CRUZ: Mr. Prager, we'll start with you.
PRAGER: I will take just a moment
Because my opening comment is under five minutes just to respond on the issue of the Ten Commandment Ten Commandments video
that was a placed on the restricted list by Google the representative from Google mentioned that in a
Reason that it would be on the restricted list
Was that it contains mentions of murder.
So I was thinking I have a solution that will I think appeal to Google. I will re-release it as that the nine commandments. That
should solve the problem of
Including murder in my discussion of the Ten Commandments, and as regards the swastika. Yes, there is a swastika
It is again in the commandment of do not murder
wherein I show
that murder
there are people who believe murder is all right, even today and I use the swastika and
The and the hammer and sickle has two examples.
I would think we would want young people to associate the swastika with evil. That was why I had a swastika
It was an honor to be invited to speak in the United States Senate
But I wish I were not so honored because the subject of this hearing
Google and YouTube's and for that matter Twitter and Facebook suppression of Internet content on ideological grounds
threatens the future of America more than any external enemy in
Fact never in American history has there been as strong a threat to freedom of speech as there is today
Before addressing this. However, I think it important that you know a bit about me and the organization I co-founded
Prager University
Prager you as it is often referred to I was born in Brooklyn, New York
My late father max Prager was a CPA and an Orthodox Jew who?
volunteered to serve in the US Navy at the start of World War two
My father senior class thesis at the City College of New York
Was on anti-semitism in America yet. Despite his keen awareness of the subject
He believed that Jews living in America were the luckiest Jews to have ever lived
He was right
Having taught Jewish history at Brooklyn College written a book on anti-semitism and fought Jew hatred my whole life. I
Thank God for living in America
Breaks my heart that a vast number of young Americans have not only not been taught how lucky they are to be Americans
But have been taught either how unlucky they are or how ashamed they should be
It breaks my heart for them
because contempt for one's country leaves a terrible hole in one's soul and
Because ungrateful people always become unhappy and angry people and it breaks my heart for America
Because no good country can survive when its people have contempt for it. I
Have been communicating this appreciation of America for 35 years as a radio talk-show host
The last 20 in national syndication with the Salem radio network an organization. That is a blessing in American life
One reason I started Prager you was to communicate America's moral purpose and moral achievements
both to young Americans and to young people around the world
With a billion views a year and with more than half of the viewers under age 35 Prager u has achieved some success
My philosophy of life is easily summarized God wants us to be good
God without goodness is fanaticism and
Goodness, without God will not long endure
Everything I and Prager you do
emanates from belief in the importance of being a good person that
Some label us extreme or quote haters
only
reflects on the character and the broken moral compass of those making such accusations
they are the haters and
extremists
Praeger you releases a five-minute video every week our
presenters include three former prime ministers
for Pulitzer Prize winners
liberals conservatives gays blacks Latinos atheists believers Jews Christians Muslims and
professors and scientists from MIT Harvard Stanford and a dozen other universities
Do you think the Secretary General of NATO or the former prime ministers of Norway?
Canada or Spain or the late Charles Krauthammer or Philip hamburger a distinguished professor of law at Columbia Law School?
Would make a video for an extreme or hate-filled site. The idea is not only preposterous
It is a smear
yet Google which owns YouTube has restricted access to 56 of our
325 minute videos and two other videos we produce
Restricted means families that have a filter to avoid pornography and violence cannot see that video
It also means that no school or library can show that video
Google has even restricted access to a video on the 10 commandments as we have seen
Yes, the Ten Commandments we have repeatedly asked Google why our videos are restricted
No explanation is ever given?
But of course we know why
Because they come from a conservative perspective
Liberals and conservatives differ on many issues, but they have always agreed that free speech must be preserved
while the left has never supported free speech liberals
Always have I therefore appeal to liberals to join us in fighting on behalf of America's crowning glory?
free speech
otherwise, I promise you one day you will say first they came after conservatives and I said nothing and
Then they came after me and there was no one left to speak up for me. Thank you
Thank You, mr. Prager
You