I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3256

To provide for the issuance of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award to journalists who accompanied units of 

the United States Armed Forces or coalition partners into Iraq during 

Operation Iraqi Freedom, a process referred to as ‘‘embedding’’, in 

order to provide first-hand and timely reports on the progress of the 

United States and coalition forces and the liberation of the Iraqi people. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 7, 2003

Mr. ROHRABACHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL

To provide for the issuance of the Office of the Secretary 

of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award to journalists who accompanied units of the United States Armed 

Forces or coalition partners into Iraq during Operation 

Iraqi Freedom, a process referred to as ‘‘embedding’’, 

in order to provide first-hand and timely reports on 

the progress of the United States and coalition forces 

and the liberation of the Iraqi people.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. RECOGNITION OF JOURNALISTS EMBEDDED 

2 WITH UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES OR 

3 COALITION PARTNERS IN IRAQ DURING OP4 ERATION IRAQI FREEDOM. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The First Amendment to the Constitution 

7 of the United States establishes the right to free 

8 speech and a press unfettered by Government inter9 ference and reflected the belief of the American peo10 ple that an informed public is essential to the sur11 vival of democracy. 

12 (2) The press, in all its forms today, informs 

13 the public on news events in the United States and 

14 elsewhere in the world and acts as a check on exces15 sive Government actions by facilitating feedback to 

16 the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of 

17 Government. 

18 (3) Journalists first began serving as war cor19 respondents during the Crimean War in 1854, and, 

20 by the next decade, more than 500 journalists cov21 ered the activities of the contending armies during 

22 the American Civil War, capturing the interest of 

23 Americans in the conflict and establishing the tradi24 tion of newspaper readership in America. 

25 (4) During Operation Iraqi Freedom, the De26 partment of Defense provided journalists with the 
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1 opportunity to actually accompany units of the 

2 United States Armed Forces and coalition partners, 

3 a process referred to as ‘‘embedding’’, in order to 

4 provide first-hand and timely reports on the progress 

5 of the United States and coalition forces and the lib6 eration of the Iraqi people. 

7 (5) Approximately 700 print, broadcast, and 

8 Internet journalists chose to receive the special 

9 training offered by the Department of Defense to 

10 prepare for the dangers and hardships of accom11 panying troops in possible combat and embedded 

12 themselves with units of the United States Armed 

13 Forces or coalition partners. 

14 (6) Journalists have often worked under censor15 ship in the past, but the embedded journalists were 

16 free to cover the conflict without interference from 

17 the military, and provided generally accurate ac18 counts despite the omnipresent ‘‘fog of war’’ on a 

19 real-time basis for the first time in history. 

20 (7) The relationship between journalists and 

21 the military has often been strained in times of war, 

22 but the conflict in Iraq proved that both sides could 

23 meet their individual goals without restricting or im24 peding the other. 
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1 (8) Many of the embedded journalists made 

2 their satellite phones and email available to members 

3 of the Armed Forces who were able to communicate 

4 with their families for the first time in weeks and 

5 sometimes months. 

6 (9) Friends and families of members of the 

7 Armed Forces serving in Iraq in units that included 

8 an embedded journalist were able to track the 

9 progress of these units and were often reassured 

10 that their loved ones were still alive because of the 

11 journalist’s reports. 

12 (10) The embedded journalists, while in-theater, 

13 endured the same privations as the members of the 

14 Armed Forces they covered and risked possible im15 prisonment, torture, and execution if captured by 

16 Iraqi forces. 

17 (11) The embedded journalists braved excessive 

18 and sometimes fatal weather conditions, including 

19 horrific sandstorms that reduce visibility to four or 

20 five feet and temperatures higher than 130 degrees 

21 Fahrenheit, but still filed their dispatches each day. 

22 (12) At least 14 journalists have died while cov23 ering the conflict in Iraq, and other journalists have 

24 died in Afghanistan. 
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1 (13) The American people are best served by a 

2 robust and competitive media that provides accurate 

3 and fair accounts of United States Armed Forces 

4 wherever they may be. 

5 (b) OFFICIAL RECOGNITION OF EMBEDDED JOUR6 NALISTS.—The Secretary of Defense shall award the Of7 fice of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service 

8 Award to journalists who were authorized by the Depart9 ment of Defense to accompany, and actually accompanied 

10 into Iraq, a unit of the United States Armed Forces or 

11 of a coalition partner during Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

12 (c) POSTHUMOUS AWARD.—If a person entitled to 

13 the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public 

14 Service Award under subsection (b) died while serving in 

15 Iraq or dies before the issuance of the award, the award 

16 shall be provided to the person’s representative, as des17 ignated by the Secretary. 

18 (d) AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATIONS.—The Sec19 retary may expend, from any appropriation for contingent 

20 expenses of the Department of Defense, amounts nec21 essary to provide Office of the Secretary of Defense Ex22 ceptional Public Service Awards under subsection (b).

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