Throughout his career, former Congressman Justin Amash has been a strong advocate for freedom of speech, writing that “The value of free speech comes from encountering views that are unorthodox, uncommon, or unaccepted…Free speech is a barren concept if people are limited to expressing views already widely held.”

In this special live episode, filmed in front of 200+ high schoolers attending FIRE’s Free Speech Forum at American University in Washington, D.C., Amash takes questions from the audience and discusses his upbringing, his political career, the state of American politics, and how the Constitution guided his work in Congress.

Earlier this year, Congressman Amash joined FIRE’s Advisory Council.

Timestamps: 

00:00 Intro

03:30 Upbringing

06:21 Law school

13:15 Time in Congress

15:59 Why Amash publicly explained each of his votes

26:30 On being the first libertarian in Congress

30:57 Connection between his principles and free speech

33:10 Trump’s first impeachment

42:48 Dealing with pushback from constituents

46:03 Term limits for members of Congress?

55:25 How high schoolers can pursue a career in politics

59:45 Has there been a regression in First Amendment protections?

01:07:32 What Amash is up to now

01:08:06 Outro

Read the transcript here: https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/so-speak-podcast-transcript-justin-amash

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