[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1739 Reported in Senate (RS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 246
111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1739

           To promote freedom of the press around the world.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 1, 2009

   Mr. Dodd (for himself, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Kaufman, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
 Casey, Mrs. Gillibrand, and Mr. Leahy) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

                           December 18, 2009

                Reported by Mr. Kerry, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
           To promote freedom of the press around the world.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Daniel Pearl Freedom of the 
Press Act of 2009''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (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--
</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) in section 116(d) (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d))--
        </DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) in paragraph (10), by striking ``and'' 
                at the end;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) in paragraph (11), by striking the 
                period at the end and inserting ``; and''; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(12) wherever applicable--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(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;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(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</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) in countries where there are 
                particularly severe violations of freedom of the 
                press--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) whether government 
                        authorities of each such country participate 
                        in, facilitate, or condone such violations of 
                        the freedom of the press; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(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</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304), by adding at 
        the end the following new subsection:</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(i) The report required by subsection (b) shall include, 
wherever applicable--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(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;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(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</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(3) in countries where there are particularly 
        severe violations of freedom of the press--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) whether government authorities of 
                each such country participate in, facilitate, or 
                condone such violations of the freedom of the press; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(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.''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Freedom of the Press Grant Program.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Amounts and time.--Grants may be awarded to 
        nonprofit and international organizations and may span multiple 
        years, up to 5 years.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 
section.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press 
Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. 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))--
                    (A) in paragraph (10), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (11), 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.''.
                                                       Calendar No. 246

111th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                S. 1739

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

           To promote freedom of the press around the world.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           December 18, 2009

                       Reported with an amendment