Rep. Mike Pence, the Indiana Republican leading the House effort, met late last week with White House officials to try to reach a compromise, according to a Pence aide who declined to comment on the specifics of the meeting.

Pence has difficult work ahead. “The administration has sepped up their effort to oppose the legislation,” said Paul Boyle, senior vice president of public policy for the Newspaper Association of America, which is lobbying on behalf of the bill. “I think they’re concerned that the bill will pass.”

Some staffers refer to the shield bill as the Reporters’ Conflict of Interest Act, since the same group that is reporting on its progress through Congress could benefit from its passage. But conflicts abound: The more protection reporters have, the more vulnerable lawmakers are to confidential leaks — but what senator wants to
tell a reporter no on the shield law?

Every senator Politico asked about the shield bill said he or she supports the principle of legal protections for journalists — even some, such as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who are on record against the bill itself.

The Congressman told the crowd that healthcare has been the most discussed topic since he took office in 2003.

"If you are a person who walks into one of America's public hospitals, you will receive health care," he said. "Now the question is how does the public meet those costs?"

Pence said there were a few solutions that have been mentioned in Congress to solve the health care problem.

He discussed a voucher program that allows individuals or family to get a fixed sum of money from the government and get health care.

Pence successfully led the charge for shield law legislation in the House, and his words illustrate the importance of getting similar legislation through the Senate.

The effort gained momentum last week when all three major presidential candidates endorsed a shield law.

Last week, Rep. Rick Boucher, the Democrat who represents most of Southwest Virginia, received accolades. The Newspaper Association of America presented its Sunshine in Government Award to him and to Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., for their sponsorship of the Free Flow of Information Act.

Virginia's senators should lend their bipartisan support next. The act would protect journalists and their anonymous sources from overzealous prosecutors and judges.

This sort of protection is commonly called a "shield law." It creates a privileged relationship between journalists and their sources akin to those between doctors and their patients or lawyers and their clients. The courts could not compel a reporter who receives information from a confidential source to divulge the identity of that source under most circumstances.

Since its first attempt 36 years ago and dozens since, Congress has yet to pass a federal shield law for reporters to complement shield laws in 34 states, including Florida. But Congress is as close as it's ever been. The House of Representatives passed a bill called the Free Flow of Information Act last year. The Senate is moving closer to doing so. The bill won the support of all three senators running for the presidency -- Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama. McCain gave his surprise endorsement last week during an address to the Associated Press' annual meeting.

It's the absence of a federal shield law that has enabled prosecutors to subpoena more than 65 journalists since 2001, jailing or putting under house arrest some who refused to reveal their sources. The Bush administration's campaign against the press has been so heavy-handed that it's helped galvanize support for the shield law. Its House champion is conservative Indiana Republican Mike Pence, who last week appealed again to the Senate to take up the bill. "As a conservative who believes in limited government," he said Friday, "I believe the only check on government power in real time is a free and independent press."

Top Ten Quotes From Petraeus Hearings

5. “To be perfectly frank, congressman, thus far, I’ve seen no concrete results as a result of these discussions.” -- Ambassador Ryan Crocker’s response to Rep. Mike Pence’s question if our talks with Iran have “produced any results relative to Iran’s directinvolvement in violence against U.S. troops within Iraq, or enmity toward Israel or their nuclear weapons program.”

This rare unanimity among the three White House hopefuls is an encouraging sign that President Bush’s successor — no matter who that turns out to be — will understand the need to protect vigorous reporting and the public’s right to know about the government’s conduct. After eight years of excessive secrecy and aggressive targeting of reporters by prosecutors that will be a very welcome change...

In addition to the three presidential candidates, dozens of news organizations, including The New York Times Company, support the Free Flow of Information Act...

Contrary to the administration’s claims, enacting a federal shield law would not harm national security. What it would do is allow the robust reporting that is essential for both the country’s safety and its freedom.

The American public's access to information that it needs in order to live in a free society is only as good as the press's freedom to report the news. A great many people -- Republicans and Democrats; liberals, moderates and conservatives -- understand that fact...

And nobody understands it better than Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind. Lugar and Pence are authors of the Free Flow of Information Act.It is time for the Senate to follow the lead of the House and bring the Free Flow of Information Act to a vote.

This week, Pence was a recipient of an American Society of Newspaper Editors' Sunshine Award in acknowledgment of his advocacy for a free press. He has described himself as "a conservative that believes in limited government." As Pence explained, "I believe the only check on government power in real time is a free and independent press."...

A Senate bill to establish such a shield has broad bipartisan support, including from McCain's opponents in the presidential race, Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). The House passed a similar measure by a vote of 398-21 in October, and another conservative, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), a sponsor of that bill, has been an outspoken advocate.

"As a conservative who believes in limited government, I believe that the only check on government power in real time is a free and independent press," Pence explained to the same group of news executives. "The Free Flow of Information Act is not about protecting reporters. It's about protecting the public's right to know."

One need only look at the aggressive actions taken last month against Toni Locy, formerly of USA Today, to see why the legislation is needed. She not only was slapped with an onerous fine for refusing to name her sources but was also prohibited from accepting financial help to pay the fine. And last week, the New York Times reported that possible sources have been hauled before a grand jury by federal prosecutors and confronted with records of phone calls to Times reporter James Risen.

This is why The Washington Post Co. and other media organizations have lobbied strongly for this bill. The District of Columbia and 49 states have laws or consent decrees that protect the vital relationship between journalists and their sources. There should be a similar shield at the federal level. The House passed similar legislation by a vote of 398 to 21 last fall. Once the reworked Senate bill is ready, Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) should schedule a vote.

"Thus, despite concerns I have about the legislation, I have narrowly decided to support it," McCain said. "I respect those of my colleagues who have decided not to, appreciate very much the concerns that have informed their position, and encourage further negotiations to address those concerns. But if the vote were held today, as I said, I would vote yes."

Pence helped author the Second Chance Act, and said he was impressed by the presentation local officials made for funding.

"Helping the transition of inmates is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do in communities," the congressman said.

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said too many policies of the Chinese government are repressive the one-child policy, forced abortions and restrictions on journalists.

"For the president of the United States to lend the credibility of his presence to the (Beijing) Olympics would be enormous propaganda value to a Communist totalitarian regime that is antithetical to all the ideals of our nation and the ideals of the Olympic community," he said.