Wyden Calls for Passage of PRESS Act
Watch a video of Wyden deliver his remarks here
As prepared for delivery
In a moment, I will ask for unanimous consent to pass my bipartisan bill, the PRESS Act.
I want to explain why this is such an important and bipartisan issue. The PRESS Act is written to complement the First Amendment’s Constitutional protection for journalists, by ensuring they can do their jobs without unneeded government interference. Our bipartisan bill shields journalists from being forced by courts to disclose their sources, or information provided by their sources, with key exceptions for national security and other critical matters. My bill also does not otherwise limit the government’s ability to pursue leakers.
This is such a commonsense proposition that nearly every state in the nation has some form of reporters’ shield law on the books. Democratic and Republican state legislatures alike have found value in preserving the free flow of information and codifying these fundamental freedoms.
My bill with Senator Lee would finally ensure that these protections make it to the federal level. This is a bill that passed the House by voice vote earlier this year and has the support of both Chair Durbin and Ranking Member Graham on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Not only that, our bill has been endorsed by folks from across the political spectrum, including Fox News and Tucker Carlson. I can’t think of much that’s more bipartisan than that.
Past administrations, both Democratic and Republican, have exploited the lack of a federal shield law to curtail the freedom of the press and in some cases even jailed journalists who refused to violate their journalistic ethics and reveal their sources. It is long overdue for the Senate to take action to stop these abuses.
My substitute amendment that I put together with Senator Lee addresses feedback we received from the Department of Justice and adds some key national security exceptions, such as for Section 702 surveillance and threats to critical infrastructure, and ensures that the federal government can respond quickly in cases that require exigency.
My father was a reporter. He taught me that a journalist’s job is to ask tough questions every single day. Reporters can’t ask tough questions about the government if they’re being spied on, and without a strong, independent press our whole democratic system is at risk. The time is now to pass the PRESS Act.
A web version of this release is here.