Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa could have helped pass the PRESS Act in 2022, but he declined to advance the bill for inclusion in must-pass legislation. It wasn’t because he didn’t like the bill, but out of professional courtesy to a Senate colleague.
Grassley’s reasons may have been commendable but the result is that journalists like Catherine Herridge still need to choose between keeping their promises to their sources or being held in contempt of court, and potentially even jailed.
Now the PRESS Act is back, and Grassley has the chance to make things right by supporting it. We wrote for The Gazette newspaper in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that:
Iowa’s senior senator has long been a champion of First Amendment values. He’s been vocal about protecting whistleblowers from retaliation when they expose wrongdoing. Keeping federal agents' and prosecutors’ hands off reporters’ notebooks and phone records so that the Fourth Estate can do its job is consistent with everything Grassley stands for.
