IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2278 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 9, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. ANTI-AMERICAN INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE IN 

2 THE MIDDLE EAST. 

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

4 (1) Freedom of the press and freedom of ex5 pression are the foundations of free and prosperous 

6 societies worldwide, and with the freedom of the 

7 press and freedom of expression comes the responsi8 bility to repudiate purveyors of incitement to vio9 lence. 

10 (2) For years, certain media outlets in the Mid11 dle East, particularly those associated with terrorist 

12 groups, have repeatedly published or broadcast 

13 incitements to violence against the United States 

14 and Americans. 

15 (3) Television channels that broadcast incite16 ment to violence against Americans, the United 

17 States, and others have demonstrated the ability to 

18 shift their operations to different countries and their 

19 transmissions to different satellite providers in order 

20 to continue broadcasting and to evade account21 ability. 

22 (4) Television channels such as al-Manar, al23 Aqsa, al-Zawra, and others that broadcast incite24 ment to violence against the United States and 

25 Americans aid Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 


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1 the key functions of recruitment, fundraising, and 

2 propaganda. 

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 No. 13224, to broadcast their channels, or to 

10 consider implementing other punitive measures 

11 against satellite providers that transmit al-Aqsa TV, 

12 al-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, all 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; and 

15 (B) a list of satellite companies that carry 

16 mediums described in subparagraph (A) or des17 ignated under Executive Order No. 13224. 

18 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) ANTI-AMERICAN INCITEMENT TO VIO20 LENCE.—The term ‘‘anti-American incitement to vi21 olence’’ means the act of persuading, encouraging, 

22 instigating, advocating, pressuring, or threatening so 

23 as to cause another to commit a violent act against 

24 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. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 8, 

2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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