Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 499, condemning the murder of American journalist Paul Klebnikov in Moscow and the murders of other members of the media in the Russian Federation.
Less than two weeks ago, on World Press Freedom Day, my colleague Mike Pence and I launched the new Congressional Caucus for Freedom of the Press. Representatives from a variety of non-governmental organizations came to extend their endorsement of this undertaking and several other Members of Congress spoke about the importance of press freedom for promoting democracy and human rights around the world.
The guests of honor, however--and the reason we were all there--were the journalists who came to share their stories of persecution and harassment. He Qinglian spent a year under 24-hour surveillance when the Chinese Propaganda Department accused her of `inciting antagonism between the different strata of Chinese society' with her exposes of government corruption. After trying to investigate the presence of Taliban and AI-Qaeda elements in tribal areas in the autonomous zone between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Khawar Mehdi Rizvi was detained and tortured by Pakistani security forces for almost three months, before human rights groups and media organizations helped secure his escape to the United States.
We were also joined by Musa Klebnikov, the widow of American journalist, Paul Klebnikov, whose unresolved murder this resolution condemns. Mrs. Klebnikov told us that Paul believed that without freedom of the press there is no civil society, and can be no true democracy. He died for this ideal, becoming one of the fallen heroes of this ongoing worldwide struggle.
Paul committed himself to revealing the corrupt underside of Russia as well as celebrating its successes. His murder reveals both the importance of this type of work as well as the dangers facing journalists in the Russian Federation. Paul was the twelfth reporter to be killed in Russia since President Putin came to power in 2000. Russia's press laws remain very far below European standards and in the nearly two years since Paul's murder, working conditions for journalists continued to worsen alarmingly.
Paul's murder stimulated the Russian government to dedicate real effort to prosecuting the hit men who shot him, and this resolution commends that effort. Unfortunately, two days after expressing her hope that this trial would set a standard for future cases of media persecution, the Russian court acquitted his killers. This resolution calls upon the Government of Russia to continue its inquiries into Paul's murder and to take appropriate action to protect the independence and freedom of journalists in the country.
Paul Klebnikov's murder exposed the problem of violence against journalists in Russia and increased the awareness of widespread threats to press freedom. The Congressional Caucus for Freedom of the Press was created to highlight and condemn media censorship and the persecution of journalists around the world. This Resolution is an important affirmation of these objectives, and I commend my colleague, Mr. McCotter, for bringing it to the floor, and encourage broad support for its passage.