Barack Obama on Monday signed a bill into law which will single out foreign governments that shackle press freedoms, passed in honor of murdered US journalist Daniel Pearl. Obama was joined by Pearl’s widow Mariane and their son Adam, 7, in the Oval Office as he signed the law, which requires the State Department to compile a public list of governments which violate journalistic freedoms. The president said the legislation would help ensure that the legacy of Pearl, killed by kidnappers in Pakistan in 2002, would live on.

“The loss of Daniel Pearl was one of those moments that captured the world’s imagination because it reminded us how valuable a free press is,” Obama said.

Obama said the law “sends a strong message from the US government and the State Department that we’re paying attention on how foreign governments are operating when it comes to the press.”