I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2278 

To direct the President to transmit to Congress a report on anti-American 

incitement to violence in the Middle East, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 6, 2009 

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself and Mr. CROWLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the President to transmit to Congress a report 

on anti-American incitement to violence in the Middle 

East, 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. ANTI-AMERICAN INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE IN 

4 THE MIDDLE EAST. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Freedom of the press and freedom of ex7 pression are the foundations of free and prosperous 

8 societies worldwide, and with the freedom of the 

9 press and freedom of expression comes the responsiVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:11 May 08, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278

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1 bility to repudiate purveyors of incitement to vio2 lence. 

3 (2) For years, media outlets in the Middle East 

4 have repeatedly published or broadcast incitements 

5 to violence against the United States and Americans. 

6 (3) Television channels that broadcast incite7 ment to violence against Americans, the United 

8 States, and others have demonstrated the ability to 

9 shift their operations to different countries and their 

10 transmissions to different satellite providers in order 

11 to continue broadcasting and to evade account12 ability. 

13 (4) Television channels such as al-Manar, al14 Aqsa, al-Zawra, and others that broadcast incite15 ment to violence against the United States and 

16 Americans aid Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 

17 the key functions of recruitment, fundraising, and 

18 propaganda. 

19 (5) The broadcast of incitement to violence 

20 against Americans and the United States on tele21 vision channels and other media that are accessible 

22 in the United States may increase the risk of 

23 radicalization and recruitment of Americans into 

24 Foreign Terrorist Organizations that seek to carry 


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1 out acts of violence against American targets and on 

2 American soil. 

3 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It shall be the policy 

4 of the United States to— 

5 (1) designate as Specially Designated Global 

6 Terrorists satellite providers that knowingly and 

7 willingly contract with entities designated as Spe8 cially Designated Global Terrorists under Executive 

9 Order 13224, to broadcast their channels, or to con10 sider implementing other punitive measures against 

11 satellite providers that transmit al-Aqsa TV, al12 Manar TV, al-Rafidayn TV, or any other terrorist 

13 owned and operated station; 

14 (2) consider state-sponsorship of anti-American 

15 incitement to violence when determining the level of 

16 assistance to, and frequency and nature of relations 

17 with, regional states; and 

18 (3) urge all governments and private investors 

19 who own shares in satellite companies or otherwise 

20 influence decisions about satellite transmissions to 

21 oppose transmissions of telecasts by al-Aqsa TV, al22 Manar TV, al-Rafidayn TV, or any other Specially 

23 Designated Global Terrorist owned and operated 

24 stations that openly incite their audiences to commit 


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1 acts of terrorism or violence against the United 

2 States and its citizens. 

3 (c) REPORT.— 

4 (1) REQUIREMENT FOR REPORTS.—Beginning 

5 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act 

6 and annually thereafter, the President shall transmit 

7 to the appropriate congressional committees a report 

8 on anti-American incitement to violence in the Mid9 dle East. 

10 (2) CONTENT.—The reports required under 

11 paragraph (1) shall include— 

12 (A) a country-by-country list and descrip13 tion of media outlets that engage in anti-Amer14 ican incitement to violence in the Middle East; 

15 and 

16 (B) a list of satellite companies that carry 

17 mediums described in subparagraph (A) or des18 ignated under Executive Order 13224. 

19 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) ANTI-AMERICAN INCITEMENT TO VIO21 LENCE.—The term ‘‘anti-American incitement to vi22 olence’’ means the act of persuading, encouraging, 

23 instigating, advocating, pressuring, or threatening so 

24 as to cause another to commit a violent act against 

25 any person, agent, instrumentality, or official of, is 


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1 affiliated with, or is serving as a representative of 

2 the United States. 

3 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT4 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com5 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

6 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

7 Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

8 (3) MIDDLE EAST.—The term ‘‘Middle East’’ 

9 means Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, 

10 the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Jordan, Kuwait, 

11 Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Ara12 bia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and 

13 Yemen. 

Æ 


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