Cohen-Authored Bills Unanimously Pass the House of Representatives

June 16, 2009

“I commend the House for saying in a single, strong voice that libel tourism threatens the principles of free speech because foreign courts often don’t place as difficult a burden on plaintiffs in libel cases,” Congressman Cohen said. “This was a vote to support our cherished First Amendment rights and make sure that they will never be undermined by foreign judgments.”

“Libel tourism” is recent phenomenon which exploits defamation laws in foreign countries in an attempt to silence or intimidate American journalists, authors and publishers. H.R. 2765 will prohibit recognition and enforcement of foreign defamation judgments and certain foreign judgments against the providers of interactive computer services, such as bloggers.

“Government works best when it is efficient and uses a common-sense approach that saves taxpayer money. That’s the aim of the Congressional Review Improvement Act,” Congressman Cohen said. “Government should always look for ways to streamline.”

H.R 2247, The Congressional Review Improvement Act will streamline the federal rulemaking process by reducing duplicative paperwork and relieving some of the administrative burdens currently mandated by the Congressional Review Act. These are common sense changes to federal law that will save taxpayer money and allow for a more efficient government.

This bill eliminates the requirement that agencies submit copies of rules with accompanying reports to each House of Congress. Instead, the House and Senate would receive a weekly list of all rules from the Comptroller General. The House and Senate would then have that list printed in the Congressional Record with a statement of referral for each rule.

Both bills now move to the U.S. Senate for consideration.

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________________________
Steven Broderick
Communications Director
Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9)
1005 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Direct: 202-226-7916
Main: 202-225-3265
steven.broderick@mail.house.gov