II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3835 

To prohibit the use of funds for the production of films by United States 

companies that alter content for screening in the People’s Republic 

of China, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2020 

Mr. CRUZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit the use of funds for the production of films 

by United States companies that alter content for screening in the People’s Republic of China, 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 ‘‘Stopping Censorship, 

5 Restoring Integrity, and Protecting Talkies Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SCRIPT Act’’. 


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•S 3835 IS

1 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR PRODUCTION 

2 OF FILMS AND PROHIBITION ON USE OF 

3 SUCH FUNDS FOR FILMS SUBJECT TO CONDI4 TIONS ON CONTENT OR ALTERED FOR 

5 SCREENING IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF 

6 CHINA OR THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY. 

7 (a) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—The President 

8 may only authorize the provision of technical support or 

9 access to an asset controlled by the Federal Government 

10 for, or authorize the head of a Federal agency to enter 

11 into a contract relating to, the production or funding of 

12 a film by a United States company if the United States 

13 company, as a condition of receiving the support or ac14 cess— 

15 (1) provides to the Secretary a list of all films 

16 produced or funded by the United States company 

17 the content of which has been submitted, during the 

18 shorter of the preceding 10-year period or the period 

19 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 

20 to an official of the Government of the People’s Re21 public of China or the Chinese Communist Party for 

22 evaluation with respect to screening the film in the 

23 People’s Republic of China, including, for each 

24 film— 

25 (A) the title of the film; and 


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1 (B) the date on which the submittal oc2 curred; 

3 (2) enters into a written agreement with the 

4 President, or the Federal agency providing the sup5 port or access, not to alter the content of the film 

6 in response to, or in anticipation of, a request by an 

7 official of the Government of the People’s Republic 

8 of China or the Chinese Communist Party; and 

9 (3) submits such agreement to the Secretary. 

10 (b) PROHIBITION WITH RESPECT TO FILMS SUB11 JECT TO CONDITIONS ON CONTENT OR ALTERED FOR

12 SCREENING IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.— 

13 Notwithstanding subsection (a), the President may not au14 thorize the provision of technical support or access to any 

15 asset controlled by the Federal Government for, or author16 ize the head of a Federal agency to enter into any contract 

17 relating to, the production or funding of a film by a United 

18 States company if— 

19 (1) the film is co-produced by an entity located 

20 in the People’s Republic of China that is subject to 

21 conditions on content imposed by an official of the 

22 Government of the People’s Republic of China or the 

23 Chinese Communist Party; or 

24 (2) with respect to the most recent report sub25 mitted under subsection (c), the United States comVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3835.IS S3835

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1 pany is listed in the report under subparagraph (C) 

2 or (D) of paragraph (2) of that subsection. 

3 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an6 nually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 

7 appropriate committees of Congress a report on 

8 films disclosed under subsection (a) that are associ9 ated with a United States company that has received 

10 technical support or access to an asset controlled by 

11 the Federal Government for, or has entered into a 

12 contract with the Federal Government relating to, 

13 the production or funding of a film. 

14 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by para15 graph (1) shall include the following: 

16 (A) A description of each film listed pursu17 ant to the requirement under subsection (a)(1) 

18 the content of which was submitted, during the 

19 shorter of the preceding 10-year period or the 

20 period beginning on the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act, by a United States company to an 

22 official of the Government of the People’s Re23 public of China or the Chinese Communist 

24 Party for evaluation with respect to screening 


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1 the film in the People’s Republic of China, in2 cluding— 

3 (i) the United States company that 

4 submitted the contents of the film; 

5 (ii) the title of the film; and 

6 (iii) the date on which the submittal 

7 occurred. 

8 (B) A description of each film with respect 

9 to which a United States company entered into 

10 a written agreement with the President or the 

11 Federal agency providing the support or access, 

12 as applicable, pursuant to the requirement 

13 under subsection (a)(2) not to alter the content 

14 of the film in response to, or in anticipation of, 

15 a request by an official of the Government of 

16 the People’s Republic of China or the Chinese 

17 Communist Party, during the shorter of the 

18 preceding 10-year period or the period begin19 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 

20 including— 

21 (i) the United States company that 

22 entered into the agreement; and 

23 (ii) the title of the film. 

24 (C) The title of any film described under 

25 subparagraph (A), and the corresponding 


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1 United States company described in clause (i) 

2 of that subparagraph— 

3 (i) that was submitted to an official of 

4 the Government of the People’s Republic of 

5 China or the Chinese Communist Party 

6 during the preceding 3-year period; and 

7 (ii) for which the Secretary assesses 

8 that the content was altered in response to, 

9 or in anticipation of, a request by an offi10 cial of the Government of the People’s Re11 public of China or the Chinese Communist 

12 Party. 

13 (D) The title of any film that is described 

14 in both subparagraph (A) and subparagraph 

15 (B), and the corresponding one or more United 

16 States companies described in clause (i) of each 

17 such subparagraph— 

18 (i) that was submitted to an official of 

19 the Government of the People’s Republic of 

20 China or the Chinese Communist Party 

21 during the preceding 10-year period; and 

22 (ii) for which the Secretary assesses 

23 that the content was altered in response to, 

24 or in anticipation of, a request by an offi25 cial of the Government of the People’s ReVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3835.IS S3835

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1 public of China or the Chinese Communist 

2 Party. 

3 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON5 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con6 gress’’ means— 

7 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

8 Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Com9 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor10 tation of the Senate; and 

11 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

12 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Com13 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House 

14 of Representatives. 

15 (2) CONTENT.—The term ‘‘content’’ means any 

16 description of a film, including the script. 

17 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of Commerce. 

19 (4) UNITED STATES COMPANY.—The term 

20 ‘‘United States company’’ means a private entity in21 corporated in the United States. 

Æ 


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