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 democ-
racy, 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 Declara-
tion of Human Rights, adopted at Paris, 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 im-
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part information and ideas through any media and re-
gardless of frontiers.’’; 
Whereas, in 1993, the United Nations General Assembly pro-
claimed May 3 of each year as ‘‘World Press Freedom 
Day’’— 
(1) to celebrate the fundamental principles of free-
dom of the press; 
(2) to evaluate freedom of the press around the 
world; 
(3) to defend the media against attacks on its inde-
pendence; 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 unequivo-
cally condemns all attacks on, and violence against, jour-
nalists and media workers, including torture, extrajudi-
cial killing, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, 
and intimidation and harassment in conflict and noncon-
flict situations; 
Whereas the theme for World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 
2019, is ‘‘Media for Democracy: Journalism and Democ-
racy 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 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; 
(2) the 2 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 
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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 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 
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; 
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Whereas, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, re-
cipients of the 2018 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write 
Award— 
(1) were arrested in December 2017 for inves-
tigating 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 Su-
preme Court rejected their appeal on April 23, 2019; 
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 
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; 
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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 journal-
ists imprisoned in Cameroon were jailed for spreading 
false news, which is a rising trend in Cameroon and else-
where 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; 
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 
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(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; 
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— 
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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 govern-
ance: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) expresses concern about threats to freedom 
of the press and free expression around the world on 
the occasion of World Press Freedom Day; 
(2) commends journalists and media workers 
around the world, despite threats to their safety, for 
their essential role in— 
(A) promoting government accountability; 
(B) defending democratic activity; and 
(C) strengthening civil society; 
(3) pays tribute to journalists who have lost 
their lives carrying out their work; 
(4) calls on governments abroad to implement 
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 163 
(2013) by thoroughly investigating and seeking to 
resolve outstanding cases of violence against journal-
ists, including murders and kidnappings, while en-
suring the protection of witnesses; 
(5) condemns all actions around the world that 
suppress freedom of the press; 
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