PRESS Act
Latest action · Jun 21, 2023 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJun 21, 2023
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act or the PRESS Act
This bill prohibits the federal government from compelling journalists and providers of telecommunications services (e.g., phone and internet companies) to disclose certain protected information, except in limited circumstances such as to prevent terrorism or imminent violence.
Specifically, the bill protects from disclosure any information identifying a source, as well as any records, contents of a communication, documents, or information obtained or created by journalists in the course of their work.
Further, the bill protects specified third parties, such as telecommunications carriers or social media companies, from being compelled to provide testimony or any document consisting of a record, information, or other communication that is stored by the third party on behalf of a journalist.
Cosponsors 3
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jun 21, 2023 to Sep 5, 2023, with 2 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-UT | Mike Lee | Original | Jun 21, 2023 |
| D-IL | Richard J. Durbin | Original | Jun 21, 2023 |
| R-SC | Lindsey Graham | Sep 5, 2023 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jun 21, 2023Introduced in Senate
- Jun 21, 2023Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 4250 | PRESS Act | Identical bill | Jan 22, 2024 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jun 21, 2023Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.