II 

Calendar No. 246 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1739 

To promote freedom of the press around the world. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 1, 2009 

Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. KAUFMAN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

CASEY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

DECEMBER 18, 2009 

Reported by Mr. KERRY, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To promote freedom of the press around the world. 

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. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. 

7 (a) INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RE8 LATING TO FREEDOM OF THE PRESS WORLDWIDE IN ANVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:40 Dec 18, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1739.RS S1739

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1 NUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRAC2 TICES.—The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amend3 ed— 

4 (1) in section 116(d) (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d))— 

5 (A) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

6 at the end; 

7 (B) in paragraph (11), by striking the pe8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(12) wherever applicable— 

12 ‘‘(A) a description of the status of freedom 

13 of the press, including initiatives in favor of 

14 freedom of the press and efforts to improve or 

15 preserve, as appropriate, the independence of 

16 the media, together with an assessment of 

17 progress made as a result of those efforts; 

18 ‘‘(B) an identification of countries in which 

19 there were violations of freedom of the press, 

20 including direct physical attacks, imprisonment, 

21 indirect sources of pressure, and censorship by 

22 governments, military, intelligence, or police 

23 forces, criminal groups, or armed extremist or 

24 rebel groups; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) in countries where there are particu2 larly severe violations of freedom of the press— 

3 ‘‘(i) whether government authorities 

4 of each such country participate in, facili5 tate, or condone such violations of the free6 dom of the press; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) what steps the government of 

8 each such country has taken to preserve 

9 the safety and independence of the media, 

10 and to ensure the prosecution of those in11 dividuals who attack or murder journal12 ists.’’; and 

13 (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304), by add14 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(i) The report required by subsection (b) shall in16 clude, wherever applicable— 

17 ‘‘(1) a description of the status of freedom of 

18 the press, including initiatives in favor of freedom of 

19 the press and efforts to improve or preserve, as ap20 propriate, the independence of the media, together 

21 with an assessment of progress made as a result of 

22 those efforts; 

23 ‘‘(2) an identification of countries in which 

24 there were violations of freedom of the press, includ25 ing direct physical attacks, imprisonment, indirect 


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1 sources of pressure, and censorship by governments, 

2 military, intelligence, or police forces, criminal 

3 groups, or armed extremist or rebel groups; and 

4 ‘‘(3) in countries where there are particularly 

5 severe violations of freedom of the press— 

6 ‘‘(A) whether government authorities of 

7 each such country participate in, facilitate, or 

8 condone such violations of the freedom of the 

9 press; and 

10 ‘‘(B) what steps the government of each 

11 such country has taken to preserve the safety 

12 and independence of the media, and to ensure 

13 the prosecution of those individuals who attack 

14 or murder journalists.’’. 

15 (b) FREEDOM OF THE PRESS GRANT PROGRAM.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 

17 administer a grant program with the aim of pro18 moting freedom of the press worldwide. The grant 

19 program shall be administered by the Department of 

20 State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and 

21 Labor in consultation with the Undersecretary for 

22 Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy. 

23 (2) AMOUNTS AND TIME.—Grants may be 

24 awarded to nonprofit and international organizations 

25 and may span multiple years, up to 5 years. 


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1 (3) PURPOSE.—Grant proposals should promote 

2 and broaden press freedoms by strengthening the 

3 independence of journalists and media organizations, 

4 promoting a legal framework for freedom of the 

5 press, or through providing regionally and culturally 

6 relevant training and professionalization of skills to 

7 meet international standards in both traditional and 

8 digital media. 

9 (c) MEDIA ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In this sec10 tion, the term ‘‘media organization’’ means a group or or11 ganization that gathers and disseminates news and infor12 mation to the public (through any medium of mass com13 munication) in a foreign country in which the group or 

14 organization is located, except that the term does not in15 clude a group or organization that is primarily an agency 

16 or instrumentality of the government of such foreign coun17 try. The term includes an individual who is an agent or 

18 employee of such group or organization who acts within 

19 the scope of such agency or employment. 

20 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

22 necessary to carry out this section. 

23 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

25 of the Press Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELAT2 ING TO FREEDOM OF THE PRESS WORLDWIDE 

3 IN ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN 

4 RIGHTS PRACTICES. 

5 The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended— 

6 (1) in section 116(d) (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d))— 

7 (A) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

8 at the end; 

9 (B) in paragraph (11), by striking the pe10 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(12) wherever applicable— 

14 ‘‘(A) a description of the status of freedom 

15 of the press, including initiatives in favor of 

16 freedom of the press and efforts to improve or 

17 preserve, as appropriate, the independence of the 

18 media, together with an assessment of progress 

19 made as a result of those efforts; 

20 ‘‘(B) an identification of countries in which 

21 there were violations of freedom of the press, in22 cluding direct physical attacks, imprisonment, 

23 indirect sources of pressure, and censorship by 

24 governments, military, intelligence, or police 

25 forces, criminal groups, or armed extremist or 

26 rebel groups; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) in countries where there are particu2 larly severe violations of freedom of the press— 

3 ‘‘(i) whether government authorities of 

4 each such country participate in, facilitate, 

5 or condone such violations of the freedom of 

6 the press; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) what steps the government of each 

8 such country has taken to preserve the safe9 ty and independence of the media, and to 

10 ensure the prosecution of those individuals 

11 who attack or murder journalists.’’; and 

12 (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304), by adding 

13 at the end the following new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(i) The report required by subsection (b) shall in15 clude, wherever applicable— 

16 ‘‘(1) a description of the status of freedom of the 

17 press, including initiatives in favor of freedom of the 

18 press and efforts to improve or preserve, as appro19 priate, the independence of the media, together with 

20 an assessment of progress made as a result of those 

21 efforts; 

22 ‘‘(2) an identification of countries in which there 

23 were violations of freedom of the press, including di24 rect physical attacks, imprisonment, indirect sources 

25 of pressure, and censorship by governments, military, 


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1 intelligence, or police forces, criminal groups, or 

2 armed extremist or rebel groups; and 

3 ‘‘(3) in countries where there are particularly se4 vere violations of freedom of the press— 

5 ‘‘(A) whether government authorities of each 

6 such country participate in, facilitate, or con7 done such violations of the freedom of the press; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) what steps the government of each such 

10 country has taken to preserve the safety and 

11 independence of the media, and to ensure the 

12 prosecution of those individuals who attack or 

13 murder journalists.’’. 


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Calendar No. 246 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1739 

A BILL 

To promote freedom of the press around the world. 

DECEMBER 18, 2009 

Reported with an amendment 


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