I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 143

To amend the Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 to establish

a program for radio broadcasting to the peoples of Asia.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. COX introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To amend the Board for International Broadcasting Act

of 1973 to establish a program for radio broadcasting

to the peoples of Asia.

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 ‘‘Radio Free Asia

5 Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. RADIO BROADCASTING TO ASIA.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Board for International

8 Broadcasting Act of 1973 (22 U.S.C. 2871, et seq.) is

9 amended by adding at the end thereof the following new

10 section:
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1 ‘‘RADIO BROADCASTING TO ASIA

2 ‘‘SEC. 15. Funds made available to RFE/RL, Incor3 porated, under this Act may be used for radio broadcast4 ing to the peoples of Asia, particularly the people of the

5 People’s Republic of China, Cambodia, Laos, and Viet6 nam. Such broadcasts shall be designated ‘Radio Free

7 Asia’.’’.

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2(5) of

9 such Act (22 U.S.C. 2871(5)) is amended by inserting

10 ‘‘Asia,’’ after ‘‘Eastern Europe,’’.

11 SEC. 3. MEMBERSHIP OF BOARD FOR INTERNATIONAL

12 BROADCASTING.

13 (a) COMPOSITION OF BOARD.—Section 3(b)(1) of the

14 Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 (22

15 U.S.C. 2872(b)(1)) is amended—

16 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘ten’’ and

17 inserting ‘‘twelve’’;

18 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘nine’’

19 and inserting ‘‘eleven’’; and

20 (3) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘five’’ and

21 inserting ‘‘six’’.

22 (b) TERM OF OFFICE OF PRESIDENTIALLY AP23 POINTED MEMBERS.—Section 3(b)(3) of such Act (22

24 U.S.C. 2872(b)(3)) is amended by adding at the end

25 thereof the following new sentence: ‘‘The term of office
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1 of the individuals initially appointed as the two additional

2 voting members of the Board who are provided for by the

3 amendments made by section 3(a) of the Radio Free Asia

4 Act of 1993 shall be two or three years (as designated

5 by the President at the time of their appointment).’’.

6 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA7 TIONS.

8 Section 8 of the Board for International Broadcast9 ing Act of 1973 (22 U.S.C. 2877) is amended by adding

10 at the end thereof the following new subsection:

11 ‘‘(d) In addition to such amounts as are authorized

12 to be appropriated by subsection (a), there are authorized

13 to be appropriated $10,000,000 to carry out section 15

14 of this Act for fiscal year 1994.’’.

15 SEC. 5. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

16 (a) REPORT REGARDING GEOGRAPHIC EXPANSION

17 OF BROADCASTS.—Not later than 180 days after the ef18 fective date of this Act, the Board for International

19 Broadcasting shall prepare and submit to the Congress

20 a report concerning the desirability of the geographic ex21 pansion of broadcasts funded through the Board, particu22 larly to the peoples of Africa, the Middle East, and North

23 Korea.

24 (b) REPORT REGARDING BROADCASTING TO ASIA.—

25 (1) Not later than 180 days after the effective date of
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1 this Act, the Board for International Broadcasting shall

2 prepare and submit to the Congress a comprehensive re3 port concerning implementation of section 15 of the Board

4 for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 (relating to

5 radio broadcasting to Asia).

6 (2) In preparing such report, the Board for Inter7 national Broadcasting—

8 (A) shall consider the feasibility of constructing

9 a Radio Free Asia transmitting facility in any State,

10 territory, or possession of the United States, or state

11 in free association with the United States, located in

12 the Pacific Ocean;

13 (B) shall take into account the environmental

14 impact of such potential site; and

15 (C) shall include a discussion of the consider16 ations under subparagraphs (A) and (B) in such re17 port.

18 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

19 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act,

20 shall take effect on October 1, 1993.

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