Sen. Mark Begich
144 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3004
Fax: (202) 224-2354
E-mail: Use the form at http://begich.senate.gov

or, contact his Anchorage office:

Peterson Tower, Suite 750
510 L St
Anchorage, AK, 99501
(907) 271 - 5915
Toll free in AK (877) 501 - 6275
Fax (907) 258 - 9305

Sen. Lisa Murkowski
709 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington , DC 20510
Main: 202-224-6665
Fax: 202-224-5301
E-mail: Use the form at http://murkowski.senate.gov
or, contact her Anchorage office:

510 L Street, Suite 550
Anchorage, AK 99501
Main: 907-271-3735
Fax: 907-276-4081
Toll free: 1-877-829-6030

Rep. Don Young
Office of Congressman Don Young
2111 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5765
Fax: (202) 225-0425
E-mail: Use the link at http://donyoung.house.gov/Contact/
or, contact his Anchorage office
Peterson Tower Building
510 L St Suite 580
Anchorage, AK 99501-1954
(907) 271-5978
Fax: (907) 271-5950

U.S. Senate Bill 448 (S. 448) (as of Jan. 20, 2010)

Title: A bill to maintain the free flow of information to the public by providing conditions for the federally compelled disclosure of information by certain persons connected with the news media.
This bill was initially sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter in February 2009 and has 11 co-sponsors. It was moved out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in mid-December after considerable revision. A House bill, H.R. 985, was passed in March and the Judiciary Committee considered this bill and efforts of the White House to lessen the power of judges to weigh the benefits of disclosure vs. national security in molding the final bill. S. 448 was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 225.

Contact your representatives.

APC members and visitors to this site are encouraged to visit the following links for updates on issues related to Freedom of the Press:

First Amendment Center
Also visit their “Related Links” for an extensive list of First Amendment supporters

National Federation of Press Women
See the links to the slide show and to the Facebook discussion.

Newspaper Association of America

Sunshine Week

This year’s Sunshine Week celebration (March 14-20) will honor individuals who fought tirelessly last year to make their state or local public institutions more open and accessible. Media organizations and other groups throughout the nation will highlight the efforts of these Local Heroes whose work has made their communities better places to live.

Society of Professional Journalists

Thomas
Use Thomas to check up on current legislation either by the bill number or subject matter.

National Federation of Press Women has sent this First Amendment Network alert regarding S.714, the Junk Fax Prevention Act.

About S.714
A new FCC rule in effect July 1 will require that people who send commercial faxes obtain signed consent forms, even from established customers. Commercial faxes include such items as ad proofs, conference materials, and product and service promotions.

S.714 will eliminate this rule, and will restore the ability to send commercial faxes to established customers.

The Senate now has S.714 ready for action, but NFPW reports that it may stall if members do not act to support it now.

What would the bill do?
As a compromise for consumer protection, the bill’s authors agreed to require fax senders to provide a toll-free mechanism for recipients to opt out of future faxes. NFPW continues to work on key points on this requirement, including clarification that an email request will qualify. However, Senate needs to move now before the FCC rule goes into effect.

Who does the fax consent requirement affect?
A common misunderstanding that the FCC rule applies only to blast fax has misled many. The rule applies to all advertising and promotional faxes, whether to existing customers or not. Without congressional action, penalties of $500-$1,500 per unsolicited fax will begin to apply.

What if I believe junk faxes should be eliminated?
You would be in good company. Junk fax to businesses and consumers with no relation to you at all were illegal before, and they will continue to be illegal. S.714 will not encourage more of them. On the other hand, the FCC’s rule will not eliminate them.

How do I contact my senator? What do I say?
Find your senator’s contact information at www.senate.gov . Ask for support for S.714. Please act now.

For more information…
Contact NFPW at Presswomen@aol.com.

ALERT: PLEASE ASK YOUR SENATORS to SUPPORT S. 394, the OPEN GOVERNMENT ACT of 2005

The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering the first bill in a decade to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act.

S. 394 is co-sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn, R-TX, and Patrick Leahy, D-VT. Its aim is to tighten time restrictions for FOIA request, streamline processing and set up an ombudsman to help citizens obtain the information they are seeking.

The bill can be found on the Library of Congress web site by searching on the bill number. There you will find a summary and a list of sponsors.

The bill is likely to meet with some resistance by agencies. A strong push in the 109th Congress to move FOIA improvements will be necessary to get it through this busy session. If you are a supporter of open government, and you believe FOIA sets an important tone for openness in the federal government�as well as providing guidance for similar state laws�now is the time to ask your senator to support S. 394.

Marsha Shuler
NFPW First Amendment chair

Tonda Rush
NFPW First Amendment counsel