SENATORS PRAISE CLINTON SPEECH ON INTERNET FREEDOM

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), John McCain (R-AZ), and Ted Kaufman (D-DE) issued the following statement in response to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech today on Internet freedom, which Senators Lieberman and Kaufman attended:

“Secretary Clinton delivered an important and powerful speech today, underscoring the significance of Internet freedom worldwide. We share her conviction that the struggle for fundamental human rights – including free speech, free press, and free assembly -- is increasingly connected with freedom of expression online.  The United States government has a critical role to play in advocating for these freedoms, and we support the Secretary's new initiative to promote greater freedom on the Internet globally.

“We also greatly appreciate Secretary Clinton's recognition of the Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act, which we introduced in the wake of Iran's presidential election last year.  The VOICE Act, which passed the Senate unanimously and was signed into law in October, authorizes the U.S. government to facilitate the development of technologies that the Iranian people can use to access and share news and information, and overcome the electronic censorship efforts of the Iranian government.  

 “We look forward to working with the Secretary in the months ahead to ensure the effective implementation of the VOICE Act and other measures SO the Iranian people, and people everywhere, can exercise their fundamental rights online.”

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