By us we mean the press, the people empowered by the First Amendment to keep an eye on the government.

And by us we mean our confidential sources, the people who love their country enough to reveal information categorized as classified when our leaders go astray.

And by us we mean you, the people entitled to know what our government is doing to safeguard our freedoms as it seeks to eradicate terrorism.

Allow us to outline Kyl's attempt to erode your right to know. First he proposed an amendment making it a crime to publish classified information "concerning efforts by the United States to identify, investigate or prevent terrorist activity."

The wording was broad, the ramifications severe. The proposed law could have been applied to everything from public safety and health threats to emergency response planning and national security breakdowns. Had it been in effect, you may not now know about the Bush administration's eavesdropping on overseas telephone calls, its monitoring of international banking transactions, its secret CIA prisons abroad - all constitutionally questionable acts being committed in our names.

But Kyl failed. He withdrew the amendment under heavy fire from First Amendment advocates. Now, though, he's attacking from the rear.

His new proposal targets news sources instead of journalists. Government employees who leak classified information related to the war on terror would risk 10 years in jail. Different victims, same impact: A government with the power to classify any document could, with such a law, operate with relative impunity.

Kyl apparently believes that no news is good news in time of war, that a free press is, by definition, an enemy of the state. We disagree.

Yes, there is a need to fight terrorism, and you're a stakeholder. As such, you deserve to know when, where, why, how and by whom that battle is being fought. Answering those questions is the role of a free press, which depends on a free flow of information.

Kyl's legislation undermines that role by terrorizing people of conscience who serve the government and have the courage to speak up when basic liberties and freedoms are threatened.