[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 24, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S5436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3124. 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. SUPPORTING INDEPENDENT MEDIA AND COUNTERING 
                   FOREIGN INFORMATION OPERATIONS.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that the PRC is increasing 
     its spending on public diplomacy, including influence 
     campaigns, advertising, and investments into state-sponsored 
     media publications outside of the PRC. This includes, for 
     example, more than $10,000,000,000 in foreign direct 
     investment in communications infrastructure, platforms, and 
     properties, as well as bringing journalists to the PRC for 
     training programs.
       (b) The United States Agency for Global Media.--The United 
     States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and affiliate Federal 
     and non-Federal entities shall, consistent with the other 
     executive branch undertakings in this Act led by the 
     President or the Secretary of State, undertake the following 
     actions to support independent journalism, counter foreign 
     malign influence, and combat surveillance in countries where 
     the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and other malign actors are 
     promoting foreign information operations, propaganda, and 
     manipulated media markets:
       (1) Radio Free Asia (RFA) shall expand coverage and digital 
     programming in China for all China services and other 
     affiliate language broadcasting services.
       (2) RFA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) shall 
     seek to increase funding for Mandarin, Tibetan, Uyghur, 
     Cantonese, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek language 
     services.
       (3) Voice of America shall continue the bilingual Asia Fact 
     Check Lab, established in 2022, and expand on the Jiehuang 
     Pindao initiative to continue identifying and exposing PRC 
     information operations.
       (4) USAGM shall expand existing training and partnership 
     programs that promote journalistic standards, investigative 
     reporting, cybersecurity, and digital analytics to help 
     expose and counter false CCP narratives.
       (5) The Open Technology Fund shall continue its work to 
     support tools and technology to circumvent censorship and 
     surveillance by the CCP, both inside the PRC as well as 
     abroad where the PRC has exported censorship technology, and 
     increase secure peer-to-peer connectivity and privacy tools.
       (6) Voice of America shall continue its mission of 
     providing accurate, objective, and comprehensive news as well 
     as presenting the policies of the United States clearly and 
     effectively.
       (7) RFE/RL shall establish an investigative unit dedicated 
     to working across Central Asia to develop multimedia 
     responses to local information operation efforts by the CCP 
     and other malign actors.
       (8) The networks and grantees of the United States Agency 
     for Global Media shall continue their mission of providing 
     credible and timely news coverage, including on the PRC's 
     malign behavior and activities across the world.
       (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated, for each of fiscal years 2025 through 
     2029 for the United States Agency for Global Media, 
     $180,000,000 for ongoing and new programs to support local 
     media, build independent media, combat PRC information 
     operations inside and outside of China, invest in technology 
     to subvert censorship, and monitor and evaluate these 
     programs, of which funds shall be directed to--
       (1) RFA to expand--
       (A) its China language services (including Mandarin, 
     Cantonese, Uyghur, and Tibetan);
       (B) its coverage in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands 
     to counter the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda; and
       (C) its Global Mandarin digital brand WHYNOT/Wainao, which 
     engages Chinese-speaking populations both inside China and 
     around the world;
       (2) RFE/RL to increase Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and 
     Uzbek language services; and
       (3) the Open Technology Fund for digital media services--
       (A) to counter propaganda targeting non-Chinese populations 
     in foreign countries; and
       (B) to counter propaganda targeting Chinese-speaking 
     populations in China through ``Global Mandarin'' programming.
       (d) Authorization.--The United States Agency for Global 
     Media is authorized to provide for the establishment of, and 
     grants to, two non-profit organizations constituted on the 
     model of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia 
     that shall be named ``Radio Free Africa'' and ``Radio Free 
     Americas'' for the purposes of providing accurate, 
     uncensored, and reliable local news and information to the 
     regions of Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, 
     respectively.
       (e) Support for Local Media.--The Secretary of State, 
     acting through the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, the 
     Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and 
     Labor and in coordination with the Administrator of the 
     United States Agency for International Development, shall 
     support civil society and foreign media organizations in the 
     implementation of programs to train foreign media personnel 
     on investigative techniques, provide journalist protection, 
     improve media literacy among the school-aged and general 
     populations, boost access to accurate and reliable news and 
     information generally, as well as other media-related 
     activities in order to ensure public accountability related 
     to the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development 
     Initiative, the PRC's use of and export of surveillance and 
     other technologies, and other influence operations abroad 
     direct or directly supported by the Chinese Communist Party 
     or the Government of the PRC.
       (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Department of State, for each of 
     fiscal years 2025 through 2029, $100,000,000 for ongoing and 
     new programs in support of press freedom, training, media 
     literacy, and protection of journalists.
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