Students * Hands
>Off! The Net * Human Rights Watch * Inland Book Company * Inner Circle
>Technologies, Inc. * Inst. for Global Communications * Internet
>On-Ramp, Inc. * The Libertarian Party * Marijuana Policy Project *
>Metropolitan Data Networks Ltd. * MindVox * National Bicycle Greenway *
>National Coalition Against Censorship * National Public Telecomputing
>Network * National Writers Union * Oregon Coast RISC * Panix Public
>Access Internet * People for the American Way * Rock Out Censorship *
>Society for Electronic Access * The Thing International BBS Network *
>The WELL * Voters Telecommunications Watch
>
>(Note: All 'Electronic Frontier' organizations are independent entities,
> not EFF chapters or divisions.)
>
>________________________________________________________________________
> End Alert
>========================================================================
>
>