Boucher Implores Media to Press Legislators to Pass Federal Shield Law

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) says the media need to press their legislators and try to get the ear of the president on the issue of a federal shield law that has gotten bogged down in the Senate. Speaking at a Media Institute Thursday, Chairman Boucher, a co-sponsor of the House version of the bill, said he was disappointed in the president's stand on what he indicated was a key element in the Free Flow of Information Act, which provides a limited protection to journalists from being compelled to identify their sources. The Administration has problems with a provision of the bill that allows federal judges, in cases where the government claims an exemption, to decide whether the public's interest requires disclosure of that source or whether the source should be kept confidential to promote the free flow of information to the public. "Who better to decide that than federal judges," he said, pointing out that the issue was not even debated in the House. Chairman Boucher said he "strongly believed" in that balancing test in every instance of a claimed exemption--for things like avoiding bodily harm of protecting national security.