; Whereas infringement on freedom of expression, including media freedom, has been one of the key drivers of declines in global freedom over the last 50 years, according to Freedom House, including attacks and prosecutions against journalists, pressure on media outlets, repressive regulatory and legal frameworks, internet shutdowns, efforts to undermine strong encryption, and blocks on online sources of information; Whereas journalists and media workers are being murdered, imprisoned, attacked, and harassed around the world and the Committee to Protect Journalists has reported that— (1) at least 99 journalists and media workers were killed around the world during 2023, and at least 27 journalists have been killed in 2024, as of May 15th; (2) approximately 320 journalists were imprisoned during 2023; (3) between September 1, 2013 and August 31, 2023, the vast majority of murders of journalists occurred with impunity, with nearly 80 percent of the perpetrators of 261 murders of journalists facing no punishment; and (4) journalists and media outlets around the world have been targeted by government actors with sophisticated spyware products that pose a severe risk to their privacy and security and the security of their sources and families; Whereas, according to PEN America, more than 339 writers and public intellectuals, including columnists and editorial journalists, were imprisoned across 33 different countries during 2023; Whereas the censorship, victimization, and killing of journalists around the world, particularly in conflict zones, has obvious and profound implications for the ability of the public, including the American public, to be informed, including about conflicts with local, regional, and global ramifications; Whereas, since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Reporters Without Borders has documented attacks directly targeting journalists, including— (1) the killing of 11 Ukrainian and accredited international journalists and media workers by Russian armed forces