1.Congress finds the following:
(1)Radio Free Asia (referred to in this Act as
RFA
)—
(A)was authorized under section 309 of the
United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6208);
(B)was incorporated as a private, non-profit
corporation in March 1996 in the hope that its operations would soon be
obviated by the global advancement of democracy; and
(C)is headquartered in Washington, DC, with
additional offices in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Phnom Penh, Seoul, Ankara, and
Taipei.
(2)RFA broadcasts serve as substitutes for
indigenous free media in regions lacking free media outlets.
(3)The mission of RFA is to provide
accurate and timely news and information to Asian countries whose governments
prohibit access to a free press
in order to enable informed
decisionmaking by the people within Asia.
(4)RFA provides daily broadcasts of news,
commentary, analysis, and cultural programming to Asian countries in several
languages, including—
(A)12 hours per day in Mandarin;
(B)8 hours per day in 3 Tibetan dialects, Uke,
Kham, and Amdo;
(C)4 hours per day in Korean and
Burmese;
(D)2 hours per day in Cantonese, Vietnamese,
Laotian, Khmer (Cambodian), and Uyghur; and
(E)11/2 hours per week in
Wu (local Shanghai dialect).
(5)The governments of the countries targeted
for these broadcasts have consistently denied and blocked attempts at Medium
Wave and FM transmissions into their countries, forcing RFA to rely on
Shortwave broadcasts and the Internet.
(6)RFA has provided continuous online news to
its Asian audiences since 2004, although some countries—
(A)routinely and aggressively block RFA’s
website;
(B)monitor access to RFA’s website; and
(C)discourage online users by making it
illegal to access RFA’s website.
(7)Despite these attempts, RFA has
successfully managed to reach its online audiences through proxies,
cutting-edge software, and active republication and repostings by its
audience.
(8)RFA also provides forums for local opinions
and experiences through message boards, podcasts, web logs (blogs), cell
phone-distributed newscasts, and new media, including Facebook, Flickr,
Twitter, and YouTube.
(9)Freedom House has documented that freedom
of the press is in decline in nearly every region of the world, particularly in
Asia, where none of the countries served by RFA have increased their freedom of
the press during the past 5 years.
(10)In fiscal year 2010, RFA is operating on a
$37,000,000 budget, less than $400,000 of which is available to fund Internet
censorship circumvention.
(11)Congress currently provides grant funding
for RFA’s operations on a fiscal year basis.
2.It is the sense of the Senate that—
(1)public access to timely, uncensored, and
accurate information is imperative for promoting government accountability and
the protection of human rights;
(2)Radio Free Asia provides a vital voice to
people in Asia;
(3)some of the governments in Asia spend
millions of dollars each year to jam RFA’s shortwave, block its Internet
sites;
(4)Congress should provide additional funding
to RFA and the other entities overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors
for—
(A)Internet censorship circumvention;
and
(B)enhancement of their cyber security
efforts; and
(5)permanently authorizing funding for Radio
Free Asia would—
(A)reflect the concern that media censorship
and press restrictions in the countries served by RFA have increased since RFA
was established; and
(B)send a powerful signal of our Nation’s
support for free press in Asia and throughout the world.
3.Permanent authorization for Radio Free
AsiaSection 309 of the United
States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6208) is
amended—
(1)in subsection (c)(2), by striking ,
and shall further specify that funds to carry out the activities of Radio Free
Asia may not be available after September 30, 2010
;
(2)by striking subsection (f);
(3)by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as
subsection (f) and (g), respectively; and
(4)in subsection (f), as redesignated—
(A)by striking The Board
and
inserting the following:
(1)The
Board
;
(B)by striking before entering
and inserting the following: “before—
(A)entering
;
(C)by striking Radio Free Asia.
and inserting the following: “Radio Free Asia; or
(B)entering into any agreements in regard to
the utilization of Radio Free Asia transmitters, equipment, or other resources
that will significantly reduce the broadcasting activities of Radio Free
Asia.
;
(D)by striking The Chairman
and
inserting the following:
(2)The
Chairman
;
and
(E)by inserting or Radio Free Asia
broadcasting activities
before the period at the end.
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Vice President of the United States and President of the
Senate