U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer on Wednesday said he was asked by the White House to reintroduce a press shield law, as the Obama administration seeks damage control after the Justice Department's decision to secretly obtain journalists' phone records backfires.

Schumer announced that he will reintroduce the media-protecting legislation, called the Free Flow of Information Act. The bill seeks to protect journalists from being compelled to testify about their confidential sources, unless all other avenues are exhausted and exposure is in the public interest.

The move came after questions were raised about the seizure of Associated Press (AP) phone records by the Justice Department. Schumer said the new legislation "would have compelled concurrent notice of the subpoena to the AP unless law enforcement could convince a court that special circumstances warranted a delay."

"This kind of law would balance national security needs against the public's right to the free flow of information," Schumer said. "At minimum, our bill would have ensured a fairer, more deliberate process in this case."

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that President Barack Obama welcomes the reintroduction of the bill.

"The president has long supported media shield legislation, in the Senate during the 2008 campaign, and as president," Carney told reporters at his daily briefing Wednesday. "We are glad to see that legislation will be reintroduced because he believes strongly that we need to provide the protections to the media that this legislation would do."

The law passed Senate Judiciary Committee in 2009, but was derailed before a full Senate vote.

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