Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that newsgathering activities are protected under the First Amendment, and that the United States should drop all charges against and attempts to extradite Julian Assange.
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that (1) newsgathering activities, including the publication of leaked classified information, are protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution; (2) freedom of the press is a vital function of a free society; and (3) the federal government should drop all espionage charges against Julian Assange.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on October 2, 2020. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
A simple resolution is the business of a single chamber. The House can adopt it on its own, and it is never sent to the other chamber or to the President.
The record's latest action, on October 2, 2020: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
- A vote of the House
What is a simple resolution, exactly?
A simple resolution concerns one chamber only, such as its own rules or an expression of its opinion. The other chamber and the President play no part, and it does not carry the force of law.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) introduced it on October 2, 2020, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 1 Republican, 1 independent.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on October 2, 2020, 2169 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2169 days ago, on October 2, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
That deadline applies to this measure too, even though it was never headed for the President's desk.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers