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extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, arbitrary de-
tention, and intimidation and harassment in conflict and 
nonconflict situations; 
Whereas the theme for World Press Freedom Day 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.’’; 
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 authori-
tarian 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;
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(2) the two deadliest countries for journalists on as-
signment 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 impris-
oned around the world faced antistate charges, such as 
belonging to or aiding groups deemed by authorities as 
terrorist organizations; and 
(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 cur-
tail political speech inside and outside the country includ-
ing by— 
(1) targeting independent and foreign media in 
China through systematic harassment including the de-
nial of visas to foreign journalists, imprisonment, the de-
nial of medical care to imprisoned journalists, and cur-
tailing 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
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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 Au-
tonomous Region by jailing or otherwise harassing mem-
bers 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; 
Whereas, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, re-
cipients of the 2018 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write 
Award 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 and were un-
justly detained for 500 days before they were released on 
May 7, 2019, as part of a mass amnesty of 6,520 pris-
oners; 
Whereas freedom of the press has been under considerable 
pressure in recent years throughout Southeast Asia, in-
cluding 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 Ara-
bia’s repressive Guardianship system, have been sub-
jected to imprisonment, solitary confinement, and torture
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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 resi-
dent 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 stat-
ing that Mr. Khashoggi’s murder was carried out at the 
behest of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; 
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 four out of the seven 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 ter-
rorism, and prominent journalist Carlos Fernando 
Chamorro has fled the country as President Daniel Or-
tega cracks down on free expression in a bid to silence 
dissent and end the protests against him;
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Whereas in Mexico, which remains the most dangerous coun-
try 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 Rami-
rez, 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 
(3) Rafael Muru´a Manrı´quez was abducted and mur-
dered 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, al-
legedly 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 Euro-
pean 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 ac-
countability and transparency in their respective coun-
tries;
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Whereas, under the auspices of the United States Agency for 
Global Media, the United States Government provides fi-
nancial assistance to several editorially independent 
media outlets, including Voice of America, Radio Free 
Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio y Tele-
vision 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— 
(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 govern-
ance: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) condemns threats to freedom of the press and 
free expression around the world; 
(2) remembers the bravery of journalists and media 
workers around the world who, despite threats to their 
safety, play an essential role in— 
(A) promoting government accountability; 
(B) defending democratic activity; and 
(C) strengthening civil society; 
(3) remembers journalists who have lost their lives 
carrying out their work;
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(4) calls on governments abroad to implement 
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 163 (2013) 
by thoroughly investigating and seeking to resolve out-
standing cases of violence against journalists, including 
murders and kidnappings, while ensuring the protection 
of witnesses; 
(5) condemns all actions around the world that sup-
press freedom of the press; 
(6) reaffirms the centrality of freedom of the press 
to efforts of the United States Government to support 
democracy, mitigate conflict, and promote good govern-
ance around the world; and 
(7) calls on the President and the Secretary of 
State— 
(A) to preserve and build upon the leadership 
of the United States on issues relating to freedom 
of the press, on the basis of the protections afforded 
the American people under the First Amendment to 
the Constitution of the United States; 
(B) to improve the rapid identification, publi-
cation, and response by the United States Govern-
ment to threats against freedom of the press 
around the world;
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(C) to urge foreign governments to trans-
parently investigate and bring to justice the per-
petrators of attacks against journalists; and 
(D) to highlight the issue of threats against 
freedom of the press in the annual country reports 
on human rights practices of the Department of 
State and through diplomatic channels. 
Attest: 
Clerk.