[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 26, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3687-S3688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF RADIO FREE ASIA AND ITS MISSION TO
PROVIDE AN INDEPENDENT SOURCE OF NEWS TO CLOSED SOCIETIES IN ASIA
Mr. PETERS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 418, S. Res.
394.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 394) recognizing the 25th anniversary
of Radio Free Asia and its mission to provide an independent
source of news to closed societies in Asia.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign
Relations, with an amendment to strike all after the resolving clause
and insert in lieu thereof the following:
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 Burma, Vietnam, China, and North Korea rank amongst
the world's 10 worst countries for media freedom in Reporters
Without Borders' 2022 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,
helping inform the policies of 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
[[Page S3688]]
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 year 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.
Mr. PETERS. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported
substitute amendment to the resolution be agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was
agreed to.
Mr. PETERS. I know of no further debate on the resolution, as
amended.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
Hearing none, the question is on adopting the resolution, as amended.
The amendment (S. Res. 394), as amended, was agreed to.
Mr. PETERS. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported
substitute amendment to the preamble be agreed to; the preamble, as
amended, be agreed to; and the motions to reconsider be considered made
and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was
agreed to.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
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