OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Date: May 18, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Arts, Entertainment, and History


STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - May 18, 2006)

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I join as a cosponsor of the bill just introduced because I think it really cuts the Gordian knot. There has been a deadlock on improving the shield law for the very reason that not all disclosures by Government officials to members of the press are equal. We certainly want to protect a whistleblower. We certainly want a person, if they work at the FDA and see that tests are being short-circuited and they go to higher-ups and get nowhere, to be able to go to the press and expose it. It is a far different matter when something is prohibited by statute from being made public, such as with grand jury minutes. Frankly, that dealt with the Plame case. In both cases making that information public was a violation of law. There was a public policy against disclosure, which there is not in the typical whistleblower case.

I believe the reason that the legislation my colleagues from Indiana and Connecticut put in didn't get as much support is that it failed to distinguish that difference. We need to protect the press, especially with a large Government that keeps things secret more and more. But we also have to have some respect for the fact that there are certain things that should not be made public by statute in open debate.

As I said, this legislation cuts the Gordian knot. It protects those matters that should not be made public and doesn't put them under the shield of law but strengthens the protections for whistleblowers and others who might want to expose Government wrongdoing when there is no other way to expose it.

This is a large step forward. It is legislation I am proud to cosponsor. I am very glad that the deadlock has been broken by this thoughtful legislation, which I now believe will garner enough support to become law. Whereas, the previous legislation, as sweeping as it was, would not.

I compliment my colleagues from Indiana, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, with whom I join as lead cosponsors because it is going to make our country a better place.

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