[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5] [House] [Page 6289] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]GEERT WILDERS AND NOW ``SOUTH PARK'' ARE DENIED FREEDOM OF SPEECH The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes. Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, freedom of speech is under attack in the West today, brought to you by the same radical Islamic terrorists who use religion to kill in the name of hate. I've talked about Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who is on trial in Amsterdam for insulting Islam. You see, he made a documentary movie about real terrorist acts and real radical Islamic clerics encouraging violence in the name of hate. Instead of being grateful for shining a light on this problem, the Dutch Government is putting Geert Wilders on trial. He is charged with discrimination and incitement to hatred, all for showing the world how radical Islamic clerics discriminate and incite people to hatred. Wilders spoke the truth, and he got charged with a crime in his own country. The Dutch Ministry of Justice says it doesn't matter if Wilders was telling the truth. The Dutch court says it's irrelevant whether Wilders' assertions actually are correct. What is relevant to the court is Wilders cannot speak freely about radical Islam because it might offend somebody. In the Netherlands the truth is no longer welcome in a court of law. Geert Wilders now lives under a threat of a 5-year prison sentence from his own government for freedom of speech for the right to tell the truth. His trial is set to resume in July, the trial where the Dutch court says truth doesn't matter. It only matters if Wilders' words hurt somebody's feelings. You see, Dutch law is intolerant of people who are intolerant of violence in the name of Islam. And that's a recipe for disaster. By denying free, truthful speech, the Dutch Government by its actions is encouraging radicals to incite violence worldwide. Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, grandnephew of the legendary artist Vincent van Gogh, also made a film the radical clerics didn't like. His was about Islam's harsh treatment of women and how they brutalized women and used them as property. The result, van Gogh was murdered in the streets of Amsterdam as he rode his bicycle to work. His partner in the film, now a former member of Parliament, fled the country in fear. Kurt Westergaard is one of the 12 artists who drew a satirical cartoon about the prophet Mohammed. So radical clerics incited their followers to murder people in the streets around the globe. Most of the clerics admitted later they had never seen the Mohammed cartoons. And Westergaard now lives in hiding under an armed guard. So much for freedom of the press and freedom of speech. Now the threats of violence are spreading to the United States. The popular animated TV program ``South Park'' insults everybody. It's a comedy program that uses satire to make social statements. ``South Park's'' creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, did a series of episodes that insulted various world religions, including Islam. The 200th episode broadcast depicted all the founders of the major religions. Mohammed was dressed in a bear suit because Islam forbids its followers to depict the religion's founders. One radical Islamic Web site called ``Revolutionary Muslim'' is upset about the program, so they issued threats saying ``South Park'' creators Stone and Parker would end up like Theo van Gogh, in other words, dead. And they put up the crime scene photos of van Gogh with his throat slit and a knife protruding from his chest. They also gave out the TV network address of Comedy Central in New York, addresses for Parker and Stone's Los Angeles production company, and their residences. The radical Web site said they published the addresses so people could go out there and protest. Yeah, right. The trouble is we have seen worldwide how these radicals protest. They kill people. Because of the threats of violence and fear for the safety of everyone from the receptionist to the series creators, Comedy Central censored and spiked a follow-up program. Free speech was intimidated again by radical Islamics. These terrorists are being handed veto power over free speech through threats of violence and murder. No charges have been brought in the United States against the author of these radical Islamic Web sites. Meanwhile, Geert Wilders is still on trial in the Netherlands for warning the world about these haters for speaking the truth. And that's just the way it is. ____________________