The U.S. Senate majority failed in its bid to advance a proposal that U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., criticized as a brazen attempt to rewrite the First Amendment and censor Americans’ free speech rights.

“The Senate majority is attempting to censor political speech by rewriting the First Amendment. Their proposed amendment is designed to give Congress blanket authority to define what political speech qualifies as acceptable or not. Protecting the right of every American to speak their mind shouldn’t be a partisan issue,” Enzi said.

Sixty votes were needed in order to pass Senate Joint Resolution 19. The vote was 54-42.  Ultimately, 67 votes would be required to pass the resolution on to the House.

“What is a reasonable limitation on political speech? The sponsors of this proposal can’t answer that and it’s reckless to assume that federal courts will determine the correct answer. What concerns me the most is where does this regulation stop? The answer is not clear and at the very end of the day this constitutional amendment limits the way in which Americans can voice their concerns about their elected officials,”  Enzi said.  “It’s an embarrassment that the majority leader would bring this up now, not allow amendments and expect this institution to forget about the very freedoms our founders sought to protect when they drafted our Constitution.”