IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 904 

Commending the American press for its long history of keeping the American 

public informed of its government’s actions both at home and abroad. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 29, 2006 

Mr. DINGELL submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Commending the American press for its long history of keeping the American public informed of its government’s 

actions both at home and abroad. 

Whereas the British crown restricted the rights of a free 

press by forbidding the printing of dissenting opinions for 

centuries leading up to the American War of Independence; 

Whereas Benjamin Franklin understood the importance of 

the free press because he purchased and ran the leading 

newspaper of the colonial era, the Pennsylvania Gazette; 

Whereas Thomas Paine’s Common Sense (1776) and Thomas 

Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence (1776) are two 

well-known and influential examples of Revolutionary litVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:23 Jul 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR904.IH HR904

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•HRES 904 IH 

erature published in the colonies, which demonstrate the 

importance of a free press; 

Whereas Thomas Jefferson said, ‘‘Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should 

not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter,’’ and ‘‘Our 

liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that 

cannot be limited without being lost’’; 

Whereas a free press, the Founding Fathers believed, was an 

essential check against despotism, and integral to advancing human understanding of the sciences, arts, and humanities; 

Whereas in an amendment offered in Congress by James 

Madison, he stated, ‘‘The people shall not be deprived or 

abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish 

their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of 

the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable;’’; 

Whereas James Madison articulated the view that, ‘‘The security of the freedom of the press requires that it should 

be exempt, not only from previous restraint of the executive, as in Great Britain; but from legislative restraint 

also; and this exemption, not only from the previous inspection of licensers, but from the subsequent penalty of 

laws;’’; 

Whereas penned by Madison and Jefferson, The Virginia 

Resolution of 1798 (a document which presupposes that 

states have the right to decide the constitutionality of 

laws passed by Congress) stated that, ‘‘The Liberty of 

conscience and of the press cannot be cancelled, abridged, 

restrained, or modified by any authority of the United 

States;’’; 


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•HRES 904 IH 

Whereas during the debates between the Federalist and the 

Ant-Federalists over the Bill of Rights, the press played 

a vital role in helping bring public awareness by publicly 

publishing the debates; 

Whereas the Framers of the Constitution recognized the importance of a free press by enshrining it in the first 

amendment, ‘‘Congress shall make no law . . . abridging 

the freedom of speech, or of the press;’’; 

Whereas Walter Lippman, the 20th Century columnist, 

wrote, ‘‘A free press is not a privilege, but an organic necessity in a great society;’’; 

Whereas President Herbert Hoover said ‘‘Absolute freedom 

of the press to discuss public questions is a foundation 

stone of American liberty;’’; 

Whereas President Harry S. Truman stated ‘‘We need not 

fear the expression of ideas—we do need to fear their 

suppression;’’; 

Whereas the Pentagon Papers led to the uncovering of illegal 

activity under the Nixon administration; 

Whereas, after failing to get The New York Times to voluntarily stop publishing the Pentagon Papers in 1971, Attorney General John Mitchell and President Nixon requested and obtained a Federal court injunction that the 

Times cease the publication of excerpts; 

Whereas the Assistant Attorney General in 1971, William 

Rehnquist, asked the Washington Post to stop publishing 

the documents relating to the Pentagon Papers, and 

when the Post refused, the Department of Justice sought 

another injunction; 

Whereas the Supreme Court ruled in New York Times vs. 

U.S., the 1971 Pentagon Papers case, that ‘‘any use of 


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•HRES 904 IH 

the judiciary to order constraint makes a shambles out 

of the First Amendment;’’; 

Whereas Washington Post journalists Carl Bernstein and 

Bob Woodward’s investigations in the Watergate burglary 

helped to uncover the corruption under the Nixon Administration, which resulted in the President’s resignation in 

1974; 

Whereas the Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa exposed the arrangement between the Reagan Administration and the 

weapons-for-hostages deal in 1986, which resulted in Oliver North and John Poindexter being indicted on multiple charges on March 16, 1988; 

Whereas the majority of the Congress learned of a 

warrantless NSA wiretapping program, directed by the 

Bush Administration, through the investigative reporting 

of The New York Times; 

Whereas the Bush Administration requested that the Washington Post not publish their Pulitzer Prize winning story 

on the secret black prisons in Eastern Europe; 

Whereas the torture conducted by American soldiers at Abu 

Ghraib was only publicly addressed by the Bush Administration following its published disclosure by Pulitzer 

Prize winner Seymour Hersh; 

Whereas a report on the conditions in Guantanamo Bay ‘‘offended’’ the Vice President and was labeled ‘‘absurd’’ by 

the President; 

Whereas the Washington Post helped uncover the Republican 

‘‘culture of corruption’’, exposed the illegal acts of Jack 

Abramoff, resulting in his guilty plea, and led to the conviction of David Safavian; and 


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Whereas the disclosure to the American public that their 

banking transactions are being secretly monitored by the 

government was met by the Bush Administration calling 

The New York Times ‘‘disgraceful’’ for their reporting: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) commends the American press for its long 

3 history of keeping the American public informed of 

4 its government’s actions both at home and abroad; 

5 (2) repudiates censorship of the press and reaf6 firms that a vital characteristic of any democratic 

7 society is a vibrant press, free of intimidation from 

8 those in power, and that the news industry is indis9 pensable to the health of our democratic institutions; 

10 (3) finds that the press, at its best, helps to 

11 educate the American people and provides all Ameri12 cans a vital means of understanding the actions of 

13 the Congress, the Administration, and the Supreme 

14 Court, in addition to reporting the important actions 

15 taken by State and local governments; 

16 (4) condemns those regimes, Communist and 

17 otherwise, who use all manner of intimidation to 

18 weaken, silence, and censor the press for stories that 

19 those regimes deem inappropriate; 

20 (5) praises the government of Iraq for its com21 mitment to a free and unfettered press as well as 


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1 the brave Iraqi journalists who have put their lives 

2 at risk to institutionalize a free press in Iraq; and 

3 (6) expects that all elected representatives of 

4 the American people hold true to their oath to pre5 serve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the 

6 United States and not use the trust of their office 

7 to weaken, in any way, the vital role of a free press 

8 in our open and democratic society. 

Æ 


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