Good News on Free Speech

Last night, Speaker Hastert indicated on his blog that H.R. 1606 would be back:

Today’s action marks a sad day for one of our nation’s most sacred rights: freedom of speech. The federal government seeks to control and regulate the Internet, but the last thing this Congress should be doing is trying to stifle public debate online. This bill would have kept the hands of the federal government off of Internet speech and protected the online debate that’s underway. Our world has evolved and grown more technologically savvy. Lawmakers need to adjust to these changes. Unfortunately, opponents of online speech have decided to punish our changing technological world. It’s especially unfortunate that Democratic Leader Pelosi voted no to free speech. This bill will come back under regular order, and I encourage all those who support free speech on the Internet to make their voices heard.

That is great news in that supporters of the bill have a clear majority, at least in the House.

What I question is why 38 Republicans, including our Maryland's own Congressman Gilchrest, voted against this bill.