“I believe the only check on government power in real time is a free and independent press. (A reporter shield law) is not about protecting reporters, it’s about protecting the public’s right to know.”

That quote could come from a number of sources. Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and others of the Founding Fathers knew that a free press is the backbone of a society free of government oppression.

But the quote above comes from U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., a conservative who co-sponsored a bill to back reporters’ rights to protect the confidentiality of sources in federal court cases. The House passed the bill 398-21 on Tuesday.

Forty-nine states have similar laws or precedents protecting reporters’ rights in state courts.

Yet the White House has threatened to veto the federal legislation, if adopted by the Senate. The White House said the measure could (surprise!) threaten national security and thwart efforts to prevent terrorism — even though the bill contains provisions to compel reporters to testify under those specific circumstances.

Without source confidentiality, the public would never have learned about prison abuse at Abu Ghraib, clandestine CIA prisons and shoddy conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The Senate should adopt the legislation this session and send it to President Bush, who should sign it in order to protect the public’s right to know.

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