[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2998 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.2998
One Hundred Seventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two
An Act
To authorize the establishment of Radio Free Afghanistan.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Radio Free Afghanistan Act''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF RADIO FREE AFGHANISTAN.
(a) Requirement of a Detailed Plan.--Not later than 15 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, RFE/RL, Incorporated, shall submit
to the Broadcasting Board of Governors a report setting forth a
detailed plan for the provision by RFE/RL, Incorporated, of surrogate
broadcasting services in the Dari and Pashto languages to Afghanistan.
Such broadcasting services shall be known as ``Radio Free
Afghanistan''.
(b) Grant Authority.--
(1) In general.--Effective 15 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, or the date on which the report required by subsection
(a) is submitted, whichever is later, the Broadcasting Board of
Governors is authorized to make grants to support Radio Free
Afghanistan.
(2) Supersedes existing limitation on total annual grant
amounts.--Grants made to RFE/RL, Incorporated, during the fiscal
year 2002 for support of Radio Free Afghanistan may be made without
regard to section 308(c) of the United States International
Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6207(c)).
(c) Available Authorities.--In addition to the authorities in this
Act, the authorities applicable to carry out United States Government
broadcasting activities under the United States Information and
Educational Exchange Act of 1948, the United States International
Broadcasting Act of 1994, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring
Act of 1998, and other provisions of law consistent with such purpose
may be used to carry out the grant authority of subsection (b).
(d) Standards; Oversight.--Radio Free Afghanistan shall adhere to
the same standards of professionalism and accountability, and shall be
subject to the same oversight mechanisms, as other services of RFE/RL,
Incorporated.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General.--In addition to such amounts as are otherwise
available for such purposes, the following amounts are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out United States Government broadcasting
activities under the United States Information and Educational Exchange
Act of 1948, the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994,
the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, and this Act,
and to carry out other authorities in law consistent with such
purposes:
(1) For ``International Broadcasting Operations'', $8,000,000
for the fiscal year 2002.
(2) For ``Broadcasting Capital Improvements'', $9,000,000 for
the fiscal year 2002.
(b) Availability of Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to
subsection (a) are authorized to remain available until expended.
SEC. 4. REPEAL OF BAN ON UNITED STATES TRANSMITTER IN KUWAIT.
Section 226 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal
Years 1994 and 1995 (Public Law 103-236; 108 Stat. 423), is repealed.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.