S. 1495 · 117th Congress
International Press Freedom Act of 2021
Key: what the circles and colors mean
Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:
Under the number: the Yea · Nay count of its final (or latest) recorded vote. On a member's page, the small badge is how that member voted: Y Yea / Aye, N Nay / No, P Present, – Not voting.
Gold and violet are only for Yea and Nay; they never mean a party. A member's party is the letter on their photo.
Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 117th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
D
KaineSponsor3 cosponsors · 2 D, 1 R
1 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill establishes programs to address international threats to press freedom and allows qualifying threatened journalists to be admitted into the United States.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Apr 29, 2021
International Press Freedom Act of 2021
This bill establishes programs to address international threats to press freedom and allows qualifying threatened journalists to be admitted into the United States.
The bill establishes an Office on International Press Freedom within the Department of State. The office's duties shall include (1) advocating for freedom of the press and freedom of expression abroad, (2) advising on U.S. policy on advancing such freedoms abroad, and (3) representing the United States in matters relating to such freedoms.
The bill also establishes the At-Risk Journalists Fund. The State Department shall use the fund to support journalists operating in restrictive environments and provide emergency assistance to journalists who have been threatened.
If the assistance provided through the fund is insufficient to protect the safety of an alien journalist who has been threatened, the journalist may receive a foreign media nonimmigrant visa upon meeting certain qualifications. The State Department must prioritize the review of a visa application for such a threatened journalist.
Similarly, the Department of Homeland Security must consider providing humanitarian parole to threatened journalists and provide an admission preference to certain threatened journalists (generally if the journalist's life or safety is at risk and if paroling the journalist would further U.S. foreign policy or national security interests).
The Department of Justice must provide training to all officials adjudicating refugee cases about issues involving freedom of the press. The State Department must also provide training on such issues to certain Foreign Service officers working overseas.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: International Press Freedom Act of 2021
Latest action (Apr 29, 2021): Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S2362)
Policy area: International Affairs · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Apr 29, 2021
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.