[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 67 (Monday, May 4, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1053-E1054]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE PENCE

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 4, 2009

  Mr. PENCE. Madam Speaker, I come to the floor today in support of 
World Press Freedom Day, celebrated on the 3rd day of May each year. I 
do so with a profound sense of humility and with a sense of privilege 
about being able to come to the floor to speak in support of freedom of 
the press around the world.
  World Press Freedom Day has been observed for 16 years now and serves 
as a reminder to us all of the vital importance of this core freedom. 
It is a day in which we celebrate the indispensable role played by 
journalists in exposing abuses of power, while at the same time we 
sound the alarm about the growing number of journalists that are still 
being silenced by death or jailed as they attempt to report on 
important issues of the day and bring to light information in the 
public interest.
  Since this day was first celebrated, 692 journalists have been 
killed. The majority of victims were local reporters covering topics 
such as crime, corruption, and national security in their home 
countries. Adding to this tragic figure are the hundreds more each year 
who face intimidation, censorship, and arbitrary arrest--guilty of 
nothing more than a passion for truth and a tenacious belief that a 
free society depends on an informed citizenry. In every corner of the 
globe--from Iran to Zimbabwe, Burma to Pakistan, Cuba and Venezuela--
there are journalists being actively harassed and exercising self-
censorship because of threats and intimidation from repressive regimes.
  As part of combating this intimidation and censorship, Mr. Adam 
Schiff of California and I recently introduced the Daniel Pearl Freedom 
of Press Act. As many will remember, Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and 
murdered by terrorists in Pakistan, just 4 months after the September 
11th attacks.
  At the time of his kidnapping, Pearl served as the South Asia Bureau 
Chief of the Wall Street Journal, and was based in Mumbai, India. He 
went to Pakistan as part of an investigation into the alleged links 
between Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, Al Qaeda and Pakistan's Inter-
Services Intelligence, ISI. He was subsequently beheaded by his 
captors. This legislation is dedicated to Daniel Pearl, the many that 
have gone before him, and those that still face such dangers today. The 
legislation seeks to highlight and promote freedom of the press by 
establishing an annual State Department report on the status of press 
freedom in every country in the world and create a grant program aimed 
at broadening and strengthening the independence of journalists and 
media organizations.
  Now, more than ever, the defense of the freedom of the press must 
continue. Here at home, the Constitution of the United States provides: 
``Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or 
of the press.'' Not since those words were adopted has this body passed 
a law to ensure the freedom of the press. Last month, the House passed 
the Free Flow of Information Act of 2009, legislation I was honored to 
introduce with Representative Rick Boucher of Virginia. The bill 
provides a qualified privilege of confidential sources to journalists--
which is sadly missing in Federal law--and enables reporters to shield 
sources in most instances from disclosure. I urge its swift passage by 
our colleagues in the Senate.
  While it is my great hope that a Federal Media Shield bill will soon 
be signed into law here at home, the struggle for freedom of the press 
is much more primitive in its evolution in many parts of the world. And 
for that reason we must stand in solidarity with all those around the 
globe who love freedom and continue to strain at the bonds of tyranny 
and oppression on this day of remembrance.
  On this day, we remember reporters like Roxana Saberi. Miss Saberi is 
a 31-year-old American journalist who was arrested in February 2009, 
and is being held in Iran on charges of espionage, which her lawyer and 
the U.S. Department of State call baseless. Saberi is a freelance 
journalist who moved to Iran 6 years ago and reports for NPR, the BBC, 
and other news organizations. A true representative of this melting pot 
that is America, she grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, the daughter of 
Reza Saberi, who was born in Iran, and Akiko Saberi, who is from Japan.
  As we learn of cases like Miss Saberi, we understand the stakes that 
are at risk here. We understand why oppressive regimes like that of 
Iran want so desperately to muzzle the unfiltered reporting of 
journalists like Saberi. And we understand why it is so important to 
cherish and protect freedom of the press as a vital check on abuses of 
power. Today, we call on the government of Iran to free Miss Saberi, 
hospitalized in her desperate attempt to win her freedom with a hunger 
strike that might appeal to the conscience of her oppressor where her 
valid legal arguments did not.
  As a conservative who believes in limited government, I believe the 
only check on government power in real time is a free and independent 
press. A free press ensures the flow

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of information to the public, and let me say, during a time when the 
role of government in our lives and in our enterprises seems to grow 
every day--both at home and abroad--ensuring the vitality of a free and 
independent press is more important than ever.
  I salute the bravery of reporters and press outlets around the world. 
I urge you to stand firm and take heart. The U.S. House of 
Representatives stands firmly behind your right to increased freedoms; 
soon we hope to see this right enshrined in our public law, and stand 
in solidarity with those on the front lines of the worldwide fight for 
freedom of the press.

                          ____________________