I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 489 

To improve the conduct of strategic communication by the Federal 

Government. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2009 

Mr. THORNBERRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To improve the conduct of strategic communication by the 

Federal Government. 

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 ‘‘Strategic Communica5 tion Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTER FOR STRATEGIC COM7 MUNICATION. 

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

9 (1) The ability of the United States to credibly 

10 communicate to populations throughout the world is 


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1 critical for achieving national objectives and is essen2 tial for improving national security and foreign pol3 icy. 

4 (2) Strategic communication describes a variety 

5 of instruments used by governments to understand 

6 global attitudes and cultures, to engage in a dialogue 

7 of ideas between peoples and institutions, to advise 

8 policymakers, diplomats, and military leaders on the 

9 public opinion implications of policy choices, and to 

10 influence attitudes and behavior through commu11 nications strategies. 

12 (3) There have been dramatic changes in the 

13 world, including changes in technology, changes in 

14 religious, ethnic, and regional conflicts, and changes 

15 in economic, political, and military relationships. 

16 These dramatic changes necessitate that the depart17 ments and agencies of the Federal Government re18 sponsible for national security and homeland secu19 rity work more closely together so they may function 

20 more effectively. 

21 (4) Since 2001, more than 15 private sector 

22 and congressional reports have examined public di23 plomacy, with each coming to the conclusion that 

24 United States efforts in public diplomacy, a subset 

25 of strategic communication, are lacking in leaderVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:51 Jan 15, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H489.IH H489

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1 ship, strategic direction, interagency coordination, 

2 and a culture of measurement and evaluation. Spe3 cifically, the Defense Science Board Task Force on 

4 Strategic Communication concluded that ‘‘United 

5 States strategic communication must be trans6 formed.’’. 

7 (b) CENTER FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary of State shall solicit from organizations whose 

11 primary role is research and analysis related to na12 tional security and foreign policy offers to establish 

13 a Center for Strategic Communication (in this Act 

14 referred to as the ‘‘Center’’) within such organiza15 tions. The Secretary shall select from among such 

16 offers one organization to establish the Center. 

17 (2) TAX EXEMPT REQUIREMENT.—To be eligi18 ble to make an offer under this subsection, an orga19 nization shall be an organization described in section 

20 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

21 exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code. 

22 (c) DUTIES.—The Center shall have the following du23 ties: 

24 (1) Provide information and analysis on a reg25 ular basis to civilian and military decisionmakers in 


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1 the Department of State, the Department of De2 fense, the Department of Justice, the Department of 

3 Homeland Security, and the Director of National In4 telligence on issues vital to United States national 

5 security and foreign policy to enhance the ability of 

6 such decisionmakers to make informed decisions re7 garding the following: 

8 (A) Global public opinion. 

9 (B) The role of culture, values, and reli10 gion in shaping human behavior. 

11 (C) Media trends and influences on audi12 ences. 

13 (D) Information technologies. 

14 (E) The implications of all source intel15 ligence assessments. 

16 (F) Such other subject matters or issues 

17 as such decisionmakers request. 

18 (2) Develop plans, themes, products, and pro19 grams for the creation and implementation of 

20 United States communication strategies that pro21 mote diplomatic opportunities, provide a positive 

22 view of the United States, and respond to national 

23 security threats. 


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1 (3) Support government-wide strategic commu2 nication through services provided on a cost-recovery 

3 basis. Such services shall— 

4 (A) use, whenever possible, nongovern5 mental entities to foster cross-cultural ex6 changes of ideas, people, and information; 

7 (B) maintain knowledge management sys8 tems, language and skills inventories, and pro9 cedures to recruit private sector experts for 

10 short term assignments; and 

11 (C) develop and maintain the ability to de12 ploy temporary communication teams to aug13 ment planning, recruitment, and training for 

14 strategic communication within the Federal 

15 Government. 

16 (4) Develop tools and techniques to monitor 

17 and evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, and mes18 sage continuity of their own operations and of gov19 ernment-wide strategic communication initiatives to 

20 help adapt plans, themes, products, and programs to 

21 meet current and anticipated requirements. 

22 (5) Perform functions including— 

23 (A) audience polling and analysis, includ24 ing analysis related to ethnographic, psychoVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:51 Jan 15, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H489.IH H489

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1 graphic, demographic, behavioral and tracking 

2 research, and focus groups; 

3 (B) cultural influence analysis, including 

4 analysis related to values, religion, entertain5 ment, and education; 

6 (C) analysis of media influences on audi7 ences, including analysis related to content 

8 analysis, agendas, political and social ten9 dencies, relevance and credibility, and media or10 ganization structure, ownership, and business 

11 models; and 

12 (D) fostering cross-cultural exchanges of 

13 ideas, peoples, and information. 

14 (6) Contract with private sector and academic 

15 entities, whenever possible, for a range of products 

16 and programs that communicate strategic themes 

17 and messages to appropriate target audiences, in18 cluding themes and messages related to— 

19 (A) respect for human dignity and indi20 vidual rights; 

21 (B) individual education and economic op22 portunity; and 

23 (C) personal freedom, safety, and mobility. 

24 (7) Mobilize nongovernment initiatives, includ25 ing temporary communication teams, coalition buildVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:51 Jan 15, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H489.IH H489

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1 ing partnerships, and deployment of language-quali2 fied global messengers. 

3 (d) LIAISON.—The Secretary of State shall designate 

4 an individual from the Department of State to serve as 

5 a liaison between the departments and agencies described 

6 in subsection (c)(1) and the Center. 

7 (e) FUNDING.—From amounts appropriated to the 

8 Department of State each fiscal year, $250,000,000 shall 

9 be made available to support the administration of the 

10 Center and to fund work with private sector and academic 

11 entities. Additional funding for projects and programs to 

12 be carried out by the Center may be provided through con13 tracts and task orders entered into by departments and 

14 agencies of the Government. 

15 SEC. 3. REPORT. 

16 Not later than six months after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to 

18 Congress a report describing the actions taken in accord19 ance with this Act to strengthen the Federal Government’s 

20 strategic communication capability. The report shall, at a 

21 minimum, contain the following information: 

22 (1) A description of the efforts taken to under23 stand global public opinion, the strategic implica24 tions of policymaking, and engage in more effective 

25 communication with global audiences. 


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1 (2) A description of the efforts taken to coordi2 nate the components of strategic communication, in3 cluding components related to public diplomacy, 

4 public affairs, international broadcasting, and mili5 tary information operations. 

6 (3) Recommendations for additional statutory 

7 changes to improve the public diplomacy capabilities 

8 of the United States. 

9 (4) An examination of the feasibility of estab10 lishing a strategic communication organization with11 in the National Security Council to coordinate the 

12 efforts of the Center. 

13 (5) Recommendations for elevating officials of 

14 the Department of State who are responsible for 

15 matters relating to public diplomacy and public af16 fairs to the levels of Deputy Assistant Secretary of 

17 State or Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary. 

18 (6) Recommendations for elevating the Coordi19 nator of the Bureau of International Information 

20 Programs to Assistant Secretary of State. 

Æ 


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