A bipartisan bill signed by the president to honor fallen journalists
This bill allows to honor the Capital Gazette victims and thousands of other journalists who have died doing their jobs,
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFYadin Gellman and Joy Rieger shooting a scene from Avi Nesher’s ‘Portrait of Victory.’(photo credit: IRIS NESHER)
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed in to a law, a bipartisan bill authorizing a national monument to honor journalists that were killed while carrying out their duties, the Capital Gazette reported.The Fallen Journalists Memorial Act, was introduced by the ex-California congressman and former Tribune Publishing Chairman David Dreier.A foundation to build the monument will now begin as the bill has been signed into law, according to the Daily News. The memorial will be the first of its kind in the US capital.Dreier’s foundation announced its plans for the memorial last year, following the mass shooting at the Capital Gazette newsroom — the deadliest attack on journalists in American history. Five people — Gerald Fischman, John McNamara, Wendi Winters, Rebecca Smith and Rob Hiaasen — were killed by a man with a shotgun on June 28, 2018.What is unique about this bill is that it does not mark a war or single individual rather "an idea" according to Dreier.The bill was sponsored by US Senators. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, as well as US Representatives. Grace Napolitano, D-California, and Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma."This is an important moment and long overdue", according Cardin.This bill allows the US government to honor the Capital Gazette victims and thousands of other journalists who have died doing their jobs, said Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland.Additionally, there have been over 270 journalists around the world this year that have been imprisoned for their reports, according to the Committee to Protect Journalist. Some 50 have been killed in 2020 alone, according to Reporters Without Borders.It is a well-regarded idea that what makes a country truly democratic and free are the journalist that report. This bill is in their memory and to honor journalists that work tirelessly every day to report the news.
