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| Hilo, Hawaii News, Sports, & Information |
Thursday, September 2, 2010 |
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Posted: Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 5:21 AM HST
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Abercrombie is lone Democratic opponent of bill
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HONOLULU (AP) _ Hawaii Congressman Neil Abercrombie was the only Democrat in the U.S. House to vote against a bill that would protect the confidentiality of reporters' sources in most federal court cases.
Yesterday's vote was 398-21, with Abercrombie joining 20 Republicans in opposition to the measure.
It was supported by Hawaii Congresswoman Mazie Hirono, 221 other Democrats and 176 Republicans.
Dave Helfert is Abercrombie's director of communications.
He says the lawmaker opposes the bill because it would violate the First Amendment, which states Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of the press.
According to Helfert, Abercrombie introduced a similar media shield bill for Hawaii when he was a state lawmaker in the mid-1970s.
Helfert says Abercrombie changed his mind after talking with reporters who opposed the idea on constitutional grounds and wound up voting against his own bill.
(Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved)
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