Dear Fellow Marylanders,

Earlier this month, I wrote to you about freedom when Americans Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, and Alsu Kurmasheva, as well as U.S. Green Card holder Vladimir Kara-Murza, were released from being wrongly detained in Russia. Physically releasing someone who has been imprisoned, detained or improperly held against their will is critical work. It’s why I press every single day since October 7 to move us closer to freeing the hostages who are being held by Hamas after being kidnapped from Israel. Freedom from injustice takes us towards the larger definition of freedom.

Freedom is at the core of who we are as Americans, starting with the Declaration of Independence, which sought to break the American colonies from the tyranny of a dictatorship or “absolute despotism.” Our fore fathers declared that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” were unalienable rights or freedoms so worth defending that it warranted a revolution.

After the revolutionary war, our Constitution became the keystone for defining the freedoms and rights for Americans. The Bill of Rights, and especially our First Amendment, prioritized some of these most precious freedoms. Over the years, Americans have fought for freedom on battlefields around the world – through hot wars and cold wars. Peacefully, or not so peacefully, Americans have marched and rallied to defend or demand freedoms like the right to vote, the right to breathe clean air and drink clean water, the right to a quality education and affordable health care, and the freedom to love who you love. Those battles continue to this day.

Due to an extremist Supreme Court, and state-legislatures and governors, we recently have seen a rapid erosion of individual liberties and freedoms. The repression has been particularly intense in some states when it comes to reproductive rights and the freedom to control our own bodies. The right to vote, which is fundamental in a democracy, also is under intense attack. Government, and especially the U.S. Supreme Court, should never be taking rights and freedoms away from Americans.

Every person in this country should be free to pursue their dreams, free to be safe in their community, free to live, love and pray how they wish, free from violence and free from repression.

Defending freedom means understanding that you don’t always have to agree with someone to treat them with respect and dignity. The great thing about freedom is that it can and should be inclusive. Freedom is not a zero-sum game where there must always be winners and losers. The extremists who peddle fear and division rather than hope and opportunity would like you to forget this.

Freedom is not unique to America. We have our flaws and we continue to strive to become “a more perfect union,” but we still are a shining example to the world of what freedom should be.

Freedom is one of the strongest values that unites all Americans whether they only recently naturalized or their family can trace roots back to Indigenous Americans or the Mayflower.

Freedom is one of the main values I point to when I say that America is stronger when we lead based on our values – both here at home and abroad. As Vice President Kamala Harris said this week, “America, let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for: freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness, and endless possibilities.”

Despots and dictators fear freedom with good reason. Freedom means openness, equity and transparency. Freedom may sometimes feel elusive, but we must continue to hold and protect it – nurture it – because that is what lifts up all peoples and will carry this country through the next 250 years.

Thank you for your time. Please send me your thoughts on this topic or any other. I would like to hear more about what freedom means to you personally or in your community. I appreciate your feedback.

In solidarity,

Ben Cardin