II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4245 

To develop and deploy firewall circumvention tools for the people of Hong 

Kong after the People’s Republic of China violated its agreement under 

the Joint Declaration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2020 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To develop and deploy firewall circumvention tools for the 

people of Hong Kong after the People’s Republic of 

China violated its agreement under the Joint Declaration, 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 ‘‘Safeguarding Internet 

5 Freedom in Hong Kong Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

8 should— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 4245 IS

1 (1) support the ability of the people of Hong 

2 Kong to maintain their freedom to access informa3 tion online; and 

4 (2) focus on investments in technologies that 

5 facilitate the unhindered exchange of information in 

6 Hong Kong in advance of any future efforts by the 

7 Chinese Communist Party— 

8 (A) to suppress internet access; 

9 (B) to increase online censorship; or 

10 (C) to inhibit online communication and 

11 content-sharing by the people of Hong Kong. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT15 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com16 mittees’’ means— 

17 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

18 the Senate; 

19 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

20 the Senate; 

21 (C) the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

22 the Senate; 

23 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

24 the House of Representatives; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 4245 IS

1 (E) the Committee on Appropriations of 

2 the House of Representatives; and 

3 (F) the Permanent Select Committee on 

4 Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 

5 (2) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.—The term 

6 ‘‘interagency working group’’ means— 

7 (A) the Under Secretary of State for Civil8 ian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights; 

9 (B) the Assistant Secretary of State for 

10 East Asian and Pacific Affairs; 

11 (C) the Chief Executive Officer of the 

12 Open Technology Fund; and 

13 (D) the Administrator of the United States 

14 Agency for International Development. 

15 SEC. 4. HONG KONG INTERNET FREEDOM PROGRAM. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State is author17 ized to establish an interagency working group to develop 

18 a strategy to bolster internet resiliency and online access 

19 in Hong Kong. The Secretary shall establish a Hong Kong 

20 Internet Freedom Program in the Bureau of Democracy, 

21 Human Rights, and Labor at the Department of State. 

22 Additionally, the Chief Executive Officer of the Open 

23 Technology Fund is authorized to establish a Hong Kong 

24 Internet Freedom Program. These programs shall operate 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 4245 IS

1 independently, but in strategic coordination with other en2 tities in the interagency working group. 

3 (b) INDEPENDENCE.—During the period beginning 

4 on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on 

5 September 30, 2023, the Program shall be carried out 

6 independent from the mainland China internet freedom 

7 portfolios in order to focus on supporting liberties pres8 ently enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong. 

9 (c) CONSOLIDATION OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE

10 PROGRAM.—Beginning on October 1, 2023, the Secretary 

11 of State may— 

12 (1) consolidate the Program with the mainland 

13 China initiatives in the Bureau of Democracy, 

14 Human Rights, and Labor; or 

15 (2) continue to carry out the Program in ac16 cordance with subsection (b). 

17 (d) CONSOLIDATION OF OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND

18 PROGRAM.—Beginning on October 1, 2023, the CEO of 

19 the Open Technology Fund may— 

20 (1) consolidate the Program with the mainland 

21 China initiatives in the Open Technology Fund; or 

22 (2) continue to carry out the Program in ac23 cordance with subsection (b). 

24 SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR INFORMATION PROGRAMS. 

25 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 4245 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, 

2 working through the Open Technology Fund and the 

3 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, is 

4 authorized to award grants to private organizations 

5 to support and develop programs in Hong Kong that 

6 promote or expand— 

7 (A) online information access; 

8 (B) freedom of the press; 

9 (C) disruptive technologies that bypass 

10 internet blocking, filtering, and other censorship 

11 techniques; 

12 (D) virtual private networks; 

13 (E) firewall circumvention tools; 

14 (F) distributed denial of service mitigation 

15 techniques; 

16 (G) digital security capacity building for 

17 internet users; or 

18 (H) digital resiliency for international or19 ganizations, pro-democracy activists, and other 

20 civil society actors in Hong Kong, including 

21 emergency support. 

22 (2) GOALS.—The goals of the programs devel23 oped with grants authorized under paragraph (1) 

24 should be— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 4245 IS

1 (A) to make the technologies described in 

2 paragraph (1) available in Hong Kong; 

3 (B) to increase the number of the tools in 

4 the circumvention technology portfolio; 

5 (C) to promote the availability of such 

6 technologies and tools in Hong Kong; 

7 (D) to encourage the adoption of such 

8 technologies and tools by the people of Hong 

9 Kong; 

10 (E) to scale up the distribution of such 

11 technologies and tools throughout Hong Kong; 

12 (F) to prioritize the development of tools, 

13 components, code, and technologies that are 

14 fully open-source, to the extent practicable; 

15 (G) to conduct research on repressive tac16 tics that undermine internet freedom in Hong 

17 Kong; and 

18 (H) to engage American private industry, 

19 including e-commerce firms and social net20 working companies, on the importance of pre21 serving internet access in Hong Kong. 

22 (3) GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Grants authorized 

23 under this subsection shall be distributed to multiple 

24 vendors and suppliers through an open, fair, com25 petitive, and evidence-based decision process— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 4245 IS

1 (A) to diversify the technical base; and 

2 (B) to reduce the risk of mitigation by bad 

3 actors. 

4 (4) SECURITY AUDITS.—New technologies de5 veloped using grants from this subsection shall un6 dergo comprehensive security audits to ensure that 

7 such technologies are secure and have not been com8 promised in a manner detrimental to the interests of 

9 the United States or to individuals or organizations 

10 benefitting from programs supported by the Open 

11 Technology Fund. 

12 (b) FUNDING SOURCE.—The Secretary of State is 

13 authorized to expend funds from the Human Rights and 

14 Democracy Fund of the Bureau of Democracy, Human 

15 Rights, and Labor of the Department of State during fis16 cal year 2020 for grants authorized under subsection (a) 

17 at any entity in the interagency working group. 

18 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 (1) OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND.—In addition to 

20 the funds authorized to be expended pursuant to 

21 subsection (b), there are authorized to be appro22 priated to the Open Technology Fund $5,000,000 

23 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2023 to 

24 carry out this section. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 4245 IS

1 (2) BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, 

2 AND LABOR.—In addition to the funds authorized to 

3 be expended pursuant to subsection (b), there are 

4 authorized to be appropriated to the Office of Inter5 net Freedom Programs in the Bureau of Democracy, 

6 Human Rights, and Labor of the Department of 

7 State $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 

8 through 2023 to carry out this section. 

9 (3) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur10 suant to paragraphs (1) and (2) shall remain avail11 able until expended. 

12 SEC. 6. STRATEGIC PLANNING REPORT. 

13 Not later than 120 days after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the inter15 agency working group shall submit a classified report to 

16 the appropriate congressional committees that— 

17 (1) describes the Federal Government’s plan to 

18 bolster and increase the availability of firewall cir19 cumvention technology in Hong Kong during fiscal 

20 year 2021, including— 

21 (A) secure private messaging tools; 

22 (B) secure file storage and sharing plat23 forms; 

24 (C) virtual private networks; 

25 (D) satellite internet; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 4245 IS

1 (E) proxies; 

2 (F) refraction routing; 

3 (G) pluggable transports; and 

4 (H) other secure communication mecha5 nisms and anti-censorship technologies; 

6 (2) outlines a plan for— 

7 (A) supporting the preservation of an 

8 open, interoperable, reliable, and secure internet 

9 in Hong Kong; 

10 (B) increasing the supply of the technology 

11 referred to in paragraph (1); 

12 (C) accelerating the dissemination of such 

13 technology; 

14 (D) promoting the availability of such 

15 technology in Hong Kong; 

16 (E) utilizing presently available tools in the 

17 mainland China portfolio for further use in the 

18 unique context of Hong Kong; 

19 (F) expanding the portfolio of tools in 

20 order to diversify and strengthen the effective21 ness and resiliency of the circumvention efforts; 

22 and 

23 (G) providing training for high-risk groups 

24 and individuals in Hong Kong; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 4245 IS

1 (3) includes a detailed description of the tech2 nical and fiscal steps necessary to implement the 

3 plans referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2), includ4 ing an analysis of the market conditions in Hong 

5 Kong; 

6 (4) describes the Federal Government’s plans 

7 for awarding grants to private organizations for the 

8 purposes described in section 5(a)(1); 

9 (5) outlines the interagency working group’s 

10 consultations regarding the implementation of this 

11 Act to ensure that all Federal efforts are aligned 

12 and well coordinated; and 

13 (6) outlines the Department of State’s strategy 

14 to influence global internet legal standards at inter15 national organizations and multilateral fora. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS