[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3714 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3714

 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, establish a grant program to promote 
        freedom of the press worldwide, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 1, 2009

 Mr. Schiff (for himself and Mr. Pence) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 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, establish a grant program to promote 
        freedom of the press worldwide, 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. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.

    (a) 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 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.''.
    (b) Freedom of the Press Grant Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of State shall administer a 
        grant program with the aim of promoting freedom of the press 
        worldwide. The grant program shall be administered by the 
        Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and 
        Labor in consultation with the Undersecretary for Public 
        Affairs and Public Diplomacy.
            (2) Amounts and time.--Grants may be awarded to nonprofit 
        and international organizations and may span multiple years, up 
        to five years.
            (3) Purpose.--Grant proposals should promote and broaden 
        press freedoms by strengthening the independence of journalists 
        and media organizations, promoting a legal framework for 
        freedom of the press, or through providing regionally and 
        culturally relevant training and professionalization of skills 
        to meet international standards in both traditional and digital 
        media.
    (c) Media Organization Defined.--In this section, the term ``media 
organization'' means a group or organization that gathers and 
disseminates news and information to the public (through any medium of 
mass communication) in a foreign country in which the group or 
organization is located, except that the term does not include a group 
or organization that is primarily an agency or instrumentality of the 
government of such foreign country. The term includes an individual who 
is an agent or employee of such group or organization who acts within 
the scope of such agency or employment.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
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