I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1157 

To provide for the authorization of appropriations for the Countering the 

People’s Republic of China Malign Influence Fund, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2023 

Mr. BARR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the authorization of appropriations for the 

Countering the People’s Republic of China Malign Influence Fund, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Countering the PRC 

5 Malign Influence Fund Authorization Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR COUN7 TERING THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 

8 MALIGN INFLUENCE FUND. 

9 (a) COUNTERING THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF

10 CHINA MALIGN INFLUENCE FUND.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

2 appropriated $325,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

3 2023 through 2027 for the Countering the People’s 

4 Republic of China Malign Influence Fund to counter 

5 the malign influence of the Chinese Communist 

6 Party and the Government of the People’s Republic 

7 of China and entities acting on their behalf globally. 

8 (2) AVAILABILITY; AMOUNTS IN ADDITION TO

9 OTHER AMOUNTS.—Amounts appropriated pursuant 

10 to the authorization of appropriations under para11 graph (1)— 

12 (A) are authorized to remain available 

13 until expended; and 

14 (B) shall be in addition to amounts other15 wise authorized to be appropriated for the pur16 poses described in paragraph (1). 

17 (b) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—The obligation of 

18 funds appropriated pursuant to the authorization of ap19 propriations under subsection (a) or otherwise made avail20 able for the purposes described in subsection (a)(1) shall 

21 be subject to prior consultation with, and consistent with 

22 section 634A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

23 U.S.C. 2394–1), the regular notification procedures of— 

24 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

25 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 


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1 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

2 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep3 resentatives. 

4 (c) POLICY GUIDANCE, COORDINATION, AND AP5 PROVAL.— 

6 (1) COORDINATOR.—The Secretary of State 

7 shall designate an existing senior official of the De8 partment of State to provide policy guidance, coordi9 nation, and approval for the obligation of funds ap10 propriated pursuant to the authorization of appro11 priations under subsection (a). 

12 (2) ASSISTANT COORDINATOR.—The Adminis13 trator of the United States Agency for International 

14 Development shall designate an existing senior offi15 cial of the United States Agency for International 

16 Development to assist and consult with the senior 

17 official of the Department of State designated pur18 suant to paragraph (1). 

19 (3) DUTIES.—The senior official of the Depart20 ment of State designated pursuant to paragraph (1) 

21 shall be responsible for— 

22 (A) on an annual basis, the identification 

23 of specific strategic priorities for using funds 

24 appropriated pursuant to the authorization of 

25 appropriations under subsection (a), such as geVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Feb 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1157.IH H1157

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1 ographic areas of focus or functional categories 

2 of programming that funds are to be con3 centrated within, consistent with the national 

4 interests of the United States and the purposes 

5 of this section; 

6 (B) the coordination and approval of all 

7 programming conducted using such funds, 

8 based on an assessment that such programming 

9 directly counters the malign influence of the 

10 Chinese Communist Party or the Government 

11 of the People’s Republic of China, including 

12 specific activities or policies advanced by the 

13 Chinese Communist Party or the Government 

14 of the People’s Republic of China and entities 

15 acting on their behalf globally, pursuant to the 

16 strategic objectives of the United States, as es17 tablished in the 2017 National Security Strat18 egy, the 2018 National Defense Strategy, and 

19 other relevant national and regional strategies 

20 as appropriate; 

21 (C) ensuring that all programming ap22 proved bears a sufficiently direct nexus to such 

23 activities of the Chinese Communist Party or 

24 the Government of the People’s Republic of 

25 China described in subsection (d) and adheres 


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1 to the requirements outlined in subsection (e); 

2 and 

3 (D) conducting oversight, monitoring, and 

4 evaluation of the effectiveness of all program5 ming conducted using such funds to ensure that 

6 it advances United States interests and de7 grades the ability of the Chinese Communist 

8 Party or the Government of the People’s Re9 public of China, to advance activities that align 

10 with subsection (d) of this section. 

11 (4) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The senior 

12 official of the Department of State designated pur13 suant to paragraph (1) shall, in coordinating and 

14 approving programming pursuant to paragraph (2), 

15 seek— 

16 (A) to conduct appropriate interagency 

17 consultation; and 

18 (B) to ensure, to the maximum extent 

19 practicable, that all approved programming 

20 functions in concert with other Federal activi21 ties to counter the malign influence of the Chi22 nese Communist Party or the Government of 

23 the People’s Republic of China. 

24 (d) MALIGN INFLUENCE.—In this section, the term 

25 ‘‘malign influence’’, with respect to the Chinese ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Feb 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1157.IH H1157

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1 munist Party or the Government of the People’s Republic 

2 of China, shall be construed to include acts conducted by 

3 the Chinese Communist Party or the Government of the 

4 People’s Republic of China, or entities acting on their be5 half that— 

6 (1) undermine a free and open international 

7 order; 

8 (2) advance an alternative, repressive inter9 national order that bolsters the Chinese Communist 

10 Party’s or the Government of the People’s Republic 

11 of China’s hegemonic ambitions and is characterized 

12 by coercion and dependency; 

13 (3) undermine the national security or sov14 ereignty of the United States or other countries; or 

15 (4) undermine the economic security of the 

16 United States or other countries, including by pro17 moting corruption and advancing coercive economic 

18 practices. 

19 (e) COUNTERING MALIGN INFLUENCE.—In this sec20 tion, countering malign influence through the use of funds 

21 appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropria22 tions under subsection (a) shall include efforts— 

23 (1) to promote transparency and accountability, 

24 and reduce corruption, including in governance 

25 structures targeted by the malign influence of the 


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1 Chinese Communist Party or the Government of the 

2 People’s Republic of China; 

3 (2) to support civil society and independent 

4 media to raise awareness of and increase trans5 parency regarding the negative impact of activities 

6 related to the Belt and Road Initiative, associated 

7 initiatives, other economic initiatives with strategic 

8 or political purposes, and coercive economic prac9 tices; 

10 (3) to counter transnational criminal networks 

11 that benefit, or benefit from, the malign influence of 

12 the Chinese Communist Party or the Government of 

13 the People’s Republic of China; 

14 (4) to encourage economic development struc15 tures that help protect against predatory lending 

16 schemes, including support for market-based alter17 natives in key economic sectors, such as digital econ18 omy, energy, and infrastructure; 

19 (5) to counter activities that provide undue in20 fluence to the security forces of the People’s Repub21 lic of China; 

22 (6) to expose misinformation and 

23 disinformation of the Chinese Communist Party’s or 

24 the Government of the People’s Republic of China’s 


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1 propaganda, including through programs carried out 

2 by the Global Engagement Center; and 

3 (7) to counter efforts by the Chinese Com4 munist Party or the Government of the People’s Re5 public of China to legitimize or promote authori6 tarian ideology and governance models. 

7 (f) ANNUAL SUMMARY.—Not later than September 

8 30, 2023, and annually thereafter for 5 years, the senior 

9 official of the Department of State designated pursuant 

10 to subsection (c)(1) shall submit to the congressional com11 mittees specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection 

12 (b), a summary identifying each activity or program ap13 proved pursuant to subsection (c), and shall include— 

14 (1) for each program or activity, an identifica15 tion of the country or regional location of the pro16 gram or activity; 

17 (2) for each program or activity, whether the 

18 program or activity was ongoing prior to receiving 

19 support from funds from the Countering People’s 

20 Republic of China Malign Influence Fund, or any 

21 predecessor resource intended for the same or sub22 stantially similar purpose; 

23 (3) for each program or activity, an identifica24 tion of the acts described in subsection (d) that such 

25 program or activity is intended to counter; and 


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1 (4) a table identifying the respective allocation 

2 of all programs or activities approved during that 

3 fiscal year across accounts and regional or functional 

4 bureaus. 

Æ 


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