Amy Klobuchar: ‘Democracy Relies’ on Passing Media Cartel Bill

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said on Thursday that democracy relies on passing the controversial Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA).

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) said on Thursday that the bill will be “held over” as Klobuchar and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) hash out disagreements over content moderation provisions in the bill.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) listens to FCCC Chairman Ajit Pai and FTC Chairman Joseph Simons testify about their FY2020 budget requests on Capitol Hill on May 7, 2019, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

After the conclusion of Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, which was supposed to feature a vote to advance the bill out of committee, Klobuchar said that Durbin committed to taking up the bill next week.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) speaks to Senate Judiciary Chairman Richard Durbin (D-IL) during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the U.S. Capitol on June 15, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“I’m the daughter of a newspaperman, and I’m not going to stop fighting for local news. Our democracy relies on it. Chairman Durbin has committed to taking up our bipartisan bill in the Judiciary Committee next week,” she said:

Thursday’s delay follows Klobuchar’s decision to pause the advancement of the JCPA out of the Judiciary Committee after Judiciary Republicans managed to successfully pass an amendment to the bill, sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), that would prevent media conglomerates and big tech platforms from discussing content moderation during negotiations.

Democrats balked at the inclusion of the amendment, and Klobuchar said the agreement between her and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) blew up.

Cruz lauded the bill’s delay as a victory for free speech.

“What happened today was a huge victory for the First Amendment and free speech. Sadly, it is also a case study in how much the Democrats love censorship,” Cruz said in his exclusive statement to Breitbart News. “They would rather pull their bill entirely than advance it with my proposed protections for Americans from unfair online censorship.”

Ted Cruz in Sugar Hill, Georgia, January 3, 2021 (Ashley Oliver/Breitbart News)