Trump gets bill to authorize Fallen Journalists Memorial

Congress has passed and sent to President Trump a bipartisan bill authorizing the planning and construction of a memorial in Washington, D.C., to slain journalists.

The Senate approved the Fallen Journalists Memorial Act, "co-sponsored by Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., which authorizes the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation to begin planning and raising funds for the memorial’s construction," Brooks DuBose reports for the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Md., where five journalists were killed in an attack last year by a disgruntled subject of a story, in what is "considered the deadliest attack on journalist in American history." Other sponsors of the bill were Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Reps. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., and Tom Cole, R-Okla.

"The foundation must raise tens of millions of dollars, meet with a half dozen commissions and search for a location," the Capital reports, citing former Rep. David Dreier, who chairs the foundation and is a former chair of Tribune Publishing, which owns the Capital and parent Baltimore Sun. "It takes, on average, about seven years to build a memorial. “Now the real work begins,” said Dreier, a Republican.

"Dreier said he expects Trump to sign the bill despite an adversarial relationship with the press," DuBose reports. "Trump did condemn the attack on the Capital Gazette’s newsroom. . . . The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment." Trump could veto the bill or allow it to become law without his signature.

Dreier said recognizing journalists' contribution to the United States and supporting freedom of information is more important than ever following the closure of the Newseum, which had a memorial for journalists killed on the job. To donate to the memorial, go to FallenJournalists.org.