IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1192 
Recognizing widening threats to freedom of the press and free expression 
around the world, reaffirming the vital role that a free and independent 
press plays in countering the growing threats of authoritarianism, misin-
formation, and disinformation, and reaffirming freedom of the press 
as a priority of the United States Government in promoting democracy, 
human rights, and good governance in commemoration of World Press 
Freedom Day on May 3, 2024. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 2, 2024 
Mr. SCHIFF submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing widening threats to freedom of the press and 
free expression around the world, reaffirming the vital 
role that a free and independent press plays in coun-
tering the growing threats of authoritarianism, misin-
formation, and disinformation, and reaffirming freedom 
of the press as a priority of the United States Govern-
ment in promoting democracy, human rights, and good 
governance in commemoration of World Press Freedom 
Day on May 3, 2024. 
Whereas the First Amendment to the Constitution and var-
ious State constitutions protect freedom of the press in 
the United States; 
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•HRES 1192 IH 
Whereas Thomas Jefferson, who championed the necessity of 
a free press for a thriving democratic society, wisely de-
clared, ‘‘Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, 
and that cannot be limited without being lost’’; 
Whereas Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declara-
tion of Human Rights, adopted in Paris on December 10, 
1948, states, ‘‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opin-
ion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold 
opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and 
impart information and ideas through any media and re-
gardless of frontiers’’; 
Whereas, in 1993, the United Nations General Assembly pro-
claimed the third day of May of each year to be ‘‘World 
Press Freedom Day’’ to— 
(1) celebrate the fundamental principles of press 
freedom; 
(2) evaluate press freedom around the world; 
(3) defend the media against attacks on its inde-
pendence; and 
(4) pay tribute to journalists who have lost their 
lives while working in their profession; 
Whereas the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act of 2009 
(Public Law 111–166) expanded the examination of the 
freedom of the press around the world in the annual 
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices published 
by the Department of State; 
Whereas, on December 18, 2013, and December 18, 2019, 
the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 
68/163 and Resolution 74/157, respectively, on the safety 
of journalists and the problem of impunity by unequivo-
cally condemning all attacks on, and violence against, 
journalists 
and 
media 
workers, 
including 
torture, 
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•HRES 1192 IH 
extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, arbitrary de-
tention, and intimidation and harassment in conflict and 
nonconflict situations; 
Whereas the United States Government has used the Global 
Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F 
of title XII of Public Law 114–328) to place targeted 
visa and economic sanctions on individuals, including for 
their roles in the targeted killings of journalists; 
Whereas, in an effort to counter attacks against journalists, 
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, in February 2021, 
announced the Khashoggi Ban, a policy allowing the De-
partment of State to impose visa restrictions on individ-
uals who, acting on behalf of a foreign government, are 
believed to have been directly engaged in serious, 
extraterritorial counterdissident activities, including ac-
tivities that suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or harm 
journalists, activists, or other persons perceived to be dis-
sidents for their work; 
Whereas compiled data from Reporters Without Borders pro-
vides alarming indications about growing divisions result-
ing from the spread of disinformation with the potential 
to weaken democratic societies; 
Whereas, according to Reporters Without Borders, a total of 
521 journalists were in prison and 84 were missing as of 
December 14, 2023; 
Whereas, according to Reporters Without Borders, 45 jour-
nalists around the world were killed in direct connection 
with their work in 2023; 
Whereas Reporters Without Borders notes that punishments 
against women journalists are increasing disproportion-
ately, with the number of women journalists in prison ris-
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