House Republicans Censor Photo, call it child porn
House Republicans Censor Photo, call it child porn
At a House hearing last
week, witnesses were intending to focus on coal mining. Instead, a photo
of a five year old child is getting all the attention.
Testifying
in front of the House Natural Resources Commitee on the impact of coal
mining, activist Maria Gunnoe intended to show a picture of a five year
old child bathing in polluted water from mountaintop mining. But House
Republicans censored the image, calling it child pornography.
The
photo was taken by photojournalist Katie Falkenberg, who wrote this
caption about the image:
Erica and Rully must bathe their
daughter, age 5, in contaminated water that is the color of tea. Their
water has been tested and contains high levels of arsenic…. The coal
company that mines the land around their home has never admitted to causing this
problem, but they do supply the family with bottled water for drinking
and cooking. Contaminated and colored water has occurred in other
coalfield communities as well where mountaintop mining is practiced.
Members
of the committee were not able to see the informative image, because
Republican committee staff barred Gunnoe from displaying the picture
during her testimony.
Gunnoe complied with the request, but after
the hearing was escorted into an empty room by Capitol Police and was
questioned for 45 minutes about the photo at the request of an unnamed
GOP senior committee staffer to Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO). Gunnoe is a
renowned activist against mountaintop coal mining, who has testified
before the committee three other times.(1)
Craven and venal. Typical US Republican deceit for corrupt reasons.
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