[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S3613]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 6493. Mrs. SHAHEEN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by her to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2027 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 appropriate place, insert the following:

             Subtitle _--Countering Adversarial Propaganda

     SEC. _1. ANNUAL REPORT ON FOREIGN MALIGN INFLUENCE 
                   ACTIVITIES.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for five 
     years, the President, in coordination with the heads of 
     relevant departments and agencies, shall submit to Congress a 
     report that includes the following:
       (1) An assessment of the threats posed by foreign malign 
     influence activities targeting the United States or its 
     allies and partners conducted by the Russian Federation, the 
     People's Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the 
     Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the Republic of 
     Cuba.
       (2) A description of significant foreign malign influence 
     activities by foreign adversaries identified during the 
     preceding year, including activities conducted through--
       (A) coordinated inauthentic behavior, adversarial 
     propaganda, and malign influence campaigns;
       (B) cyber-enabled information operations;
       (C) cognitive, psychological, or behavioral influence 
     activities;
       (D) covert, proxy, or state-sponsored media operations; and
       (E) artificial intelligence-enabled capabilities, including 
     generative artificial intelligence systems, synthetic media, 
     deepfakes, automated content generation, and other emerging 
     technologies.
       (3) An assessment of significant incidents undertaken by 
     foreign adversaries during the preceding year involving 
     foreign-sponsored influence operations targeting democratic 
     institutions, elections, government decision-making, critical 
     infrastructure, public opinion, or societal cohesion in the 
     United States and allied and partner nations.
       (4) An analysis of emerging trends, tactics, techniques, 
     and procedures employed by foreign adversaries to conduct 
     foreign malign influence activities, including the 
     integration of artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities, 
     proxy networks, state-owned media, and other instruments of 
     national power.
       (5) An assessment of vulnerabilities within the United 
     States and allied nations that may be exploited by foreign 
     malign influence campaigns.
       (6) An evaluation of the effectiveness of United States 
     Government efforts to identify, expose, deter, counter, and 
     mitigate foreign malign influence activities.
       (7) A description of coordination among relevant 
     departments and agencies.
       (8) Recommendations for legislative, diplomatic, 
     informational, intelligence, economic, technological, or 
     other actions necessary to counter existing and emerging 
     foreign malign influence threats.
       (b) Form.--
       (1) In general.--Each report required by subsection (a) 
     shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a 
     classified annex.
       (2) Public availability.--The unclassified portion of each 
     report required by subsection (a) shall be made publicly 
     available on an internet website of the Federal Government 
     not later than 30 days after submission to Congress.

     SEC. _2. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVERSARIAL PROPAGANDA WATCHER 
                   PROGRAM.

       (a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 
     establish a program, to be known as the ``Adversarial 
     Propaganda Watchers Program'', within the Department of State 
     to strengthen the capacity of the United States to monitor, 
     expose, and respond to efforts by foreign malign actors to 
     manipulate local information environments in a manner 
     contrary to the interests of the United States and partner 
     governments.
       (b) Functions.--The Adversarial Propaganda Watchers Program 
     shall--
       (1) identify, monitor, and analyze foreign malign 
     operations conducted by the Russian Federation, the People's 
     Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the 
     Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the Republic of 
     Cuba;
       (2) strengthen the capacity of the United States Government 
     to engage with host governments, other partner governments, 
     and regional and international organizations and institutions 
     to coordinate responses to adversarial propaganda, 
     coordinated inauthentic behavior, and malign influence 
     operations; and
       (3) support capacity-building for partner countries, 
     including through nongovernmental entities, to detect and 
     respond to adversarial propaganda, coordinated inauthentic 
     behavior, and malign influence operations.
       (c) Placement.--In carrying out the Adversarial Propaganda 
     Watchers Program, the Secretary of State shall place officers 
     in select United States diplomatic and consular posts in 
     high-risk partner countries who have sufficient subject 
     matter expertise, language skills, and training to 
     effectively carry out the functions described in subsection 
     (b).
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