Shield Law Slam Dunk
What a day. What an amazing day for journalism and democracy.
In a historic, landslide victory, the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 sailed through the U.S. House of Representatives on a 398 to 21 vote Tuesday, enjoying clear bipartisan support.
It was a long day of political maneuvering and some drama brought on by a move to see the bill sent back to committee. SPJ Communications staff and our attorneys from Baker Hostetler monitored the debate live from the floor and via C-Span all day. To give members a sense of how things unfolded, here is Quill Editor Joe Skeel's post-mortem take on how the confusing committee vote came down:
"The bill was indeed sent back to the House committee with instructions. That part we had right. However, the committee approved the amendments on the spot and sent the bill back to the house floor for a full vote. This is where the confusion set in. I thought that once it was sent back to committee, it would need to be heard during an official committee meeting. I was under the impression the final vote was for the second amendment. In actuality, it was for the bill’s passing."
Happily, it passed. We issued a statement here that made the national Associated Press story here.
It was a proud day for a great many people, including quite a few SPJ volunteers, who have worked tirelessly on this for years.
It was also quite gratifying to see the bill sponsors, Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.), stand in the well and champion this legislation. Pence, a former television broadcaster, was positively inspirational from the floor:
“Protections provided by the Free Flow of Information Act I submit are necessary so that members of the media can bring forward information to the public without fear of retribution or prosecution, and more importantly, so that sources will continue to come forward. Compelling reporters to testify, and in particular, compelling them to reveal the identity of confidential sources, is a detriment to the public interest. Without the promise of confidentiality, many important conduits of information about our government will be shut down. The dissemination of information by the media to the public on matters ranging from the operation of our government to events in our local communities is invaluable to the operation of democracy. Without the free flow of information from sources to reporters, the public will be ill-prepared to make informed choices.”
Now, we must turn our attention to the Senate bill, S. 2035, which passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee on Oct. 4. The day also brought a strong suggestion from the White House the bill would be vetoed if it is passed. Let us hope that the bill passes the Senate with the same kind of overwhelming numbers it passed through the House and that a veto is an obvious political defeat waiting to happen.