Words have consequences. And many lawmakers said as much on Capitol Hill Thursday, in the first House hearing on discrimination against Asian Americans in more than three decades.

"I served in active duty so you can say whatever you want under the First Amendment, you can say racist stupid stuff if you want. But I'm asking you to please stop using racist terms like 'kung flu' or 'Wuhan virus' or other ethnic identifiers in describing this virus. I am not a virus and when you say things like that, it hurts the Asian American community."

Lieu was responding to Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, who used "an old saying in Texas" describing lynching, saying Americans "want justice" for victims but that he had concern about "the policing of rhetoric in a free society."

Source: CNN

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