Senator Agard: Statement on Republicans Continued Book Banning and Censorship Efforts
MADISON – Today, the Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, and Children and Families will hold a public hearing on SB597 and SB598 which would require public and school libraries to notify parents within 24 hours anytime their children under the age of 16 check out materials. Senate Democratic Leader Melissa Agard (D-Madison) released the following statement on these bills:
“How hypocritical that Wisconsin Republicans, the party of ‘small government’, want to ban books and know what every individual is checking out from the library. This Orwellian inspired overreach is chilling and intimidates our librarians and educators under the facade of parental rights. Senate Democrats do not support these GOP efforts to stifle learning and limit access to information.”
Previously, Wisconsin Republicans have put forward legislation (SB 10) that would ban certain books based on their content. This follows a national trend of Republican legislators aiming to restrict material they deem offensive.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
This piece of fascist legislation enforces the biases and prejudices of a minority onto the majority. It is no different to the means Nazi Germany used to destroy the culture of Poland. The intent of the Nazis was to put culture and education out of the reach of the Polish people. There is nothing about the current RRRs (radical, reactionary republicans) that promotes “small government.”