[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 12, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E368]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CALLING FOR PASSAGE OF THE FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION ACT

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                            HON. MIKE PENCE

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 12, 2008

  Mr. PENCE. Madam Speaker, two recent events make it clear--the time 
has come for Congress to enact a Federal media shield.
  Yesterday, the House passed legislation to create an independent 
ethics panel with the stated purpose of holding Members of Congress 
accountable to the highest ethical standard. Our Founders would have 
scoffed at the notion that a political panel, appointed by politicians, 
could hold the national legislature accountable. Our Founders knew the 
only agency in society with the power to hold the national government 
accountable is a free and independent press.
  Last year, the House acknowledged this fact and passed the Free Flow 
of Information Act, creating a Federal media shield, with overwhelming 
bipartisan support. That bill now awaits action by the full Senate. The 
need for action by the Senate is also evident with the news that 
another reporter is facing court sanctions based on her unwillingness 
to disclose confidential sources.
  Former USA Today reporter Toni Locy is facing financial ruin as the 
result of a ruling that she must pay fines that will escalate to up to 
$5,000 per day unless she discloses her confidential sources for 
stories she wrote about the 2001 anthrax attacks. Her case and the need 
for greater ethics scrutiny in Congress argue forcefully for the need 
for a Federal media shield statute.
  The one, time-tested way of holding the Government accountable is 
ensuring the free flow of information to the American people. 
Threatening reporters or creating an ethics panel of politicians to 
police politicians will not do it.
  Congress must enact a Federal media shield to ensure that those 
charged with the duty of holding Government accountable have the 
freedom and independence to do just that.
  It is time for the Senate to vote on the Free Flow of Information 
Act.

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