II 

Calendar No. 439 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3104 

[Report No. 111–214] 

To permanently authorize Radio Free Asia, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 11, 2010 

Mr. LUGAR (for himself, Mr. KAUFMAN, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. 

RISCH, and Mr. WEBB) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

JUNE 22, 2010 

Reported by Mr. KERRY, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To permanently authorize Radio Free Asia, 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. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Radio Free Asia (referred to in this Act as 

6 ‘‘RFA’’)— 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 3104 RS

1 (A) was authorized under section 309 of 

2 the United States International Broadcasting 

3 Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6208); 

4 (B) was incorporated as a private, non5 profit corporation in March 1996 in the hope 

6 that its operations would soon be obviated by 

7 the global advancement of democracy; and 

8 (C) is headquartered in Washington, DC, 

9 with additional offices in Bangkok, Hong Kong, 

10 Phnom Penh, Seoul, Ankara, and Taipei. 

11 (2) RFA broadcasts serve as substitutes for in12 digenous free media in regions lacking free media 

13 outlets. 

14 (3) The mission of RFA is ‘‘to provide accurate 

15 and timely news and information to Asian countries 

16 whose governments prohibit access to a free press’’ 

17 in order to enable informed decisionmaking by the 

18 people within Asia. 

19 (4) RFA provides daily broadcasts of news, 

20 commentary, analysis, and cultural programming to 

21 Asian countries in several languages, including— 

22 (A) 12 hours per day in Mandarin; 

23 (B) 8 hours per day in 3 Tibetan dialects, 

24 Uke, Kham, and Amdo; 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 3104 RS

1 (C) 4 hours per day in Korean and Bur2 mese; 

3 (D) 2 hours per day in Cantonese, Viet4 namese, Laotian, Khmer (Cambodian), and 

5 Uyghur; and 

(E) 11 6 ⁄2 hours per week in Wu (local 

7 Shanghai dialect). 

8 (5) The governments of the countries targeted 

9 for these broadcasts have consistently denied and 

10 blocked attempts at Medium Wave and FM trans11 missions into their countries, forcing RFA to rely on 

12 Shortwave broadcasts and the Internet. 

13 (6) RFA has provided continuous online news 

14 to its Asian audiences since 2004, although some 

15 countries— 

16 (A) routinely and aggressively block RFA’s 

17 website; 

18 (B) monitor access to RFA’s website; and 

19 (C) discourage online users by making it il20 legal to access RFA’s website. 

21 (7) Despite these attempts, RFA has success22 fully managed to reach its online audiences through 

23 proxies, cutting-edge software, and active republica24 tion and repostings by its audience. 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 3104 RS

1 (8) RFA also provides forums for local opinions 

2 and experiences through message boards, podcasts, 

3 web logs (blogs), cell phone-distributed newscasts, 

4 and new media, including Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, 

5 and YouTube. 

6 (9) Freedom House has documented that free7 dom of the press is in decline in nearly every region 

8 of the world, particularly in Asia, where none of the 

9 countries served by RFA have increased their free10 dom of the press during the past 5 years. 

11 (10) As documented in Freedom House’s Index 

12 of Global Press Freedom, which annually ranks the 

13 nations of the world on this issue, between 2004 and 

14 2009, out of 193 and 195 countries rated for those 

15 years— 

16 (A) China’s ranking dropped from 173rd 

17 to 181st; 

18 (B) Cambodia’s ranking dropped from 

19 127th to 132nd; 

20 (C) Vietnam’s ranking dropped from 178th 

21 to 179th; 

22 (D) Laos’ ranking dropped from 179th to 

23 184th; 

24 (E) Burma’s ranking dropped from 190th 

25 to 193rd; and 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 3104 RS

1 (F) North Korea’s ranking remained dead 

2 last. 

3 (11) In fiscal year 2010, RFA is operating on 

4 a $37,000,000 budget to reach the approximately 

5 1,500,000,000 people who live within the countries 

6 served by RFA, less than $400,000 of which is avail7 able to fund Internet censorship circumvention. 

8 (12) Independent media sources are nonexistent 

9 or severely restrained in their operations in these 

10 areas where the press often serves as a means to 

11 promote the government’s agenda. 

12 (13) Congress currently provides grant funding 

13 for RFA’s operations on a fiscal year basis. 

14 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE. 

15 It is the sense of the Senate that— 

16 (1) public access to timely, uncensored, and ac17 curate information is imperative for achieving gov18 ernment accountability and the protection of human 

19 rights; 

20 (2) Radio Free Asia provides a vital voice to 

21 people in Asia; 

22 (3) in the 14 years since RFA was established, 

23 freedom of the press in Asia has been reduced, as 

24 evidenced by the inability of RFA to broadcast on 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 3104 RS

1 AM or FM frequencies in the countries served by 

2 RFA; 

3 (4) some of the governments in Asia spend mil4 lions of dollars each year to jam RFA’s shortwave, 

5 block its Internet sites, and illegally access RFA’s 

6 computer networks and user files; 

7 (5) Congress should provide additional funding 

8 to RFA and the other entities overseen by the 

9 Broadcasting Board of Governors for— 

10 (A) Internet censorship circumvention; and 

11 (B) enhancement of their cyber security ef12 forts; and 

13 (6) permanently authorizing funding for Radio 

14 Free Asia would— 

15 (A) reflect the concern that media censor16 ship and press restrictions in the countries 

17 served by RFA have increased since RFA was 

18 established; and 

19 (B) send a powerful signal of our Nation’s 

20 support for free press in Asia and throughout 

21 the world. 

22 SEC. 3. PERMANENT AUTHORIZATION FOR RADIO FREE 

23 ASIA. 

24 Section 309 of the United States International 

25 Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6208) is amended— 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 3104 RS

1 (1) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘, and shall 

2 further specify that funds to carry out the activities 

3 of Radio Free Asia may not be available after Sep4 tember 30, 2010’’; 

5 (2) by striking subsection (f); 

6 (3) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 

7 subsection (f) and (g), respectively; and 

8 (4) in subsection (f), as redesignated— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘The Board’’ and inserting 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION.—The Board’’; 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘before entering’’ and in13 serting the following: ‘‘before— 

14 ‘‘(A) entering’’; 

15 (C) by striking ‘‘Radio Free Asia.’’ and in16 serting the following: ‘‘Radio Free Asia; or 

17 ‘‘(B) entering into any agreements in re18 gard to the utilization of Radio Free Asia 

19 transmitters, equipment, or other resources that 

20 will significantly reduce the broadcasting activi21 ties of Radio Free Asia.’’; 

22 (D) by striking ‘‘The Chairman’’ and in23 serting the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The Chairman’’; and 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 3104 RS

1 (E) by inserting ‘‘or Radio Free Asia 

2 broadcasting activities’’ before the period at the 

3 end. 

4 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Radio Free Asia (referred to in this Act as 

7 ‘‘RFA’’)— 

8 (A) was authorized under section 309 of the 

9 United States International Broadcasting Act of 

10 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6208); 

11 (B) was incorporated as a private, non12 profit corporation in March 1996 in the hope 

13 that its operations would soon be obviated by the 

14 global advancement of democracy; and 

15 (C) is headquartered in Washington, DC, 

16 with additional offices in Bangkok, Hong Kong, 

17 Phnom Penh, Seoul, Ankara, and Taipei. 

18 (2) RFA broadcasts serve as substitutes for in19 digenous free media in regions lacking free media out20 lets. 

21 (3) The mission of RFA is ‘‘to provide accurate 

22 and timely news and information to Asian countries 

23 whose governments prohibit access to a free press’’ in 

24 order to enable informed decisionmaking by the people 

25 within Asia. 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 3104 RS

1 (4) RFA provides daily broadcasts of news, com2 mentary, analysis, and cultural programming to 

3 Asian countries in several languages, including— 

4 (A) 12 hours per day in Mandarin; 

5 (B) 8 hours per day in 3 Tibetan dialects, 

6 Uke, Kham, and Amdo; 

7 (C) 4 hours per day in Korean and Bur8 mese; 

9 (D) 2 hours per day in Cantonese, Viet10 namese, Laotian, Khmer (Cambodian), and 

11 Uyghur; and 

(E) 11 12 ⁄2 hours per week in Wu (local Shang13 hai dialect). 

14 (5) The governments of the countries targeted for 

15 these broadcasts have consistently denied and blocked 

16 attempts at Medium Wave and FM transmissions 

17 into their countries, forcing RFA to rely on Short18 wave broadcasts and the Internet. 

19 (6) RFA has provided continuous online news to 

20 its Asian audiences since 2004, although some coun21 tries— 

22 (A) routinely and aggressively block RFA’s 

23 website; 

24 (B) monitor access to RFA’s website; and 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 3104 RS

1 (C) discourage online users by making it il2 legal to access RFA’s website. 

3 (7) Despite these attempts, RFA has successfully 

4 managed to reach its online audiences through prox5 ies, cutting-edge software, and active republication 

6 and repostings by its audience. 

7 (8) RFA also provides forums for local opinions 

8 and experiences through message boards, podcasts, 

9 web logs (blogs), cell phone-distributed newscasts, and 

10 new media, including Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and 

11 YouTube. 

12 (9) Freedom House has documented that freedom 

13 of the press is in decline in nearly every region of the 

14 world, particularly in Asia, where none of the coun15 tries served by RFA have increased their freedom of 

16 the press during the past 5 years. 

17 (10) In fiscal year 2010, RFA is operating on a 

18 $37,000,000 budget, less than $400,000 of which is 

19 available to fund Internet censorship circumvention. 

20 (11) Congress currently provides grant funding 

21 for RFA’s operations on a fiscal year basis. 

22 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE. 

23 It is the sense of the Senate that— 

24 (1) public access to timely, uncensored, and ac25 curate information is imperative for promoting govVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:24 Jun 23, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S3104.RS S3104

smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 3104 RS

1 ernment accountability and the protection of human 

2 rights; 

3 (2) Radio Free Asia provides a vital voice to 

4 people in Asia; 

5 (3) some of the governments in Asia spend mil6 lions of dollars each year to jam RFA’s shortwave, 

7 block its Internet sites; 

8 (4) Congress should provide additional funding 

9 to RFA and the other entities overseen by the Broad10 casting Board of Governors for— 

11 (A) Internet censorship circumvention; and 

12 (B) enhancement of their cyber security ef13 forts; and 

14 (5) permanently authorizing funding for Radio 

15 Free Asia would— 

16 (A) reflect the concern that media censor17 ship and press restrictions in the countries 

18 served by RFA have increased since RFA was es19 tablished; and 

20 (B) send a powerful signal of our Nation’s 

21 support for free press in Asia and throughout the 

22 world. 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 3104 RS

1 SEC. 3. PERMANENT AUTHORIZATION FOR RADIO FREE 

2 ASIA. 

3 Section 309 of the United States International Broad4 casting Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6208) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘, and shall 

6 further specify that funds to carry out the activities 

7 of Radio Free Asia may not be available after Sep8 tember 30, 2010’’; 

9 (2) by striking subsection (f); 

10 (3) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 

11 subsection (f) and (g), respectively; and 

12 (4) in subsection (f), as redesignated— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘The Board’’ and inserting 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION.—The Board’’; 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘before entering’’ and in17 serting the following: ‘‘before— 

18 ‘‘(A) entering’’; 

19 (C) by striking ‘‘Radio Free Asia.’’ and in20 serting the following: ‘‘Radio Free Asia; or 

21 ‘‘(B) entering into any agreements in re22 gard to the utilization of Radio Free Asia trans23 mitters, equipment, or other resources that will 

24 significantly reduce the broadcasting activities of 

25 Radio Free Asia.’’; 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
13 

•S 3104 RS

1 (D) by striking ‘‘The Chairman’’ and in2 serting the following: 

3 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The Chairman’’; and 

4 (E) by inserting ‘‘or Radio Free Asia 

5 broadcasting activities’’ before the period at the 

6 end. 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 439 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3104 

[Report No. 111–214] 

A BILL 

To permanently authorize Radio Free Asia, and for 

other purposes. 

JUNE 22, 2010 

Reported with an amendment 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS