00:00 From Texas, Ms. Jackson-Lee.
00:02 Chairman Roy, I'm very grateful for your courtesies and the courtesies of this committee,
00:06 to the ranking member, the courtesies of Ms. Scanlon.
00:10 The good news that I heard as we were concluding your last question, Ms. Atkinson, is that
00:15 the PRESS Act does help.
00:17 It seems like it would, Ms. Lee.
00:20 Yes, and so we need to, the word investigative, I hope that you want us as members of Congress
00:28 to investigate so we get it right.
00:31 So that this very hallowed amendment or bill of rights, and the first amendment, is taken
00:41 seriously.
00:42 I take it very seriously, and I appreciate the work that all of you do in spite of the
00:48 obstacles that you face.
00:50 This is America, and we have mountains and valleys.
00:53 I would like to get a sense from all of you where we are in the comfort level of your
01:01 protection.
01:02 I'm going to start, Ms. Johnson, I appreciate the Institute at Columbia, I believe, and
01:07 I want to make sure we've got the PRESS Act that may be needing to be reimagined.
01:14 We're looking at other legislation that allows investigative reporters to work, but not,
01:19 I think there's a fine line between, I want to use the term abuse on both sides, but there's
01:25 a fine line.
01:26 So I'm going to start with you, Ms. Johnson.
01:28 What more care do we need to give to have the work of an investigative reporter work?
01:33 And I'm going to ask each of you that question.
01:36 I think that will help us.
01:37 I'll be finished, and I'll have to get another hearing at another point to go into more deeply
01:42 concerned issues.
01:43 But Ms. Johnson, if you would, quickly.
01:45 So I think the first thing that we need to do is to ensure the PRESS Act gets passed
01:49 into law and signed.
01:50 But I think it's also important to remember and to recognize this is a fraught time for
01:55 journalists.
01:56 We have new surveillance technologies.
01:58 We have a question of funding for journalism itself.
02:01 And so it's really important to do what Congress can do in the immediate term to protect information
02:07 that is vital to our democracy, which is to protect journalists and allow them to do the
02:10 job we need them to do.
02:13 And are you concluding your testimony by saying that would be to pass the PRESS Act and have
02:18 funding?
02:19 The first thing Congress should do, yes, is to pass the PRESS Act, ensure that it is signed
02:23 into law in order to protect journalists and allow them to be able to give assurances to
02:27 their sources that they will not be revealed.
02:30 There is, of course, a bigger question about funding for journalism as a profession, as
02:34 a whole.
02:35 All right.
02:36 Ms. Atkinson, where do we need to go with this?
02:39 One outstanding issue is regardless of what laws are passed, we know from the factual
02:44 record that there are bad actors inside our agencies that will violate laws.
02:49 So a law doesn't necessarily provide full protection.
02:53 And number two, when a citizen tries to get redressed for something like that in civil
02:59 courts, as I'm doing, I found the federal government has inordinate protections, their
03:03 own shield laws, I'll call them.
03:05 They have immunity.
03:06 They have – we have to get permission from them, the alleged guilty party, to get depositions
03:11 and information.
03:13 And I think this is something that needs to be fixed by Congress, the broad immunity granted
03:19 to people who may be doing wrong inside government.
03:24 And is there any detriment to the IE, the – I'm on another – on the AI, is there
03:35 another detriment to the fact that AI exists amongst us?
03:38 I'll bet there is, but I'm not an expert on that.
03:41 All right.
03:42 We're back-to-back hearings.
03:45 And if you would, Ms. Cavalaro – Cavalaro, sorry, didn't see it.
03:52 Thank you.
03:53 Ms. Cavalaro, what more do we need to do?
03:55 So I – SAG-AFTRA has for decades supported a federal shield law, and we would first hope
04:04 that the PRESS Act passes.
04:06 I think that's a priority.
04:07 I think we need to take that first step.
04:10 I do think there are other challenges facing journalism and journalists that we would love
04:16 to use our voice as a labor union representing journalists to advocate for.
04:21 But I do think that it's a priority.
04:23 I think the idea that this passed unanimously and there is bipartisan support should mean
04:30 it's something that we should be able to move forward quickly and expeditiously.
04:34 We're going to do a deep dive on that.
04:36 I want to just quickly finish, I think, with Ms. Atkinson.
04:41 Harridge.
04:42 Yeah, Harridge.
04:43 I'm looking at – Ms. Harridge.
04:44 Yes, thank you.
04:45 If you would.
04:46 Sure, thank you for the question.
04:47 I agree with my colleagues.
04:49 I think the imperative is to get the PRESS Act through the Senate and on the president's
04:54 desk.
04:55 It's going to close a gap in the federal courts.
04:57 It's going to bring consistency between the state shield and the federal shield laws,
05:03 and I just think a lot of good will follow from that.
05:05 Well, Mr. Chairman, I'm very grateful for the time given.
05:08 I think we are committed to doing a deep dive on this very important issue.
05:13 First Amendment rights are pivotal, and I want to be part of helping as opposed to undermining.
05:19 Thank you so very much, and I yield back.
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