Posted on 11/27/2005 11:28:00 PM PST by Jim Robinson
He is.
From: www.mikepence.house.gov
PENCE TESTIFIES BEFORE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Washington, July 20, 2005 -
U.S. Congressman Mike Pence testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee today about the need to pass the Free Flow of Information Act, or federal Media Shield bill. The bill would set national standards that must be met before a federal entity may subpoena a member of the news media in any government criminal or civil case.
Excerpts of Pence's testimony are found below. For the full text of his testimony, click here. For pictures from the hearing, click here.
- “The Freedom of speech and the press are two of the most important rights we Americans possess under our Constitution. They form the bedrock of our democracy by ensuring the free flow of information to the public.”
- “Although Thomas Jefferson warned that, ‘Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that limited without danger of losing it,’ today these rights are under attack.”
- “As politicians engage in a very familiar clash along the fault lines of the politics of personal destruction, a much greater scandal languishes in a quiet prison cell in suburban Washington, D.C. in the sad image of an American journalist behind bars, who’s only crime was standing up for the public’s right to know.”
- “As a conservative who believes in limited government, I believe that the only check on government power in real time is a free and independent press.”
- “Now is the time for Congress to proclaim liberty and reaffirm our commitment to the ideal of a free and independent press. Now is the time for the Free Flow of Information Act. Nothing less than the public’s right to know is at stake.”
The thrust of the argument is that bloggers should be treated like journalists.
I think the solution is that journalists should be treated as ordinary citizens.
A lot of people regard the Internet as an opportunity to become journalists too -- when the real opportunity is for all of us to become something much better.
REPOST FYI:
The date of creation of 'Baby Driver' is only
the result of my capricious nature. I am no newbie
to FR. Up until a week or so ago, when during a wipe
of my PC, i chose to pick a new screen name, and
end the "life" of 'nickatnite2003'. No grand conspiracy
..i wasn't banned or "zotted"...just felt it was time
to retire 'nickatniye2003'. That, and my new screen name
'Baby Driver' is a little persobal poke in the pathos
for any lurking Dims....but you may be too young to
get the rib...
>Bo)
I thought that it was ketchup, that Reagan said is a veggie; not a tomato.
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