GOP balking at passing press shield law

WASHINGTON, April 29 (UPI) -- The chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee says Republican lawmakers are lining up against a shield law protecting reporters' confidential sources.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told Politico that while Republican committee members say publicly they support the federal shield law, they have assured the Bush administration they will vote against it on the Senate floor.

"Unfortunately, we have a number of (senators in) the president's party who told the press they're for it and have told the White House, 'We'll make sure we protect you on this,'" Leahy said.

The law passed the House last fall, but the White House remains opposed on the grounds it could threaten national security by possibly exposing classified information.

Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., said some of the reservations come from vagueness as to exactly who qualifies as a "journalist" given the emergence of bloggers and others who could potentially spill state secrets on the Internet and then claim immunity from revealing their sources.