World Press Freedom Day
Floor Speech
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Mr. WELCH. Mr. President, World Press Freedom Day, observed annually on May 3, is not only a celebration of the world's intrepid journalists, but a reminder that journalists and the free press at large are under attack. In 2025, a record number of journalists and media workers were killed, a somber milestone.
International humanitarian law provides clear protection for journalists and civilians, including protection from direct attack and the indiscriminate use of force. International law requires that those engaged in conflict take precautions to verify that targets are lawful, avoid attacks in areas where civilians are present, and facilitate the rapid provision of medical care to the wounded.
Two-thirds of the journalists who died last year were killed by Israeli security forces. As of April 23, 2026, at least 258 journalists had been killed by Israeli security forces since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, journalists have been killed by Israel's retaliatory actions in Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, and Iran.
Israel's pattern of targeted killings is not new or unique to Palestinian and Lebanese journalists. Shireen Abu Akleh was a Palestinian American correspondent for Al-Jazeera. She was fatally shot in the head on May 11, 2022, while covering an Israeli Army operation in the West Bank. Multiple investigations concluded that she was killed by a member of the Israeli Defense Forces. Shortly after, the State Department called for an immediate and thorough investigation in addition to full accountability. To date, there has been no such evidence of an investigation and no accountability.
Throughout the war in Gaza, Palestinian journalists have been killed with impunity--207 Palestinian journalists killed, to date. The world witnessed the shocking strikes at Nasser Hospital on August 28, 2025, which claimed the lives of 22 people, including five journalists, and drew global condemnation. The attack was three successive strikes--a tank shell hit the hospital, killing a Reuters cameraman and others. Nine minutes later, as health workers and journalists came to the aid of the injured, Israeli forces fired two more times.
Israeli forces have been accused of war crimes for utilizing double- tap strikes, which target first responders and journalists. On October 13, 2023, Dylan Collins, an AFP video journalist from Vermont, was fired on by Israeli soldiers in a deadly double-tap attack, despite wearing clear press insignia. The attack killed Reuters journalists Issam Abdallah and wounded several others in the group. Despite repeated efforts by myself and my Senate and House colleagues, there has been no credible investigation or accountability for Dylan or his colleagues.
Just last week, Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was killed by an Israeli strike. She, too, was clearly identifiable as a member of the press. She died after 7 hours of being trapped under rubble. Ambulances attempting to deliver medical care were also fired upon. Her case reflects a pattern and practice of the use of force that disregards the rights and lives of journalists protected under international law.
These are only a select few of the tragic stories of journalists killed for simply doing their jobs. While the number of journalists killed in Gaza over the past 2 and a half years is overwhelming, journalists have been threatened, imprisoned, tortured, and killed in many countries, including in our own hemisphere.
Press freedom is fragile abroad, and fragile here at home. President Trump's rhetoric and attacks on the press must be condemned. Journalists in the United States have been threatened, attacked, and targeted by their own government for doing their jobs: reporting the truth.
We take pride in the First Amendment, and the United States has long been seen as a global defender of freedom of expression. But the situation is becoming worse, not better. The very concept of independence of the media is being challenged. Journalists are regularly subjected to ridicule and denied access to the White House and the Defense Department for merely asking hard questions.
Being a journalist is more dangerous today than at any time in history. In recognition of World Press Freedom Day, Congress should pause to remember the lives of journalists killed while reporting and recommit to defending press freedom in our own country and around the world.
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