Christopher Shays: “as a cosponsor of H.R. 2102, the Free Flow of Information Act, I am pleased to support this legislation on the House…”

“as a cosponsor of H.R. 2102, the Free Flow of Information Act, I am pleased to support this legislation on the House floor today. I support this bill because I believe news reporting fosters public awareness of important public issues and is an important means of ensuring government accountability. This legislation would create criteria that must be met before a Federal entity may subpoena a member of the news media in any government, criminal or civil case. H.R. 2102 closely follows existing Department of Justice guidelines for issuing subpoenas to members of the news media. It simply makes the guidelines mandatory and provides protection against compelled disclosure of confidential sources. In doing so, I believe this legislation strikes a balance between the public's need for information and the fair administration of justice. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this bill.”