I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1456 

To limit the use of funds for the production of films using assets of the 

Department of State under certain circumstances, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2023 

Mr. GREEN of Tennessee introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on 

Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To limit the use of funds for the production of films using 

assets of the Department of State under certain circumstances, 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 Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Communist 

5 Regimes from Engaging in Edits Now Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SCREEN Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR PRODUCTION 

2 OF FILMS AND PROHIBITION ON USE OF 

3 SUCH FUNDS FOR FILMS SUBJECT TO CONDI4 TIONS ON CONTENT OR ALTERED FOR 

5 SCREENING IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF 

6 CHINA OR AT THE REQUEST OF THE CHINESE 

7 COMMUNIST PARTY. 

8 (a) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary 

9 of State may only authorize the provision of technical sup10 port or access to an asset controlled by or related to the 

11 Department of State to enter into a contract relating to 

12 the production or funding of a film by a United States 

13 company if the United States company, as a condition of 

14 receiving the support or access— 

15 (1) provides to the Secretary a list of all films 

16 produced or funded by that company the content of 

17 which has been submitted, during the shorter of the 

18 preceding 10-year period or the period beginning on 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, to an official 

20 of the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

21 or the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for evalua22 tion with respect to screening the film in the Peo23 ple’s Republic of China (PRC); 

24 (2) includes, with respect to each such film— 

25 (A) the title of the film; and 


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1 (B) the date on which such submission oc2 curred; 

3 (3) enters into a written agreement with the 

4 Secretary not to alter the content of the film in re5 sponse to, or in anticipation of, a request by an offi6 cial of the Government of the PRC or the CCP; and 

7 (4) submits such agreement to the Secretary. 

8 (b) PROHIBITION WITH RESPECT TO FILMS SUB9 JECT TO CONDITIONS ON CONTENT OR ALTERED FOR

10 SCREENING IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.— 

11 Notwithstanding subsection (a), the President may not au12 thorize the provision of technical support or access to any 

13 asset controlled by the Federal Government for, or author14 ize the head of a Federal agency to enter into any contract 

15 relating to, the production or funding of a film by a United 

16 States company if— 

17 (1) the film is co-produced by an entity located 

18 in the PRC that is subject to conditions on content 

19 imposed by an official of the Government of the 

20 PRC or the CCP; or 

21 (2) with respect to the most recent report sub22 mitted under subsection (c), the United States com23 pany is listed in the report pursuant to subpara24 graph (C) or (D) of paragraph (2) of that sub25 section. 


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1 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an4 nually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit 

5 to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 

6 on films disclosed under subsection (a) that are as7 sociated with a United States company that has re8 ceived technical support or access to an asset con9 trolled by the Department of State for, or has en10 tered into a contract with the Federal Government 

11 relating to, the production or funding of a film. 

12 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para13 graph (1) shall include the following: 

14 (A) A description of each film listed pursu15 ant to the requirement under subsection (a)(1), 

16 the content of which was submitted, during the 

17 shorter of the preceding 10-year period or the 

18 period beginning on the date of the enactment 

19 of this Act, by a United States company to an 

20 official of the Government of the PRC or the 

21 CCP for evaluation with respect to screening 

22 the film in the PRC, including— 

23 (i) the United States company that 

24 submitted the contents of the film; 

25 (ii) the title of the film; and 


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1 (iii) the date on which such submis2 sion occurred. 

3 (B) A description of each film with respect 

4 to which a United States company entered into 

5 a written agreement with the Department of 

6 State, providing the support or access, pursuant 

7 to the requirement under subsection (a)(2) not 

8 to alter the content of the film in response to, 

9 or in anticipation of, a request by an official of 

10 the Government of the PRC or the CCP, during 

11 the shorter of the preceding 10-year period or 

12 the period beginning on the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, including— 

14 (i) the United States company that 

15 entered into the agreement; and 

16 (ii) the title of the film. 

17 (C) The title of any film described pursu18 ant to subparagraph (A), and the corresponding 

19 United States company described pursuant to 

20 clause (i) of that subparagraph— 

21 (i) that was submitted to an official of 

22 the Government of the PRC or the CCP 

23 during the preceding 3-year period; and 

24 (ii) for which the Secretary assesses 

25 that the content was altered in response to, 


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1 or in anticipation of, a request by an offi2 cial of the Government of the PRC or the 

3 CCP. 

4 (D) The title of any film that is described 

5 in both subparagraph (A) and subparagraph 

6 (B), and the corresponding one or more United 

7 States companies described in clause (i) of each 

8 such subparagraph— 

9 (i) that was submitted to an official of 

10 the Government of the PRC or the CCP 

11 during the preceding 10-year period; and 

12 (ii) for which the Secretary assesses 

13 that the content was altered in response to, 

14 or in anticipation of, a request by an offi15 cial of the Government of the PRC or the 

16 CCP. 

17 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON19 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con20 gress’’ means— 

21 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

22 the Senate; and 

23 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

24 the House of Representatives. 


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1 (2) CONTENT.—The term ‘‘content’’ means any 

2 description of a film, including the script. 

3 (3) UNITED STATES COMPANY.—The term 

4 ‘‘United States company’’ means a private entity in5 corporated under the laws of the United States or 

6 any jurisdiction within the United States. 

Æ 


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