Senate vote scores major victory for free speech.

Thanks to an immense outpouring of opposition from organizations ranging across the political spectrum--from Focus on the Family to the ACLU--dangerous legislation aimed at gutting the First Amendment was defeated in the Senate on January 18. Section 220, known as the "grass-roots lobbying" provision of Senate ethics reform bill (S. 1), was an outfight assault on the fight of ordinary Americans citizens to exercise their fight to stay informed on political matters and to contact their elected officials on matters of concern.

Under Section 220, any group that contacted as few as 500 people regarding matters before Congress would be treated as a professional lobbyist and subjected to onerous reporting requirements and penalties of $50,000 to $200,000, not to mention potential jail time. This would have affected not only thousands of churches, but also tens of thousands of groups who keep their members and friends alerted to legislative activity on issues ranging from home schooling to property fights, gun rights, right-to-life issues, pornography, tax and spending issues, national security, and constitutional matters.

Fortunately, the Senate voted 55-43 for an amendment offered by Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) to strip Section 220 from the bill.