II 

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 introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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 AN9 NUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRAC10 TICES.—The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amend11 ed— 

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


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

2 at the end; 

3 (B) in paragraph (11), by striking the pe4 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(12) wherever applicable— 

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

9 of the press, including initiatives in favor of 

10 freedom of the press and efforts to improve or 

11 preserve, as appropriate, the independence of 

12 the media, together with an assessment of 

13 progress made as a result of those efforts; 

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

15 there were violations of freedom of the press, 

16 including direct physical attacks, imprisonment, 

17 indirect sources of pressure, and censorship by 

18 governments, military, intelligence, or police 

19 forces, criminal groups, or armed extremist or 

20 rebel groups; and 

21 ‘‘(C) in countries where there are particu22 larly severe violations of freedom of the press— 

23 ‘‘(i) whether government authorities 

24 of each such country participate in, faciliVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:32 Oct 02, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739

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1 tate, or condone such violations of the free2 dom of the press; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) what steps the government of 

4 each such country has taken to preserve 

5 the safety and independence of the media, 

6 and to ensure the prosecution of those in7 dividuals who attack or murder journal8 ists.’’; and 

9 (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304), by add10 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(i) The report required by subsection (b) shall in12 clude, wherever applicable— 

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

14 the press, including initiatives in favor of freedom of 

15 the press and efforts to improve or preserve, as ap16 propriate, the independence of the media, together 

17 with an assessment of progress made as a result of 

18 those efforts; 

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

20 there were violations of freedom of the press, includ21 ing direct physical attacks, imprisonment, indirect 

22 sources of pressure, and censorship by governments, 

23 military, intelligence, or police forces, criminal 

24 groups, or armed extremist or rebel groups; and 


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

2 severe violations of freedom of the press— 

3 ‘‘(A) whether government authorities of 

4 each such country participate in, facilitate, or 

5 condone such violations of the freedom of the 

6 press; and 

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

8 such country has taken to preserve the safety 

9 and independence of the media, and to ensure 

10 the prosecution of those individuals who attack 

11 or murder journalists.’’. 

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

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

14 administer a grant program with the aim of pro15 moting freedom of the press worldwide. The grant 

16 program shall be administered by the Department of 

17 State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and 

18 Labor in consultation with the Undersecretary for 

19 Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy. 

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

21 awarded to nonprofit and international organizations 

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

23 (3) PURPOSE.—Grant proposals should promote 

24 and broaden press freedoms by strengthening the 

25 independence of journalists and media organizations, 


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1 promoting a legal framework for freedom of the 

2 press, or through providing regionally and culturally 

3 relevant training and professionalization of skills to 

4 meet international standards in both traditional and 

5 digital media. 

6 (c) MEDIA ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In this sec7 tion, the term ‘‘media organization’’ means a group or or8 ganization that gathers and disseminates news and infor9 mation to the public (through any medium of mass com10 munication) in a foreign country in which the group or 

11 organization is located, except that the term does not in12 clude a group or organization that is primarily an agency 

13 or instrumentality of the government of such foreign coun14 try. The term includes an individual who is an agent or 

15 employee of such group or organization who acts within 

16 the scope of such agency or employment. 

17 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

19 necessary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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