II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1262

To reorganize United States international broadcasting, to authorize an Asian

Democracy Radio service, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 20 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

Mr. PELL (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To reorganize United States international broadcasting, to

authorize an Asian Democracy Radio service, 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 title may be cited as the ‘‘United States Inter5 national Broadcasting Act of 1993.’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF

7 PURPOSES.

8 The Congress hereby finds and declares—

9 (a) that United States publicly-funded inter10 national radio broadcasters—VOA, RFE/RL, Inc.,
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1 and Radio Marti—have won the attention and re2 spect of millions of listeners, especially in closed so3 cieties and emerging democracies, by serving as a

4 consistently reliable and authoritative source of news

5 and information about events in the respective audi6 ence areas, as well as in the international commu7 nity and in the United States;

8 (b) that the Voice of America (VOA) has built

9 a substantial global listenership by providing full10 service programming of high quality about events

11 around the world, significant developments in all

12 countries to which it broadcasts, as well as informa13 tion about the United States, its policies, institutions

14 and people, consistent with Public Law 94–350;

15 (c) that the continuation of Radio Free Europe

16 and Radio Liberty broadcasting operating in a man17 ner not inconsistent with the broad foreign policy

18 objectives of the United States and in accordance

19 with high professional standards is in the national

20 interest;

21 (d) that Radio Marti and Television Marti, con22 tinue to broadcast, in a manner not inconsistent

23 with the broad foreign policy of the United States,

24 to Cuba news, commentary, and other information
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1 about events in Cuba and elsewhere, and promote

2 the cause of freedom in Cuba;

3 (e) that the introduction of similar radio broad4 casting to the people of Asia in those countries

5 where communications media are not fully developed

6 or free would serve the goals of United States for7 eign policy by promoting freedom and democracy in

8 those countries;

9 (f) that it is the policy of the United States to

10 promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expres11 sion, including the freedom to seek, receive, and im12 part information and ideas through any media and

13 regardless of frontiers, in accordance with Article 19

14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

15 (g) that open communication of information

16 and ideas among the peoples of the world contrib17 utes to the advances of democracy and international

18 peace, and that promotion of such information is in

19 the interests of the United States;

20 (h) that the long-range interests of the United

21 States continue to be served by communicating di22 rectly with the peoples of the world by radio and tel23 evision;

24 (i) that the continuation of all broadcasting car25 ried out prior to the date of enactment of this Act
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1 by the United States Information Agency including,

2 but not limited to the Voice of America, Radio

3 Marti, TV Marti, WORLDNET Television and Film

4 Service, all under existing mandates, charters, and

5 authorities is in the national interest; and

6 (j) that a reorganization and consolidation of

7 United States nonmilitary international broadcasting

8 will strengthen the capability of such broadcasting to

9 support freedom and democracy around the world

10 and will achieve a more efficient utilization of scarce

11 national resources.

12 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF BROADCASTING BOARD OF

13 GOVERNORS.

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established

15 within the United States Information Agency a Broadcast16 ing Board of Governors (hereinafter referred to as the

17 ‘‘Board’’).

18 (b) COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD.—The Board shall

19 consist of eight members. The President shall appoint, by

20 and with the advice and consent of the Senate, seven vot21 ing members to the Board. The President shall designate

22 one member (other than the Director of the United States

23 Information Agency) as Chairman of the Board. The Di24 rector of the United States Information Agency shall be

25 one of the voting members. The Director of the Inter-
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1 national Broadcasting Bureau, ex officio, shall be a mem2 ber of the Board, but may not vote in the determinations

3 of the Board.

4 (c) TERM OF OFFICE.—The term of office of each

5 member of the Board shall be three years, except that the

6 Director of the United States Information Agency and the

7 Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau of the

8 United States Information Agency shall remain members

9 of the Board during their respective terms of service. The

10 President shall appoint, by and with the advice and con11 sent of the Senate, Board members to fill vacancies occur12 ring prior to the expiration of a term, in which case the

13 members so appointed shall serve for the remainder of

14 such term. Any member whose term has expired may serve

15 until his or her successor has been appointed and quali16 fied.

17 (d) SELECTION OF BOARD.—Members of the Board

18 appointed by the President shall be citizens of the United

19 States who are not currently regular full-time employees

20 of the United States Government, except the Director of

21 the United States Information Agency. Such members

22 shall be selected by the President from among Americans

23 distinguished in the fields of mass communications, print,

24 broadcast media or foreign affairs.
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1 (e) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Board, while

2 attending meetings of the Board or while engaged in du3 ties relating to such meetings or in other activities of the

4 Board pursuant to this section, including travel time, shall

5 be entitled to receive compensation equal to the daily

6 equivalent of the compensation provided for Level IV of

7 the Executive Schedule under Section 5315 of title 5,

8 United States Code. While away from their homes or regu9 lar places of business they may be allowed travel expenses,

10 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized

11 by law (5 U.S.C. 5703) for persons in the Government

12 service employed intermittently: Provided, however, that

13 the Director of the United States Information Agency and

14 the Director, International Broadcasting Bureau, United

15 States Information Agency, shall not be entitled to any

16 compensation under this Act, but may be allowed travel

17 expenses as provided in the preceding sentence.

18 SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD.

19 The Board is authorized—

20 (a) to provide guidance and oversight to the

21 International Broadcasting Bureau which is author22 ized to administer Radio Free Europe, Radio Lib23 erty, Voice of America, the Office of Cuban Broad24 casting, Asian Democracy Radio, and such services

25 of WORLDNET Television and Film Service as de-
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1 termined by the Board with the concurrence of the

2 Director of the United States Information Agency;

3 (b) to review and evaluate the mission and op4 eration of the International Broadcasting Bureau

5 and to assess the quality, effectiveness and profes6 sional integrity of its programming within the con7 text of the foreign policy objectives of the United

8 States;

9 (c) to review and evaluate, at least annually,

10 the mix of traditional Voice of America program11 ming and surrogate programming and make rec12 ommendations to the President, through the Direc13 tor of the United States Information Agency, on the

14 addition or deletion of language services;

15 (d) to undertake such studies as may be nec16 essary to identify areas in which the operations of

17 the International Broadcasting Bureau could be

18 made more efficient and economical;

19 (e) to report annually to the President, through

20 the Director of the United States Information Agen21 cy, summarizing the activities of the Board and eval22 uating the operations of the International Broad23 casting Bureau;
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1 (f) to the extent it deems necessary to carry out

2 the functions under this Act, procure supplies, serv3 ices and other personal property;

4 (g) to appoint such staff personnel for the

5 Board as may be necessary, subject to the provisions

6 of title 5, United States Code, governing appoint7 ments in the competitive service, and to fix their

8 compensation in accordance with the provisions of

9 chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such

10 title relating to classification and General Schedule

11 pay rates; and

12 (h) to make available for its own use, for offi13 cial reception and representation expenses not to ex14 ceed the current amount authorized for the Board

15 for International Broadcasting, which will not be in16 creased or decreased without the concurrence of the

17 Director of the United States Information Agency

18 and the Chairman of the Board.

19 SEC. 5. JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY AND FOREIGN POLICY

20 GUIDANCE.

21 The Board shall protect the Bureau against po22 litical interference with broadcasting. The United

23 States Information Agency will respect the profes24 sional independence and integrity of the broadcast25 ing services. The Secretary of State shall provide in-
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1 formation and guidance on foreign policy issues to

2 the Director of the United States Information Agen3 cy. The Director of the United States Information

4 Agency shall provide guidance on foreign policy is5 sues to the Board members.

6 SEC. 6. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING BUREAU.

7 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby estab8 lished an International Broadcasting Bureau within

9 the United States Information Agency (hereinafter

10 the ‘‘Bureau’’).

11 (b) ORGANIZATION OF THE BUREAU.—The Bu12 reau, in recognition of and to implement the pur13 poses of this Act, will consist of the following sepa14 rate elements:

15 (1) Voice of America;

16 (2) Office of Surrogate Broadcasting;

17 (3) Such services of the WORLDNET Tele18 vision and Film Service as determined by the Board

19 with the concurrence of the Director of the United

20 States Information Agency;

21 (4) Engineering and Technical Operations; and,

22 (5) Such other elements as the Director of the

23 International Broadcasting Bureau may from time

24 to time establish with the concurrence of the Direc-
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1 tor of the United States Information Agency and the

2 Board.

3 (c) ORGANIZATION OF THE OFFICE OF SURRO4 GATE BROADCASTING.—The Office of Surrogate

5 Broadcasting will administer and oversee Radio Free

6 Europe, Radio Liberty, the Office of Cuba Broad7 casting (including Radio Marti and TV Marti), and

8 Asian Democracy Radio, and such other surrogate

9 services as may from time to time be established.

10 (d) SELECTION OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE BU11 REAU.—The Director of the Bureau will be ap12 pointed by the Chairman of the Board, in consulta13 tion with the Director of the United States Informa14 tion Agency and with the concurrence of a majority

15 of the Board. The Director of the Bureau shall be

16 entitled to receive compensation at the rate now or

17 hereafter prescribed by law for Level IV of the Exec18 utive Schedule.

19 (e) SEPARATELY IDENTIFIED APPROPRIATION

20 ACCOUNT.—Funding for the Bureau and the Board

21 shall be provided in a separately identified appro22 priation account and be authorized as a separate

23 category by the Congress. The Director of the Bu24 reau shall submit proposals on appropriation of

25 broadcasting funds to the Board. The Board will
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1 forward its recommendations concerning the pro2 posed budget for the Board and the Bureau to the

3 Director of the United States Information Agency

4 for his consideration as a part of the Agency’s budg5 et submission to the Office of Management and

6 Budget. The Director of the United States Informa7 tion Agency shall include in the Agency’s submission

8 to the Office of Management and Budget, the com9 ments and recommendations of the Board concern10 ing the proposed broadcasting budget.

11 SEC. 7. ASIAN DEMOCRACY RADIO.

12 The Director of the United States Information Agen13 cy is authorized to create and support within the Office

14 of Surrogate Broadcasting of the International Broadcast15 ing Bureau a surrogate broadcasting service to be known

16 as ‘‘Asian Democracy Radio,’’ which shall—

17 (a) provide accurate and timely information,

18 news, commentary about events in the respective

19 countries of Asia and elsewhere to promote the cause

20 of freedom and democracy in those countries of Asia

21 where communications media are not fully developed

22 or free; and

23 (b) be a source of information about develop24 ments in Asia and a forum for a variety of opinions
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1 and voices from within Asian nations whose people

2 do not fully enjoy freedom of expression.

3 SEC. 8. TRANSITION.

4 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The President is hereby au5 thorized to direct the transfer of all functions and authori6 ties from the Board for International Broadcasting to the

7 United States Information Agency, the Board, or the Bu8 reau as may be necessary to implement this Act.

9 (b) EXCEPTED SERVICE APPOINTMENT AUTHOR10 ITY.—Notwithstanding the provisions of section 607 of the

11 Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appro12 priations Act, 1993, Public Law 102–393, or any other

13 Act, now or hereafter enacted barring employment or com14 pensation on the basis of citizenship, the Director of the

15 United States Information Agency shall appoint to the

16 United States Information Agency, the Bureau, or the

17 Board, any personnel or RFE/RL, Inc., who are perma18 nent employees as of September 30, 1995, without regard

19 to the provisions of title 5 of the United States Code gov20 erning appointments in the competitive service, and fix

21 their compensation without regard to the provisions of

22 chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title

23 5, governing classification and General Schedule pay

24 rates. To the extent permitted by law, compensation, bene25 fits, and personnel rules shall be modeled after existing
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1 RFE/RL, Inc., personnel and compensation systems until

2 the employees leave or retire.

3 (c) NEW APPOINTEES.—The Director of United

4 States Information Agency may assign personnel for serv5 ice with RFE/RL, Inc., with the concurrence of the Presi6 dent of RFE/RL, Inc., between the date of enactment of

7 this Act and September 30, 1995. Such assignment shall

8 not affect the rights and benefits of such personnel as em9 ployees of the United States Information Agency.

10 (d) BOARD FOR INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING

11 PERSONNEL.—All Board for International Broadcasting

12 full-time United States Government personnel (except spe13 cial Government employees) and part-time United States

14 Government personnel holding permanent positions shall

15 be transferred to the United States Information Agency,

16 the Board, or the Bureau. Such transfer shall not cause

17 any such employee to be separated or reduced in grade

18 or compensation.

19 (e) OTHER AUTHORITIES.—The Director of the Unit20 ed States Information Agency is authorized to utilize the

21 provisions of titles VIII and IX of the United States Infor22 mation and Educational Exchange Act of 1948, as amend23 ed, and any other authority available to the Director on

24 the effective date of this Act, to the extent that he or she
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1 deems necessary in carrying out the provisions and pur2 poses of this Act.

3 (f) REPEAL.—The Board for International Broad4 casting Act of 1973, as amended, (22 U.S.C. 2871, et

5 seq.) is hereby repealed effective September 30, 1994, but

6 in no event shall the Act be repealed before the appoint7 ment and confirmation of all members to the Broadcasting

8 Board of Governors.

9 (g) APPROPRIATED FUNDS.—No appropriated funds

10 shall be available for grants to RFE/RL, Inc. after Sep11 tember 30, 1995.

12 (h) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—

13 (1) CONTINUING EFFECT OF LEGAL DOCU14 MENTS.—All orders, determinations, rules, regula15 tions, permits, agreements, grants, contracts, certifi16 cates, licenses, registrations, privileges, and other

17 administrative actions—

18 (A) which have been issued, made, grant19 ed, or allowed to become effective by the Presi20 dent, any Federal agency or official thereof, or

21 by a court of competent jurisdiction, in the per22 formance of functions which are transferred

23 under this Act, and

24 (B) which are in effect at the time this Act

25 takes effect, or were final before the effective
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1 date of this Act and are to become effective on

2 or after the effective date of this Act,

3 shall continue in effect according to their terms until

4 modified, terminated, superseded, set aside, or re5 voked in accordance with law by the President, the

6 Director of the United States Information Agency or

7 other authorized official, a court of competent juris8 diction, or by operation of law.

9 (2) PROCEEDINGS NOT AFFECTED.—The provi10 sions of this Act shall not affect any proceedings

11 pending before the Board for International Broad12 casting at the time this Act takes effect, with re13 spect to functions transferred by this Act, but such

14 proceedings shall be continued. Orders shall be is15 sued in such proceedings, appeals shall be taken

16 therefrom, and payments shall be made pursuant to

17 such orders, as if this Act had not been enacted, and

18 orders issued in any such proceedings shall continue

19 in effect until modified, terminated, superseded, or

20 revoked by a duly authorized official, by a court of

21 competent jurisdiction, or by operation of law. Noth22 ing in this subsection shall be deemed to prohibit the

23 discontinuance or modification of any such proceed24 ing under the same terms and conditions and to the

25 same extent that such proceeding could have been
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1 discontinued or modified if this Act had not been en2 acted.

3 (3) SUITS NOT AFFECTED.—The provisions of

4 this Act shall not affect suits commenced before the

5 effective date of this Act, and in all such suits, pro6 ceedings shall be had, appeals taken, and judgments

7 rendered in the same manner and with the same ef8 fect as if this Act had not been enacted.

9 (4) NONABATEMENT OF ACTIONS.—No suit, ac10 tion, or other proceeding commenced by or against

11 the Board for International Broadcasting or by or

12 against any individual in the official capacity of such

13 individual as an officer of the Board for Inter14 national Broadcasting shall abate by reason of the

15 enactment of this Act.

16 (5) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS RELATING TO

17 PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—Any administra18 tive action relating to the preparation or promulga19 tion of a regulation by the Board for International

20 Broadcasting relating to the function transferred

21 under this Act may be continued by the United

22 States Information Agency with the same effect as

23 if this Act had not been enacted.

24 (6) REFERENCES.—A reference in any provi25 sion of law, reorganization plan, or other authority
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1 to the Associate Director for Broadcasting of the

2 United States Information Agency shall be consid3 ered to be a reference to the Director of the Inter4 national Broadcasting Bureau of the United States

5 Information Agency.

6 (7) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—The provisions

7 of, and authorities contained in or transferred pur8 suant to, this Act are not intended to repeal, limit,

9 or otherwise derogate from the authorities or func10 tions of or available the Director of the United

11 States Information Agency or the Secretary of State

12 under law, reorganization plan, or otherwise, unless

13 such provision hereof—

14 (A) specifically refers to the provision of

15 law or authority existing on the effective date of

16 this Act, so affected; or

17 (B) is in direct conflict with such law or

18 authority existing on the effective date of this

19 Act.

20 (8) BOARD OF DIRECTORS, RFE/RL, INC.—

21 (A) At such time, and in such manner as

22 the President directs, no grant may be made to

23 RFE/RL Inc., unless the certificate of incorpo24 ration of RFE/RL, Inc., has been amended to

25 provide that—
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1 (i) the Broadcasting Board of Direc2 tors of RFE/RL, Inc., shall consist of the

3 members of the Board of Governors and of

4 no other members, except that the Director

5 of the Bureau shall be a nonvoting mem6 ber; and

7 (ii) such Broadcasting Board of Gov8 ernors shall make all major policy deter9 minations governing the operation of RFE/

10 RL, Inc., and shall appoint and fix the

11 compensation of such managerial officers

12 and employees of RFE/RL, Inc., as it

13 deems necessary to carry out the purposes

14 of this act.

15 (B) Compliance with the requirement of

16 paragraph (1) of Subsection (a) shall not be

17 construed to make of RFE/RL, Inc., a federal

18 agency or instrumentality.

19 (9) AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATION.—

20 There is authorized to be appropriated

21 $540,046,000 for fiscal year 1995, $395,356,000 for

22 fiscal year 1996, and $400,784,000 for fiscal year

23 1997 for the International Broadcasting Operations

24 account. In addition, $106,271,000 for fiscal year

25 1995, $108,874,000 for fiscal year 1996, and
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1 $111,528,000 for fiscal year 1997 are authorized to

2 be appropriated for the Radio Construction Account.

Æ