Free Flow of Information Act of 2007

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - October 16, 2007)

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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for yielding, and I appreciate his strong leadership in protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States. He leads us well in honoring our oath of office that we take.

I commend the cosponsors of this bipartisan legislation, Mr. Boucher and Mr. Pence, for their leadership and commitment to working in a bipartisan way on an issue central to our democracy.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, ``Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.'' Freedom of the press, protected by the first amendment, has been a cornerstone of our democracy, one that we cherish and promote around the world.

A free press keeps our Nation informed and holds those of us in government accountable. It is critical to freedom of speech and expression in our country. Freedom of the press is fundamental to our democracy and it is fundamental to our security.

Speaking truth to power is vital to our democracy today, as it has been throughout our history.

Mr. Speaker, the recent contracting scandals in Iraq, the appalling care of our wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital, and the hidden Medicare drug prescription estimates a few years ago are several of the many examples where press coverage shaped our debate and our actions. These stories are central to accountability, the accountability necessary to make our Nation stronger and to be better stewards of the taxpayers' dollars.

However, the essential work of the press has been severely hampered by the lack of a consistent Federal standard or a federally recognized privilege concerning the disclosure of confidential sources by journalists. As a result, in recent years, more than 40 reporters have been subpoenaed for the identities of confidential sources in nearly a dozen cases.

Former Solicitor General Ted Olson, who served under President George W. Bush, wrote recently in The Washington Post, ``Journalists reporting on high-profile controversies cannot function effectively without offering some measure of confidentiality to their sources. Their ability to do so yields substantial benefits to the public in the form of stories that might otherwise never be written about corruption and abuse of power.''

Nearly all States have some form of press shield protecting the confidentiality of journalist sources; however, that protection is lacking at the Federal level and in the Federal courts.

It is for this reason that I have long supported a Federal press shield law, without which freedom of the press is threatened. The Federal Government's policies and actions should protect and preserve the press's ability to speak
truth to power. And this legislation does so with appropriate national security safeguards, striking a careful balance between liberty and security.

Freedom of the press has long been an issue of importance to many of us in this body. When I was the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, I encouraged President Clinton to veto the Intelligence Committee authorization bill one year because it made it easier to prosecute journalists. We fixed those provisions and passed a bill that both protected our Nation and protected our fundamental freedoms.

Mr. Speaker, we seek today to protect the freedom of the press that has served our Nation so well. We also seek to make clear to confidential sources that they will be protected in most circumstances when they bring forward public evidence of waste, fraud and abuse in government and in the private sector.

As we protect and defend our Nation, we must now protect and defend the Constitution by enabling our press to be free, as our Founders envisioned.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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