U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx says bloggers need protection.

The Banner Elk Republican is one of 34 cosponsors of the Blogger Protection Act, a bill that would protect bloggers from Federal Election Commission regulations.

Two years ago, the FEC ruled that bloggers' rights to free speech should not be overriden by campaign finance laws and that blogs should be treated like other publications.

The bill, whose chief sponsor is Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, would make those rulings a federal law.

"We must not leave the First Amendment rights of bloggers in the hands of the Federal Election Commission," Foxx said in a statement. "Bloggers’ rights are too important to leave them to the whims of a panel of federal regulators."

The bill would not affect online contributions to candidates, but it would allow bloggers to linkt o campaign Web sites. 

Foxx is the only North Carolina representative among the co-sponsors.