I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1861 

To highlight and promote freedom of the press worldwide. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 1, 2009 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself and Mr. PENCE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To highlight and promote freedom of the press worldwide. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Daniel Pearl Freedom 

5 of the Press Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

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

8 (1) Acts of violence against journalists and 

9 media personnel continue to rise in frequency, with 

10 very few of the attacks resulting in prosecution. 

11 (2) According to the 2008 Annual Report by 

12 the Committee to Protect Journalists, in 2008 at 


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1 least 41 journalists were killed in connection with 

2 their work, and 125 were imprisoned. 

3 (3) Reflecting the rise in influence of Internet 

4 reporting, an increasing number of online editors, 

5 bloggers, and web-based reporters are being impris6 oned and websites are being closed because of offi7 cial censorship. 

8 (4) The United States and the international 

9 community agree that the safety and independence 

10 of journalists and the media are a matter of pressing 

11 international concern. On December 10, 1948, the 

12 United Nations General Assembly adopted the Uni13 versal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 of 

14 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states 

15 that ‘‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion 

16 and expression; this right includes freedom to hold 

17 opinions without interference and to seek, receive 

18 and impart information and ideas through any 

19 media and regardless of frontiers.’’. 

20 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 

21 (1) highlight and promote the work and accom22 plishments of journalists and media organizations 

23 that promote freedom of opinion and expression 

24 worldwide; 


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1 (2) draw attention to the conditions in coun2 tries in which journalists are killed, imprisoned, kid3 napped, threatened, or censored; 

4 (3) offer protection for these individuals and 

5 media organizations by identifying to the inter6 national community those countries where journal7 ists are at the highest risk; and 

8 (4) emphasize the significance of including free9 dom of the press as enshrined in article 19 of the 

10 Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a factor 

11 in United States foreign policy. 

12 SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT ON THE PROMOTION OF FREE13 DOM OF THE PRESS WORLDWIDE. 

14 (a) REPORT.—The Secretary of State shall annually 

15 submit to Congress a report regarding the promotion of 

16 freedom of the press worldwide. The report shall be enti17 tled the ‘‘Annual Report on the Status of Freedom of the 

18 Press Worldwide’’. 

19 (b) PREPARATION.—The Secretary shall prepare the 

20 Annual Report with the assistance of the Bureau of De21 mocracy, Human Rights and Labor. 

22 (c) CONTENTS.—The Annual Report shall contain 

23 the following information: 

24 (1) A description of the status of freedom of 

25 the press in each country, including initiatives in 


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1 favor of freedom of the press and efforts to improve 

2 or preserve, as appropriate, the independence of the 

3 media, together with an assessment of progress 

4 made as a result of those efforts. 

5 (2) An identification of countries in which there 

6 were violations of freedom of the press, including di7 rect physical attacks, imprisonment, indirect sources 

8 of pressure, and censorship by governments, mili9 tary, intelligence, or police forces, criminal groups, 

10 or armed extremist or rebel groups. 

11 (3) In countries where there are particularly se12 vere violations of freedom of the press, the annual 

13 report shall address the following: 

14 (A) Whether government authorities of 

15 each such country participate in, facilitate, or 

16 condone such violations of the freedom of the 

17 press. 

18 (B) What steps the government of each 

19 such country has taken to preserve the safety 

20 and independence of the media, and to ensure 

21 the prosecution of those individuals who attack 

22 or murder journalists. 

23 (d) ORGANIZATION.—The Annual Report shall be or24 ganized in three parts, as follows: 


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1 (1) Part I shall consist of the identification of 

2 countries (and the associated assessment of their ef3 forts) under subsection (c)(1). 

4 (2) Part II shall consist of the identification of 

5 countries (and the associated assessment of their ef6 forts) under subsection (c)(2). 

7 (3) Part III shall consist of the identification of 

8 countries (and the associated assessment of their ef9 forts) under subsection (c)(3). 

10 (e) TIME FOR SUBMISSION.—The Secretary shall 

11 submit the Annual Report on May 3 of each year, declared 

12 by the United Nations General Assembly as World Press 

13 Freedom Day, or the first day thereafter on which either 

14 House of Congress is in session. 

15 (f) UNCLASSIFIED FORM.—The Annual Report shall 

16 be submitted in unclassified form. 

17 SEC. 4. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS GRANT PROGRAM. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall ad19 minister a grant program with the aim of promoting free20 dom of the press worldwide. The grant program shall be 

21 administered by the Department of State’s Bureau of De22 mocracy, Human Rights and Labor as part of the Human 

23 Rights Democracy Fund (HRDF). 

24 (b) AMOUNTS AND TIME.—Grants may be awarded 

25 to nonprofit and international organizations in amounts 


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1 ranging from $70,000 to $150,000 annually. Grants may 

2 span multiple years, up to five years. 

3 (c) PURPOSE.—Grant proposals should promote and 

4 broaden press freedoms by strengthening the independ5 ence of journalists and media organizations, promoting a 

6 legal framework for freedom of the press, or through pro7 viding regionally and culturally relevant training and 

8 professionalization of skills to meet international stand9 ards in both traditional and digital media. 

10 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec12 retary of State $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

13 to 2014 to carry out this Act. 

14 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—The term ‘‘Annual Re17 port’’ means the Annual Report on the Status of 

18 Freedom of the Press Worldwide required under 

19 subsection (a). 

20 (2) MEDIA ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘media 

21 organization’’ means a group or organization that 

22 gathers and disseminates news and information to 

23 the public (through any medium of mass commu24 nication) in a foreign country in which the group or 

25 organization is located, except that the term does 


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1 not include a group or organization that is primarily 

2 an agency or instrumentality of the government of 

3 such foreign country. The term includes an indi4 vidual who is an agent or employee of such group or 

5 organization who acts within the scope of such agen6 cy or employment. 

7 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of State. 

Æ 


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