I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3714 

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include in the Annual 

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices information about freedom 

of the press in foreign countries, establish a grant program to promote 

freedom of the press worldwide, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 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 amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include 

in the Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices information about freedom of the press in foreign 

countries, establish a grant program to promote freedom 

of the press worldwide, and for other purposes. 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. 

2 (a) INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RE3 LATING TO FREEDOM OF THE PRESS WORLDWIDE IN AN4 NUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRAC5 TICES.—The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) in section 116(d) (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)), as 

8 amended by section 333(c) of this division— 

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

10 at the end; 

11 (B) in paragraph (11)— 

12 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

15 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

16 and’’; and 

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

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(12) wherever applicable— 

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

21 of the press, including initiatives in favor of 

22 freedom of the press and efforts to improve or 

23 preserve, as appropriate, the independence of 

24 the media, together with an assessment of 

25 progress made as a result of those efforts; 


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

2 there were violations of freedom of the press, 

3 including direct physical attacks, imprisonment, 

4 indirect sources of pressure, and censorship by 

5 governments, military, intelligence, or police 

6 forces, criminal groups, or armed extremist or 

7 rebel groups; and 

8 ‘‘(C) in countries where there are particu9 larly severe violations of freedom of the press— 

10 ‘‘(i) whether government authorities 

11 of each such country participate in, facili12 tate, or condone such violations of the free13 dom of the press; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) what steps the government of 

15 each such country has taken to preserve 

16 the safety and independence of the media, 

17 and to ensure the prosecution of those in18 dividuals who attack or murder journal19 ists.’’; and 

20 (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304), by add21 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(i) The report required by subsection (b) shall in23 clude, wherever applicable— 

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

25 the press, including initiatives in favor of freedom of 


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1 the press and efforts to improve or preserve, as ap2 propriate, the independence of the media, together 

3 with an assessment of progress made as a result of 

4 those efforts; 

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

6 there were violations of freedom of the press, includ7 ing direct physical attacks, imprisonment, indirect 

8 sources of pressure, and censorship by governments, 

9 military, intelligence, or police forces, criminal 

10 groups, or armed extremist or rebel groups; and 

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

12 severe violations of freedom of the press— 

13 ‘‘(A) whether government authorities of 

14 each such country participate in, facilitate, or 

15 condone such violations of the freedom of the 

16 press; and 

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

18 such country has taken to preserve the safety 

19 and independence of the media, and to ensure 

20 the prosecution of those individuals who attack 

21 or murder journalists.’’. 

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

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

24 administer a grant program with the aim of pro25 moting freedom of the press worldwide. The grant 


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1 program shall be administered by the Department of 

2 State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and 

3 Labor in consultation with the Undersecretary for 

4 Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy. 

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

6 awarded to nonprofit and international organizations 

7 and may span multiple years, up to five years. 

8 (3) PURPOSE.—Grant proposals should promote 

9 and broaden press freedoms by strengthening the 

10 independence of journalists and media organizations, 

11 promoting a legal framework for freedom of the 

12 press, or through providing regionally and culturally 

13 relevant training and professionalization of skills to 

14 meet international standards in both traditional and 

15 digital media. 

16 (c) MEDIA ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In this sec17 tion, the term ‘‘media organization’’ means a group or or18 ganization that gathers and disseminates news and infor19 mation to the public (through any medium of mass com20 munication) in a foreign country in which the group or 

21 organization is located, except that the term does not in22 clude a group or organization that is primarily an agency 

23 or instrumentality of the government of such foreign coun24 try. The term includes an individual who is an agent or 


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1 employee of such group or organization who acts within 

2 the scope of such agency or employment. 

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec5 essary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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