[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3104 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.3104
One Hundred Eleventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the fifth day of January, two thousand and ten
An Act
To permanently authorize Radio Free Asia, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Radio Free Asia (referred to in this Act as ``RFA'')--
(A) was authorized under section 309 of the United States
International Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6208);
(B) was incorporated as a private, non-profit corporation
in March 1996 in the hope that its operations would soon be
obviated by the global advancement of democracy; and
(C) is headquartered in Washington, DC, with additional
offices in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Phnom Penh, Seoul, Ankara, and
Taipei.
(2) RFA broadcasts serve as substitutes for indigenous free
media in regions lacking free media outlets.
(3) The mission of RFA is ``to provide accurate and timely news
and information to Asian countries whose governments prohibit
access to a free press'' in order to enable informed decisionmaking
by the people within Asia.
(4) RFA provides daily broadcasts of news, commentary,
analysis, and cultural programming to Asian countries in several
languages, including--
(A) 12 hours per day in Mandarin;
(B) 8 hours per day in 3 Tibetan dialects, Uke, Kham, and
Amdo;
(C) 4 hours per day in Korean and Burmese;
(D) 2 hours per day in Cantonese, Vietnamese, Laotian,
Khmer (Cambodian), and Uyghur; and
(E) 1\1/2\ hours per week in Wu (local Shanghai dialect).
(5) The governments of the countries targeted for these
broadcasts have consistently denied and blocked attempts at Medium
Wave and FM transmissions into their countries, forcing RFA to rely
on Shortwave broadcasts and the Internet.
(6) RFA has provided continuous online news to its Asian
audiences since 2004, although some countries--
(A) routinely and aggressively block RFA's website;
(B) monitor access to RFA's website; and
(C) discourage online users by making it illegal to access
RFA's website.
(7) Despite these attempts, RFA has successfully managed to
reach its online audiences through proxies, cutting-edge software,
and active republication and repostings by its audience.
(8) RFA also provides forums for local opinions and experiences
through message boards, podcasts, web logs (blogs), cell phone-
distributed newscasts, and new media, including Facebook, Flickr,
Twitter, and YouTube.
(9) Freedom House has documented that freedom of the press is
in decline in nearly every region of the world, particularly in
Asia, where none of the countries served by RFA have increased
their freedom of the press during the past 5 years.
(10) In fiscal year 2010, RFA is operating on a $37,000,000
budget, less than $400,000 of which is available to fund Internet
censorship circumvention.
(11) Congress currently provides grant funding for RFA's
operations on a fiscal year basis.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE.
It is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) public access to timely, uncensored, and accurate
information is imperative for promoting government accountability
and the protection of human rights;
(2) Radio Free Asia provides a vital voice to people in Asia;
(3) some of the governments in Asia spend millions of dollars
each year to jam RFA's shortwave, block its Internet sites;
(4) Congress should provide additional funding to RFA and the
other entities overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors
for--
(A) Internet censorship circumvention; and
(B) enhancement of their cyber security efforts; and
(5) permanently authorizing funding for Radio Free Asia would--
(A) reflect the concern that media censorship and press
restrictions in the countries served by RFA have increased
since RFA was established; and
(B) send a powerful signal of our Nation's support for free
press in Asia and throughout the world.
SEC. 3. PERMANENT AUTHORIZATION FOR RADIO FREE ASIA.
Section 309 of the United States International Broadcasting Act of
1994 (22 U.S.C. 6208) is amended--
(1) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ``, and shall further
specify that funds to carry out the activities of Radio Free Asia
may not be available after September 30, 2010'';
(2) by striking subsection (f);
(3) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as subsection (f)
and (g), respectively; and
(4) in subsection (f), as redesignated--
(A) by striking ``The Board'' and inserting the following:
``(1) Notification.--The Board'';
(B) by striking ``before entering'' and inserting the
following: ``before--
``(A) entering'';
(C) by striking ``Radio Free Asia.'' and inserting the
following: ``Radio Free Asia; or
``(B) entering into any agreements in regard to the
utilization of Radio Free Asia transmitters, equipment, or
other resources that will significantly reduce the broadcasting
activities of Radio Free Asia.'';
(D) by striking ``The Chairman'' and inserting the
following:
``(2) Consultation.--The Chairman''; and
(E) by inserting ``or Radio Free Asia broadcasting
activities'' before the period at the end.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.