congressional_record: CREC-2002-11-22-pt1-PgE2128
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| granule_id | date | congress | session | volume | issue | title | chamber | granule_class | sub_granule_class | page_start | page_end | speakers | bills | citation | full_text |
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| CREC-2002-11-22-pt1-PgE2128 | 2002-11-22 | 107 | 2 | HONORING THE MEMORY AND COURAGE OF JOURNALISTS | HOUSE | EXTENSIONS | HONORING | E2128 | E2128 | [{"name": "Bob Schaffer", "role": "speaking"}] | 148 Cong. Rec. E2128 | Congressional Record, Volume 148 Issue 152 (Friday, November 22, 2002) [Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 152 (Friday, November 22, 2002)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E2128] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] HONORING THE MEMORY AND COURAGE OF JOURNALISTS ______ HON. BOB SCHAFFER of colorado in the house of representatives Friday, November 22, 2002 Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory and the courage of journalists who have given their lives in the pursuit of truth. I rise to commend organizations like the National Ukrainian Journalists Union, a group dedicated to the protection of Ukrainian journalists, the abolition of censorship and the defense of free speech. In many developing countries, harassment, in the form of threats, arrest, and even kidnapping and murder is used as a tool to silence journalists who dare to report the truth. No single attempt at censorship has sparked more protest than the disappearance and murder of Greorgiy Honhadze in Ukraine in 2000. This crime cast international attention on the systemic oppression of freedom of expression, and cast significant doubts on the level of democratic development in Ukraine. The death of Honhadze, the beating death of Ihor Aleksandrov, the director of a television station in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine in July 2001, and most recently, the death of Mykhailo Kolomiyets, the director of a news agency in Kyiv, Ukrainian News, reinforce doubt about the state of freedom in Ukraine. The lethargic pursuit of the investigations of these deaths by authorities indicates official apathy if not tacit approval. Mr. Speaker, continued government control of the media, and often violent oppression of freedom of expression denies the Ukranian people their inalienable human rights and prevents democracy from rooting and growing in Ukraine. Therefore, I call upon my Colleagues in the Congress to urge the government of Ukraine to resolve the deaths of these journalists expeditiously, to implement an agenda for the defense of free speech, and to recognize the fourth day of December as ``a day of sorrow for lost journalists.'' ____________________ |