of our bill of rights. also, unacceptable, very much, also unacceptable is the threat the prison being faced by james risen because of his work as a professional journalist. this morning a petition signed by more than 100,000 persons was delivered to the department of justice declaring we support james risen because we support a free press. those petitioners significantly include 20 pulitzer prize winners who declared their support for him, who is referred using to name a source for information about a bungled cia operation in iran that appears in his 2006 book "state of war." we are pleased he could be with us today. the national press club presented him an award in 2012 for his career supporting material the government would prefer to keep from public view. from surveillance to the botched

us today. the national press club presented him an award in 2012 for his career supporting material the government would prefer to keep from public view. from surveillance to the botched attempt to give iran weapons and for resisting government attempts for revealing his confidential sources. i am proud that the national press club, through its act of freedom of the press committee, has continued to support him, as well as today's petition. i would like to introduce norman solomon, executive director of the institute for public accuracy. he is the author of a dozen books on media and public policy