III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 601 

Condemning the decision by President Donald Trump and the White House 

to ban members of the media from White House events for asking 

critical questions of the President, and affirming the importance of 

a free and unfettered press in our democracy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2018 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. MENENDEZ, 

Mr. UDALL, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. CARDIN, 

and Ms. HASSAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the decision by President Donald Trump and 

the White House to ban members of the media from 

White House events for asking critical questions of the 

President, and affirming the importance of a free and 

unfettered press in our democracy. 

Whereas President Donald Trump repeatedly refers to reputable journalists and multiple media organizations as 

‘‘fake news’’; 

Whereas President Trump has characterized media organizations as ‘‘a stain on America’’; 

Whereas President Trump has also characterized media organizations as ‘‘the real enemy of the people’’, while simulVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Aug 01, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR601.IS SR601

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•SRES 601 IS 

taneously characterizing his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin as ‘‘a great success’’; 

Whereas President Trump has threatened media organizations such as CNN and the Washington Post with antitrust actions while ignoring antitrust concerns with news 

organizations that provide him favorable coverage; 

Whereas, on July 25, 2016, the White House singled out 

CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins and barred her from attending an event at the White House Rose Garden; 

Whereas Ms. Collins asked President Trump questions regarding his former attorney Michael Cohen and Russian 

President Vladimir Putin, which he did not answer, at 

the White House press pool earlier in the day; 

Whereas the White House alleged that Ms. Collins’ questions 

were inappropriate for the venue; 

Whereas the White House’s justification for removing Ms. 

Collins was clearly a pretext, and the real reason she was 

removed was that President Trump didn’t like Ms. Collins’ questions, which made him uncomfortable; 

Whereas President Trump has threatened to take away the 

White House press credentials of journalists whose coverage he does not like; 

Whereas the decision to bar a member of the press from the 

White House for the questions the member asked is retaliatory in nature, violates the spirit of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and is not 

indicative of an open and free press; and 

Whereas a free and unfettered press is the cornerstone of our 

democracy: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


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•SRES 601 IS 

1 (1) condemns the decision by President Donald 

2 Trump and the White House to bar Kaitlan Collins 

3 from the White House; 

4 (2) condemns the escalating attacks by Presi5 dent Trump on reputable journalists and news orga6 nizations as ‘‘fake news’’, ‘‘a stain on America’’, and 

7 ‘‘the real enemy of the people’’; 

8 (3) affirms that it is necessary and appropriate 

9 for reporters to ask questions of powerful govern10 ment officials, including the President of the United 

11 States, in order to hold these officials accountable to 

12 the people of the United States; and 

13 (4) affirms that reporters and journalists must 

14 be able to feel free to do their duty without fear of 

15 reprisal from the Government. 

Æ 


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