President Barack Obama on Monday signed legislation that requires better scrutiny of media restrictions around the world and honors the late Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was murdered by kidnappers in Pakistan in 2002.

“The Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act requires the State Department to expand its scrutiny of media restrictions and intimidation as part of its annual review of human rights in each country,” The New York Times reports. “Among other things, the department will be required to determine whether foreign governments participate in or condone violations of press freedom.”

“This legislation, in a very modest way, I think puts us clearly on the side of journalistic freedom,” Obama said, according to the Times. After thanking the bill's sponsors, he added: “I particularly want to thank the Pearl family, who have been so outspoken and so courageous in sending a clear message that, despite Daniel's death, his vision of a well-informed citizenry that is able to make choices and hold governments accountable, that that legacy lives on.”

Ironically, Obama declined to take questions from the assembled press on other issues, according to CNN, stating: “You're certainly free to ask the question. I won't be answering, I'm not doing a press conference today, but we'll be seeing you in the course of the week.”