How can Laken Riley's murderer, an illegal alien, be repeatedly arrested and set free while Paul Vaughn, an American father, faces an 11-year prison sentence for singing hymns outside an abortion clinic? One word: weaponization. President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland have weaponized the Department of Justice, including the FBI, against anyone and everyone with whom they disagree.
Vaughn was convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for nothing more than exercising his First Amendment rights. In the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the FACE Act has become President Biden and radical progressive Democrats' primary way of advancing their radical abortion agenda.
Vaughn is not alone. Mark Houck, a pro-life father from Pennsylvania, was arrested at his home by FBI agents. Guns were pointed at him, his wife, and his children. When confronted about this incident during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Attorney General Garland continuously refused to call the FBI's actions inappropriate.
Even the judge in Houck's case remarked that the FACE Act seemed "to be stretched a little thin here." While Houck has since been acquitted, the FBI sent a clear message to pro-life Americans exercising their First Amendment rights: If you peacefully stand up for life, we will make you suffer.
These cases demonstrate that, for the Biden administration, the First Amendment is a selective privilege, not an inalienable right.
When President Bill Clinton signed the FACE Act into law in 1994, the legislation was meant to protect abortion clinics, pregnancy centers, and places of worship from violent attacks. In practice, it has become the Department of Justice's favorite tool to attack pro-lifers and people of faith.
Since its passage, the FACE Act has been used approximately 130 times against pro-lifers—but has only been leveled in defense of churches and pregnancy centers five times, even though churches and pro-life centers are 22 times more likely to be attacked than abortion clinics.
Just last year, there were 436 incidents of hostility against churches, but the Justice Department failed to investigate the vast majority of them despite repeated requests. The complete data are difficult to ascertain because, to date, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke has failed to provide Congress with the Justice Department's FACE Act prosecution numbers—despite multiple congressional requests and promises to do so during a congressional hearing.
It's clear that fully repealing the FACE Act is the only way for Congress to finally end its abuse. We introduced legislation in both the House and the Senate (H.R.5577 and S. 3017) to do just that. The simple fact is that the law is not necessary, and its duplicative nature usurps state police powers protected by the 10th Amendment. State laws to protect clinics and places of worship already exist. The Constitution clearly reserves general police power to the states for a reason—but Congress ignored that safeguard in passing the FACE Act.
While we have failed to defund Biden's weaponization of the Justice Department in recent spending bills, our fellow Americans are still suffering persecution for their beliefs. Repealing the FACE Act is an achievable pro-life and pro-First Amendment victory that Republicans can and must follow through on in the upcoming appropriations season. Put simply, we should not fund a Department of Justice that so brazenly tilts the scales of justice against the regime's political opponents.
The FACE ACT not only violates our constitutional principle of federalism, it holds no value other than to allow Justice Department bureaucrats to carry out a radical pro-abortion agenda. Congress must correct the course. It's time to repeal the FACE Act once and for all.
Mike Lee, a Republican, is the senior U.S. senator from Utah. Chip Roy, a Republican, represents Texas' 21st congressional district.
The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
