[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3104 Reported in Senate (RS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 439
111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3104

                          [Report No. 111-214]

   To permanently authorize Radio Free Asia, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 11, 2010

   Mr. Lugar (for himself, Mr. Kaufman, Mr. Franken, Mr. Inouye, Mr. 
  Risch, and Mr. Webb) introduced the following bill; which was read 
        twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

                             June 22, 2010

                Reported by Mr. Kerry, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To permanently authorize Radio Free Asia, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. FINDINGS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Congress finds the following:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Radio Free Asia (referred to in this Act as 
        ``RFA'')--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) was authorized under section 309 of 
                the United States International Broadcasting Act of 
                1994 (22 U.S.C. 6208);</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (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</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) is headquartered in Washington, DC, 
                with additional offices in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Phnom 
                Penh, Seoul, Ankara, and Taipei.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) RFA broadcasts serve as substitutes for 
        indigenous free media in regions lacking free media 
        outlets.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) RFA provides daily broadcasts of news, 
        commentary, analysis, and cultural programming to Asian 
        countries in several languages, including--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) 12 hours per day in 
                Mandarin;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) 8 hours per day in 3 Tibetan dialects, 
                Uke, Kham, and Amdo;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) 4 hours per day in Korean and 
                Burmese;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) 2 hours per day in Cantonese, 
                Vietnamese, Laotian, Khmer (Cambodian), and Uyghur; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (E) 1</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/2</DELETED>\ 
                <DELETED>hours per week in Wu (local Shanghai 
                dialect).</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) RFA has provided continuous online news to its 
        Asian audiences since 2004, although some countries--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) routinely and aggressively block RFA's 
                website;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) monitor access to RFA's website; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) discourage online users by making it 
                illegal to access RFA's website.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (10) As documented in Freedom House's Index of 
        Global Press Freedom, which annually ranks the nations of the 
        world on this issue, between 2004 and 2009, out of 193 and 195 
        countries rated for those years--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) China's ranking dropped from 173rd to 
                181st;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) Cambodia's ranking dropped from 127th 
                to 132nd;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) Vietnam's ranking dropped from 178th 
                to 179th;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) Laos' ranking dropped from 179th to 
                184th;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (E) Burma's ranking dropped from 190th to 
                193rd; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (F) North Korea's ranking remained dead 
                last.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (11) In fiscal year 2010, RFA is operating on a 
        $37,000,000 budget to reach the approximately 1,500,000,000 
        people who live within the countries served by RFA, less than 
        $400,000 of which is available to fund Internet censorship 
        circumvention.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (12) Independent media sources are nonexistent or 
        severely restrained in their operations in these areas where 
        the press often serves as a means to promote the government's 
        agenda.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (13) Congress currently provides grant funding for 
        RFA's operations on a fiscal year basis.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    It is the sense of the Senate that--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) public access to timely, uncensored, and 
        accurate information is imperative for achieving government 
        accountability and the protection of human rights;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Radio Free Asia provides a vital voice to 
        people in Asia;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) in the 14 years since RFA was established, 
        freedom of the press in Asia has been reduced, as evidenced by 
        the inability of RFA to broadcast on AM or FM frequencies in 
        the countries served by RFA;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) some of the governments in Asia spend millions 
        of dollars each year to jam RFA's shortwave, block its Internet 
        sites, and illegally access RFA's computer networks and user 
        files;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) Congress should provide additional funding to 
        RFA and the other entities overseen by the Broadcasting Board 
        of Governors for--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) Internet censorship circumvention; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) enhancement of their cyber security 
                efforts; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) permanently authorizing funding for Radio Free 
        Asia would--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) reflect the concern that media 
                censorship and press restrictions in the countries 
                served by RFA have increased since RFA was established; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) send a powerful signal of our Nation's 
                support for free press in Asia and throughout the 
                world.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. PERMANENT AUTHORIZATION FOR RADIO FREE ASIA.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Section 309 of the United States International 
Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6208) is amended--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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'';</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) by striking subsection (f);</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 
        subsection (f) and (g), respectively; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) in subsection (f), as redesignated--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) by striking ``The Board'' and 
                inserting the following:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) Notification.--The Board'';</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) by striking ``before entering'' and 
                inserting the following: ``before--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) entering'';</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (C) by striking ``Radio Free Asia.'' and 
                inserting the following: ``Radio Free Asia; 
                or</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(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.'';</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (D) by striking ``The Chairman'' and 
                inserting the following:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) Consultation.--The Chairman''; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (E) by inserting ``or Radio Free Asia 
                broadcasting activities'' before the period at the 
                end.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    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) 1\1/2\ 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.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

    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.

SEC. 3. PERMANENT AUTHORIZATION FOR RADIO FREE ASIA.

    Section 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) Notification.--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) Consultation.--The Chairman''; and
                    (E) by inserting ``or Radio Free Asia broadcasting 
                activities'' before the period at the end.
                                                       Calendar No. 439

111th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 3104

                          [Report No. 111-214]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To permanently authorize Radio Free Asia, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             June 22, 2010

                       Reported with an amendment