[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 24, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S5435]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3122. Mr. CARDIN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2025 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle D of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1266. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR COUNTERING THE 
                   PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA INFLUENCE FUND.

       (a) Countering the People's Republic of China Influence 
     Fund.--There is authorized to be appropriated $600,000,000 
     for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029 for the Countering 
     the People's Republic of China Influence Fund to counter PRC 
     malign influence. Amounts appropriated pursuant to this 
     authorization are authorized to remain available until 
     expended and shall be in addition to amounts otherwise 
     authorized to be appropriated to counter such influence.
       (b) Policy Guidance, Coordination, and Approval.--
       (1) Coordinator.--The Secretary of State shall designate an 
     existing senior official as the Coordinator for the 
     Countering the People's Republic of China Influence Fund (in 
     this section referred to as ``Coordinator'') to provide 
     policy guidance, coordination within the Department and the 
     interagency as appropriate, and recommendations for the 
     obligation of funds authorized pursuant to subsection (a).
       (2) Duties.--The Coordinator designated pursuant to 
     paragraph (1) shall be responsible for--
       (A) on an annual basis, the identification of specific 
     strategic priorities for using the funds authorized to be 
     appropriated under subsection (a), such as geographic areas 
     of focus or functional categories of programming that funds 
     are to be concentrated within, consistent with the national 
     interests of the United States and the purposes of this 
     section;
       (B) the coordination and approval of all programming 
     conducted using the funds authorized to be appropriated under 
     subsection (a), based on an assessment that such programming 
     directly counters PRC malign influence, including specific 
     activities or policies advanced by such influence, pursuant 
     to the strategic objectives of the United States;
       (C) ensuring that all programming approved bears a 
     sufficiently direct nexus to countering PRC malign influence 
     and adheres to the requirements outlined in subsection (d);
       (D) conducting oversight, monitoring, and evaluation of the 
     effectiveness of all programming conducted using the funds 
     authorized to be appropriated under subsection (a) to ensure 
     that it advances United States interests and degrades the 
     ability of the Government of the PRC, the Chinese Communist 
     Party (CCP), or entities acting on their behalf, to advance 
     the activities described in subsection (c); and
       (E) ensuring, to the maximum extent practicable, that all 
     approved programming under subsection (a) is carried out in 
     coordination with other Federal activities to counter the 
     malign influence and activities of the Government of the PRC, 
     the CCP, or entities acting on their behalf.
       (3) Assistant coordinator.--The Administrator of the United 
     States Agency for International Development shall designate 
     an official with direct responsibility for policy with 
     respect to the PRC to assist the Coordinator designated 
     pursuant to paragraph (1), particularly with respect to such 
     assistance handled by the United States Agency for 
     International Development.
       (c) PRC Malign Influence Defined.--In this section, the 
     term ``PRC malign influence'' means influence of the 
     Government of the PRC and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 
     or entities acting on their behalf globally that--
       (1) undermines a free and open international order;
       (2) advances an alternative, repressive international order 
     that bolsters the PRC or the Chinese Communist Party's 
     hegemonic ambitions and is characterized by coercion and 
     dependency;
       (3) undermines the national security, territorial 
     integrity, or sovereignty of the United States or other 
     countries; or
       (4) undermines the political and economic security of the 
     United States or other countries, including by promoting 
     corruption or elite capture, and advancing coercive economic 
     practices.
       (d) Activities To Counter PRC Malign Influence.--In this 
     section, countering malign influence through the use of funds 
     authorized to be appropriated by subsection (a) include 
     efforts--
       (1) to promote transparency and accountability, and reduce 
     corruption, including in governance structures targeted by 
     the malign influence of the Government of the PRC or the CCP;
       (2) to support civil society and independent media to raise 
     awareness of and increase transparency regarding the negative 
     impact of activities and initiatives of the Government of the 
     PRC and the CCP, or entities acting on their behalf, 
     including the Belt and Road Initiative and other initiatives 
     that lack transparency, fail to meet international standards, 
     and are associated with coercive economic practices;
       (3) to counter transnational criminal networks that 
     benefit, or benefit from, the malign influence of the 
     Government of the PRC, the CCP, or entities acting on their 
     behalf;
       (4) to encourage economic development structures that help 
     protect against predatory lending schemes, including support 
     for market-based alternatives in key economic sectors, such 
     as digital economy, energy, and infrastructure;
       (5) to counter activities that provide undue influence to 
     the security forces of the PRC;
       (6) to expose foreign influence operations and propaganda 
     of the Government of the PRC, the CCP, or entities acting on 
     their behalf;
       (7) to counter efforts by the Government of the PRC, the 
     CCP, or entities acting on their behalf to legitimize or 
     promote authoritarian ideology and governance models, 
     including its model of a state-dominated cyber and digital 
     ecosystem;
       (8) to counter efforts by the Government of the PRC, the 
     CCP, or entities acting on their behalf, to silence, 
     intimidate, or exact reprisal against individuals outside of 
     their sovereign borders, including members of diaspora 
     populations such as political opponents, repressed religious 
     or spiritual practitioners, marginalized ethnic community 
     members, civil society activists, human rights defenders, 
     researchers, and journalists;
       (9) to provide alternatives to problematic PRC technology 
     offerings, which could provide the Government of the PRC 
     undue access to or influence over global data flows or 
     sensitive information, and compete with problematic PRC 
     efforts to leverage or make gains in the development of 
     advanced and emerging technologies;
       (10) to counter PRC activities that directly enable 
     critical supply chain monopolization or other monopolistic 
     practices;
       (11) to counter aggressive PRC efforts to make inroads into 
     the nuclear energy sectors of countries to the detriment of 
     United States national security, strategic, and 
     nonproliferation interests; and
       (12) to counter efforts by the Government of the PRC, the 
     CCP, or entities acting on their behalf, to undermine the 
     democratic processes and institutions of United States allies 
     and partners.
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