[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 29, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S6786]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 394--RECOGNIZING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF RADIO FREE 
ASIA AND ITS MISSION TO PROVIDE AN INDEPENDENT SOURCE OF NEWS TO CLOSED 
                           SOCIETIES IN ASIA

  Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. Portman) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 394

       Whereas, after the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, a 
     bipartisan group of Senators and Members of the House of 
     Representatives, led by then-Senators Joseph R. Biden and 
     Jesse Helms, came together and sponsored legislation to 
     create Radio Free Asia, a news outlet with a congressionally-
     mandated mission to provide unbiased, independent, and 
     domestic journalism for audiences in China, Burma, Cambodia, 
     Laos, North Korea, Tibet, and Vietnam, whose people do not 
     fully enjoy freedom of expression;
       Whereas Radio Free Asia--
       (1) was established by United States law as part of the 
     United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 
     U.S.C. 6201 et seq.);
       (2) was incorporated as a private, nonprofit corporation on 
     March 11, 1996; and
       (3) made its inaugural broadcast in Mandarin to the Chinese 
     people on September 29, 1996;
       Whereas Laos, Vietnam, China, and North Korea rank amongst 
     the worst 9 countries in the world for media freedom in the 
     2021 World Press Freedom Index, as based on an evaluation of 
     pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative 
     framework, and safety of journalists;
       Whereas Radio Free Asia delivers programming and content 
     using many media platforms, including radio, television, and 
     the internet, in the languages of Mandarin, Korean, Burmese, 
     Tibetan, Uyghur, Khmer (Cambodian), Cantonese, Lao, and 
     Vietnamese, and through English translations and content on 
     the website and social media of Radio Free Asia;
       Whereas Radio Free Asia launched BenarNews in 2015, an 
     online news affiliate that publishes news and content for 
     audiences in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, and 
     the Philippines that is focused on the consequences of 
     extremism and contributes to coverage by Radio Free Asia of 
     the influence of the People's Republic of China in Southeast 
     Asia and the expanded military presence of the People's 
     Republic of China in the South China Sea;
       Whereas Radio Free Asia in 2020 launched online brand, 
     WHYNOT/WAINAO, engaging younger Chinese Mandarin-speaking 
     audiences around the world, who are often skeptical of 
     pervasive Chinese government narratives, fostering an open 
     dialogue on banned or under-covered topics through probing 
     independent-thinking journalism, features, and content;
       Whereas Radio Free Asia, consistent with its congressional 
     mandate of editorial independence, works to ensure that its 
     journalists and services adhere to the highest journalistic 
     standards and ethics, without influence or interference by 
     the United States Government or any Administration;
       Whereas the Uyghur Service of Radio Free Asia has served a 
     vital role by providing an independent source of information 
     on the repression and mass detention of Uyghurs and members 
     of other ethnic and religious minorities in the Xinjiang 
     Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China;
       Whereas the documentation of abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur 
     Autonomous Region by Radio Free Asia has helped inform the 
     policies of the Congress and the Executive Branch, including 
     a determination by the State Department that the Chinese 
     government, under the direction of the Chinese Communist 
     Party, is engaged in genocide against Uyghurs and members of 
     other ethnic and religious minority groups;
       Whereas Radio Free Asia has documented the rapid 
     deterioration of autonomy and democratic freedoms in Hong 
     Kong by the Chinese central government, including 
     restrictions on freedom of speech and the press and 
     crackdowns on activists, journalists, and protesters;
       Whereas Radio Free Asia has been a primary source of 
     information on Tibetan regions in the People's Republic of 
     China, including on the March 2008 Lhasa Uprising and ensuing 
     security crackdown, the spate of Tibetan self-immolations, 
     and restrictions on Tibetan language, education, religious 
     practice, and the display of images of the Dalai Lama;
       Whereas, in March 2020, Radio Free Asia reported that the 
     Chinese government was under-reporting the number of 
     coronavirus fatalities in Wuhan province, which was later 
     verified by leaked internal Chinese documents obtained by 
     other news outlets;
       Whereas Radio Free Asia has provided the Burmese people 
     with continuous coverage of the 2021 military-led coup that 
     deposed the elected government and ended 10 years of 
     democratic reforms and growth of civil society;
       Whereas, in 2017, Radio Free Asia documented the human 
     rights abuses against and expulsion of Rohingya from Burma, 
     whose plight Radio Free Asia affiliate BenarNews has 
     continued to cover in refugee camps in Bangladesh;
       Whereas Radio Free Asia has done in-depth reporting on the 
     behavior of the North Korean government, including the use of 
     forced labor, political prisoner camps, activities at nuclear 
     testing sites, and internal acknowledgments of the presence 
     of COVID-19 in the country;
       Whereas high-level defectors and refugees from North Korea 
     have credited reports by Radio Free Asia as a factor in their 
     decision to leave the country and seek their future beyond 
     the North Korean borders;
       Whereas the Lao, Khmer (Cambodian), and Vietnamese services 
     of Radio Free Asia have reported on high-level corruption of 
     officials and leaders, silencing of independent voices and 
     journalists, and the struggles of civil society, as well as 
     activities by China that affect the flow of the Mekong River;
       Whereas the journalism by Radio Free Asia has earned 
     recognition among its peers, is cited by respected 
     international and regional media outlets, and has won 
     numerous awards for its investigative reporting and exclusive 
     features from journalistic and human rights groups;
       Whereas Radio Free Asia has been unjustly targeted by 
     repressive regimes, with its websites blocked, its radio 
     signals jammed, and its journalists put at risk;
       Whereas Nguyen Tuong Thuy, Truong Duy Nhat, and Nguyen Van 
     Hoa, contributors to the Vietnamese Service of Radio Free 
     Asia, have been unjustly jailed and detained;
       Whereas Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, who have both worked 
     as journalists for the Khmer (Cambodian) Service of Radio 
     Free Asia, continue to face unsubstantiated charges; and
       Whereas Chinese authorities have detained and harassed 
     family members of the Uyghur Service of Radio Free Asia in a 
     campaign of intimidation. Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the importance of Radio Free Asia on its 
     25th anniversary as an independent news organization 
     chartered and funded by Congress with a mission to bring 
     uncensored, accurate news to people living in closed 
     societies in Asia;
       (2) honors the dedication and courage of the former and 
     current journalists of Radio Free Asia in the face of threats 
     and adversity from foreign governments and rising risks for 
     press freedom in Asia and across the globe; and
       (3) commends the continued effectiveness and success of 
     Radio Free Asia in its pursuit of independence and credible 
     journalism.

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