IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 345 

Recognizing widening threats to freedoms of the press and expression around 

the world, reaffirming the centrality of a free and independent press 

to the health of democracy, and reaffirming freedom of the press as 

a priority of the United States in promoting democracy, human rights, 

and good governance in commemoration of World Press Freedom Day 

on May 3, 2019. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 1, 2019 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself and Mr. CHABOT) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing widening threats to freedoms of the press and 

expression around the world, reaffirming the centrality 

of a free and independent press to the health of democracy, and reaffirming freedom of the press as a priority 

of the United States in promoting democracy, human 

rights, and good governance in commemoration of World 

Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2019. 

Whereas Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted at Paris, December 10, 

1948, states, ‘‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold 

opinions without interference and to seek, receive and imVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 May 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR345.IH HR345

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part information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.’’; 

Whereas, in 1993, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed May 3 of each year as ‘‘World Press Freedom 

Day’’— 

(1) to celebrate the fundamental principles of freedom of the press; 

(2) to evaluate freedom of the press around the 

world; 

(3) to defend the media against attacks on its independence; and 

(4) to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their 

lives while working in their profession; 

Whereas, on December 18, 2013, the United Nations General 

Assembly adopted Resolution 68/163 on the safety of 

journalists and the problem of impunity, which unequivocally condemns all attacks on, and violence against, journalists and media workers, including torture, extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, 

and intimidation and harassment in conflict and nonconflict situations; 

Whereas the theme for World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 

2019, is ‘‘Media for Democracy: Journalism and Democracy in Times of Disinformation’’; 

Whereas Thomas Jefferson, who recognized the importance 

of the press in a constitutional republic, wisely declared, 

‘‘. . . were it left to me to decide whether we should have 

a government without newspapers, or newspapers without 

a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer 

the latter.’’; 


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Whereas the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act of 2009 

(Public Law 111–166; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note), signed into 

law by President Barack Obama in 2010, expanded the 

examination of the freedom of the press around the world 

in the annual country reports on human rights practices 

of the Department of State; 

Whereas the 2019 World Press Freedom Index, published by 

Reporters Without Borders, warns, ‘‘The number of 

countries regarded as safe, where journalists can work in 

complete security, continues to decline, while authoritarian regimes tighten their grip on the media’’; 

Whereas, Freedom House’s publication ‘‘Freedom in the 

World 2019’’ noted that global freedom of expression has 

declined each year for the past 13 years; 

Whereas, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 

in 2018— 

(1) at least 54 journalists were killed around the 

world for their work, of which at least 34 were singled 

out for murder; 

(2) the 2 deadliest countries for journalists on assignment were Afghanistan and Syria; 

(3) the most dangerous subject for a journalist to 

report on was politics, followed by war; 

(4) 251 journalists worldwide were in prison, with 

Turkey, China, and Egypt responsible for more than half 

of the jailed journalists; 

(5) 13 percent of the journalists in jail were female, 

an increase from 8 percent in 2017; 

(6) 70 percent of the journalists who were imprisoned around the world faced antistate charges, such as 

belonging to or aiding groups deemed by authorities as 

terrorist organizations; and 


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(7) the number of journalists imprisoned on charges 

of false news rose to 28 globally, compared with 9 such 

imprisonments in 2016; 

Whereas the People’s Republic of China maintains one of the 

worst media environments in the world and seeks to curtail political speech inside and outside the country including by— 

(1) targeting independent and foreign media in 

China through systematic harassment including the denial of visas to foreign journalists, imprisonment, the denial of medical care to imprisoned journalists, and curtailing access to legal representation; 

(2) pervasively monitoring and censoring online and 

social media content, including through the banning of 

virtual private networks; 

(3) using the full force of the State to stifle internal 

dissent including dissent online, particularly dissent that 

could lead to political change and content that criticizes 

China’s leaders, however trivial, reportedly even to the 

point of censoring comparisons of Xi Jingping’s looks 

with Winnie the Pooh; 

(4) spreading propaganda to foreign audiences 

through the United Front Work Department and related 

activities; 

(5) seeking to intimidate American-based journalists 

working for Radio Free Asia and reporting on gross 

human rights violations in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by jailing or otherwise harassing members of their families; and 

(6) championing a ‘‘sovereign Internet’’ model and 

exporting technology to enhance the ability of like-minded 

authoritarian regimes to suppress dissent online and 

monitor the activity of their people; 


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Whereas, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, recipients of the 2018 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write 

Award— 

(1) were arrested in December 2017 for investigating the murder by the Burmese military of 10 

Rohingya men in the village of Inn Dinn in Rakhine 

State; 

(2) were sentenced in September 2018 to 7 years in 

prison on fraudulent charges of breaching the colonial-era 

Official Secrets Act, and remain unjustly imprisoned; and 

(3) remain unjustly detained, after Burma’s Supreme Court rejected their appeal on April 23, 2019; 

Whereas freedom of the press has been under considerable 

pressure in recent years throughout Southeast Asia, including in the Philippines, where the Government has 

waged a campaign of judicial harassment against the 

news website Rappler and its editor, Maria Ressa; 

Whereas, Nouf Abdulaziz, Loujain Al-Hathloul, and Eman 

Al-Nafjan, recipients of the 2019 PEN/Barbey Freedom 

to Write Award, who wrote in opposition to Saudi Arabia’s repressive Guardianship system, have been subjected to imprisonment, solitary confinement, and torture 

by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since 

May 2018 in an apparent effort to suppress dissent and 

silence the voices of women; 

Whereas, Washington Post journalist and United States resident Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by a team of Saudi 

operatives while visiting the Saudi Arabian consulate in 

Istanbul, Turkey; 

Whereas the Senate unanimously approved a resolution stating that Mr. Khashoggi’s murder was carried out at the 

behest of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; 


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Whereas journalist Mimi Mefo Takambou was jailed for 4 

days in Cameroon in November 2018 on charges of 

spreading false news while investigating the death of an 

American missionary, where 4 out of the 7 total journalists imprisoned in Cameroon were jailed for spreading 

false news, which is a rising trend in Cameroon and elsewhere around the world; 

Whereas according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 

at least 26 journalists were killed in Honduras since 

2007, making it one of the most deadly countries for 

journalists in the Americas, and where journalist 

Leonardo Gabriel Hernandez was murdered in March 

2019 after receiving threats related to his work; 

Whereas in Nicaragua, Miguel Mora and Lucı ́a Pineda Ubau, 

the directors of the country’s only 24-hour cable news 

network, have been jailed since December 2018 on 

charges of fomenting hate, spreading fake news, and terrorism, and prominent journalist Carlos Fernando 

Chamorro has fled the country as President Daniel Ortega cracks down on free expression in a bid to silence 

dissent and end the protests against him; 

Whereas in Mexico, which remains the most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere for journalists— 

(1) murders, death threats, and legal impunity cause 

journalists to self-censor their reporting out of fear; 

(2) investigative journalist Carlos Dominguez Ramirez, who wrote frequently on local politics and corruption, 

was brutally murdered in front of family members on 

January 13, 2018, in Nuevo Laredo, and a politician he 

was investigating was subsequently arrested in connection 

with this heinous act; and 


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(3) Rafael Muru ́a Manrı ́quez was abducted and murdered in January 2019 after reporting threats from an 

official in the municipal government for critical reporting; 

Whereas Slovakian journalist Ja ́n Kuciak and his partner 

Martina Kusˇnı ́rova ́ were murdered in February 2018, allegedly in retaliation for his investigative reporting of tax 

fraud in connection to a businessman with close ties to 

Slovakia’s ruling party, where the perpetrator awaits 

trial, just 4 months after the murder of another European journalist, Malta’s Daphne Caruana Galizia, for her 

reporting on corruption; 

Whereas the world’s growing cadre of ethical and hard-hitting 

investigative journalists, including those contributing to 

the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project— 

(1) adhere to the highest professional standards; 

(2) uncover abuses and corruption being committed 

in their own countries; and 

(3) deserve the international community’s support 

and praise for taking on the risky job of fostering accountability and transparency in their respective countries; 

Whereas, under the auspices of the United States Agency for 

Global Media, the United States Government provides financial assistance to several editorially independent 

media outlets, including Voice of America, Radio Free 

Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio y Television Marti, and the Middle East Broadcast Networks— 

(1) which report and broadcast news, information, 

and analysis in critical regions around the world; and 

(2) whose journalists regularly face harassment, 

fines, and imprisonment for their work; and 

Whereas freedom of the press— 


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(1) is a key component of democratic governance, 

activism in civil society, and socioeconomic development; 

and 

(2) enhances public accountability, transparency, 

and participation in civil society and democratic governance: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) expresses concern about threats to freedom 

3 of the press and free expression around the world on 

4 the occasion of World Press Freedom Day; 

5 (2) commends journalists and media workers 

6 around the world, despite threats to their safety, for 

7 their essential role in— 

8 (A) promoting government accountability; 

9 (B) defending democratic activity; and 

10 (C) strengthening civil society; 

11 (3) pays tribute to journalists who have lost 

12 their lives carrying out their work; 

13 (4) calls on governments abroad to implement 

14 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 163 

15 (2013) by thoroughly investigating and seeking to 

16 resolve outstanding cases of violence against journal17 ists, including murders and kidnappings, while en18 suring the protection of witnesses; 

19 (5) condemns all actions around the world that 

20 suppress freedom of the press; 


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1 (6) reaffirms the centrality of freedom of the 

2 press to efforts of the United States Government to 

3 support democracy, mitigate conflict, and promote 

4 good governance around the world; and 

5 (7) calls on the President and the Secretary of 

6 State— 

7 (A) to preserve and build upon the leader8 ship of the United States on issues relating to 

9 freedom of the press, on the basis of the protec10 tions afforded the American people under the 

11 First Amendment to the Constitution of the 

12 United States; 

13 (B) to improve the rapid identification, 

14 publication, and response by the United States 

15 Government to threats against freedom of the 

16 press around the world; 

17 (C) to urge foreign governments to trans18 parently investigate and bring to justice the 

19 perpetrators of attacks against journalists; and 

20 (D) to highlight the issue of threats 

21 against freedom of the press in the annual 

22 country reports on human rights practices of 

23 the Department of State and through diplo24 matic channels. 

Æ 


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