H. R. 3714 

One Hundred Eleventh Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the fifth day of January, two thousand and ten 

An Act 

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, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

Press Act of 2009’’. 

SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATING TO 

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS WORLDWIDE IN ANNUAL COUNTRY 

REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES. 

The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended— 

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

by section 333(c) of this division— 

(A) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

(B) in paragraph (11)— 

(i) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

end; and 

(ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 

at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

(C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

‘‘(12) wherever applicable— 

‘‘(A) a description of the status of freedom of the press, 

including initiatives in favor of freedom of the press and 

efforts to improve or preserve, as appropriate, the independence of the media, together with an assessment of progress 

made as a result of those efforts; 

‘‘(B) an identification of countries in which there were 

violations of freedom of the press, including direct physical 

attacks, imprisonment, indirect sources of pressure, and 

censorship by governments, military, intelligence, or police 

forces, criminal groups, or armed extremist or rebel groups; 

and 

‘‘(C) in countries where there are particularly severe 

violations of freedom of the press— 

‘‘(i) whether government authorities of each such 

country participate in, facilitate, or condone such violations of the freedom of the press; and 

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

country has taken to preserve the safety and independence of the media, and to ensure the prosecution of 
H. R. 3714—2 

those individuals who attack or murder journalists.’’; 

and 

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

end the following new subsection: 

‘‘(i) The report required by subsection (b) shall include, wherever applicable— 

‘‘(1) a description of the status of freedom of the press, 

including initiatives in favor of freedom of the press and efforts 

to improve or preserve, as appropriate, the independence of 

the media, together with an assessment of progress made as 

a result of those efforts; 

‘‘(2) an identification of countries in which there were violations of freedom of the press, including direct physical attacks, 

imprisonment, indirect sources of pressure, and censorship by 

governments, military, intelligence, or police forces, criminal 

groups, or armed extremist or rebel groups; and 

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

‘‘(A) whether government authorities of each such 

country participate in, facilitate, or condone such violations 

of the freedom of the press; and 

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

has taken to preserve the safety and independence of the 

media, and to ensure the prosecution of those individuals 

who attack or murder journalists.’’. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.