[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11491-11492]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION ACT OF 2007

  (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, enshrined in the first amendment of the 
Constitution are these words: ``Congress shall

[[Page 11492]]

make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.''
  Nevertheless, in the last two decades, we have seen a troubling 
increase in the number of occasions where reporters have faced threats 
of subpoena, subpoenas and even jail time for refusing to reveal 
confidential sources.
  Mr. Speaker, compelling reporters to testify and compelling them to 
reveal the identity of their confidential sources is a detriment to the 
public interest. And last week, my colleague, Congressman Rick Boucher 
of Virginia, along with a distinguished bipartisan group of original 
cosponsors, introduced the Free Flow of Information Act, which would 
protect a reporter's right to keep confidential sources confidential.
  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.
  I urge all of my colleagues to give due consideration to this 
bipartisan legislation. Let us put a stitch in this tear in the first 
amendment freedom of the press. I urge cosponsorship of the Free Flow 
of Information Act.

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