[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 325 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 325

To express the sense of the House of Representatives that all briefings 
 held by the President or Federal agencies should be made available to 
  the press, except for under circumstances that are consistent with 
                              Federal law.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 18, 2019

   Ms. Wild (for herself, Mr. Cisneros, Ms. Gabbard, Mr. Crist, Ms. 
Norton, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Rush, and Mrs. Trahan) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
To express the sense of the House of Representatives that all briefings 
 held by the President or Federal agencies should be made available to 
  the press, except for under circumstances that are consistent with 
                              Federal law.

Whereas colonial America endured oppressive media censorship at the hands of 
        Great Britain, including the prohibition of unfavorable information and 
        opinions in colonial newspapers;
Whereas American free press ideals can be traced back to a collection of essays 
        known as Cato's Letters, which criticized British corruption and 
        tyranny, and which armed the public with critical information that 
        eventually formed the basis for America's revolution and independence;
Whereas in 1776, Virginia became the first state to formally protect the press 
        by a Declaration of Rights declaring ``[t]he freedom of the Press is one 
        of the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by 
        despotic Governments'';
Whereas our founding fathers memorialized the efficacy of a free press by 
        expressly protecting the press in our First Amendment to the United 
        States Constitution, which Justice Potter Stewart once described as the 
        ``only organized private business that is given explicit constitutional 
        protection'';
Whereas starting in 1902, the press moved into the first White House press 
        room--a move that was ``more than just convenience'' and signaled that 
        the press was ``no longer there just as guests of the President [but] 
        [t]hey were filling a public function'';
Whereas the White House Correspondents Association was founded to ``keep a daily 
        watch on the administration'';
Whereas courts have consistently interpreted the First Amendment in such a way 
        so as to prohibit ``prior restraints,'' or government actions that 
        attempt to enjoin publication except in exceptional cases where the 
        press would cause ``inevitable, direct, and immediate danger to the 
        United States'';
Whereas courts have routinely rejected viewpoint discrimination and have 
        consistently prioritized the need for a free and robust press when 
        weighing competing constitutional interests;
Whereas a free press has long provided a vital national service by, inter alia, 
        reporting on the Watergate scandal that enveloped the Nixon 
        Administration and exposed pervasive corruption that existed within the 
        Executive Branch;
Whereas courts historically disfavor government censorship of a free press, 
        including when the United States Supreme Court ruled that the government 
        could not enjoin the press from publishing newsworthy content based on 
        vague pronouncements of ``national security'' and Justice Black stated, 
        ``[o]nly a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception 
        in government . . . paramount among the responsibilities of a free press 
        is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the 
        people . . .'';
Whereas courts have held that once the White House press facilities have been 
        made publicly available to the press--as they have been for 
        generations--the protection afforded news gathering under the First 
        Amendment requires that this access not be denied arbitrarily or for 
        less than compelling reasons;
Whereas a free press is essential to democratic legitimacy and longevity, and 
        past administrations have adhered to traditions and norms by holding 
        regular open press briefings;
Whereas today's press has been called the ``enemy of the people'';
Whereas the revocation of press credentials of certain members of the press 
        without proffering compelling reasons or evidence to justify that 
        revocation threatens the very principles upon which this nation was 
        founded;
Whereas the public and the press have sincere interest in key department and 
        agency meetings, briefings, and activities, and briefings have been held 
        that exclude secular media without the proffering of compelling reasons 
        or evidence to justify that exclusion;
Whereas U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the 
        District of Columbia rejected arguments that the Executive Branch has 
        absolute discretion in deciding who is entitled to participate in a 
        press briefing; and
Whereas U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken of the U.S. District Court for the 
        Southern District of New York has held that it is impermissible ``to 
        exclude a single . . . news network . . . and to withhold White House 
        press passes in a content-based or arbitrary fashion'': Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
all briefings held by the President or Federal agencies should be made 
available to the press, except for under circumstances that are 
consistent with Federal law.
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