Opposing fake news and alternative facts.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 284 Opposing fake news and alternative facts. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 2, 2019 Mr. ESPAILLAT submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Opposing fake news and alternative facts. Whereas the First Amendment to the Constitution states that ‘‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances’’; Whereas the free press clause of the First Amendment un- equivocally protects both individuals’ and organizations’ right to express an opinion and share information, and applies to a wide variety of media; Whereas the United States has historically and proudly en- joyed and championed freedom of the press; Whereas the United States is a democracy, not an autocracy; VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:07 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR284.IH HR284 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HRES 284 IH Whereas the most common ‘‘fake news’’ the American people are receiving has come from the President himself, his of- ficial spokespersons, and his allies in the media; Whereas President Donald Trump and his supporters are comfortable misrepresenting facts, events, and policies re- lated to almost every issue in our country; Whereas President Trump consistently misleads the public on matters of immigration in order to evoke the idea that immigrants are evil and should be our enemies; Whereas, in January 2019, on a trip to McAllen, Texas, President Trump said, ‘‘there has never (been) so many apprehensions ever in our history,’’ in contradiction of statistics proving this claim to be false; Whereas President Trump falsely claimed the border city of El Paso, Texas, used to have extremely high rates of vio- lent crime until they built a fence, and then it became one of the safest cities in the country; Whereas President Trump has falsified statistics regarding the drug trafficking channels to influence public support for his wall; Whereas President Trump and his allies have baselessly im- plied that Democrats are responsible for organizing cara- vans of women and children migrants in Central Amer- ica; Whereas, throughout the 2016 Presidential campaign and thereafter, President Trump said that ‘‘Mexico will pay for the wall,’’ yet, on March 26, 2019, following a con- stitutionally dubious National Emergencies Act declara- tion, the Administration attempted to reprogram tax- payers’ money appropriated by their Representatives in VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:07 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR284.IH HR284 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HRES 284 IH Congress for projects in the Department of Defense to instead pay for a wall along the Southern border; Whereas President Trump has distorted information in the realm of foreign affairs and international trade as a means to demean our allies, gain leverage in negotiations, and disparage foreign policy decisions of past administra- tions; Whereas President Trump has continuously manipulated the American people into believing that asylum seekers will not follow the guidelines set by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees; Whereas, throughout his tenure, President Trump has claimed without evidence that the United States is more respected internationally due to his leadership, but nu- merous polls indicate that our reputation abroad has suf- fered dramatically since the President was elected; Whereas, on numerous occasions, President Trump has cited inaccurate numbers related to trade deficits, trade rela- tions, and the complexion of trade agreements; Whereas Vice President Mike Pence claimed that, ‘‘along the southern border of the U.S.,’’ the Government appre- hends ‘‘seven individuals a day who are either known or suspected terrorists’’, a statement which has been com- pletely denied by the intelligence community and border security agencies; Whereas President Trump has demonstrated an inability to tell the truth about his personal misconduct and finances; Whereas, in 2019, when asked by a member of the press, President Trump denied that he knew about the ‘‘hush VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:07 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR284.IH HR284 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HRES 284 IH money’’ payments to Stormy Daniels, but evidence later showed that he was contemporaneously aware; Whereas, on November 25, 2018, President Trump and mem- bers of his administration expressly denied that there was an administration policy of separating refugee families at the Southern border, even though discussions around ap- plying the policy had been ongoing for months in the White House; Whereas in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which struck Puer- to Rico with tremendous force, President Trump misprized the number of casualties caused by the storm and when the true scope of the loss was no longer disput- able, he blamed other factors unrelated to the Govern- ment’s response; Whereas in relation to countless topics and individuals—from David Duke to attempting to purchase the Buffalo Bills—the President is on record having shown awareness for a subject he later patently denies being familiar with; Whereas, in March 2019, President Trump claimed, ‘‘Just this week, more than 100 Democrats in Congress signed up for a socialist takeover of American health care. Their radical Government-run plan, if you call it that, would lead to colossal tax increases—increases like you’ve never seen before—and take away private coverage from over 180 million Americans.’’; Whereas, in February 2019, President Trump said, ‘‘Demo- crats are calling for massive tax hikes and the complete elimination of private health care. Many of us have pri- vate health care. That means you can stand in line for five days as you wait for a doctor that is not nearly as talented as your doctor.’’; VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:07 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR284.IH HR284 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HRES 284 IH Whereas, since announcing his candidacy, Donald Trump has promised to protect coverage for preexisting conditions, but every legislative, political, and judicial position taken by his party has moved to weaken coverage for patients with preexisting conditions; Whereas, in 2018, President Trump deceptively stated that nobody in his campaign ever talked to any Russians dur- ing the campaign; Whereas, in July of 2016, President Trump claimed to ‘‘have nothing to do with Russia. I don’t have any jobs in Rus- sia. I’m all over the world but we’re not involved in Rus- sia.’’, which turned out to be false, as he was pursuing a Trump Tower in Moscow project at the time; and Whereas President Trump falsely claimed that President Obama had illegally wiretapped Trump Tower when there was no evidence of such conduct: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep- 1 resentatives that— 2 (1) it is the duty of Congress to uphold the 3 Constitution and all of the fundamental rights, in- 4 cluding the freedom of the press; 5 (2) President Trump must immediately ac- 6 knowledge his support of the First Amendment and 7 express his support for United States democracy; 8 (3) the United States should continue being a 9 democracy, not an autocracy; 10 (4) White House spokespersons should not 11 issue fake news; and 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:07 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR284.IH HR284 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HRES 284 IH (5) White House spokespersons who offer alter- 1 native or inaccurate facts should retract their state- 2 ments immediately. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:07 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR284.IH HR284 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS