I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6621 
To amend the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 to 
authorize the Open Technology Fund of the United States Agency for 
Global Media, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 24, 2020 
Mr. MCCAUL (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. CURTIS, and Mr. MALINOWSKI) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the United States International Broadcasting Act 
of 1994 to authorize the Open Technology Fund of the 
United States Agency for Global Media, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open Technology Fund 
Authorization Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The political, economic, and social benefits 
of the internet are important to advancing democ-
racy and freedom throughout the world. 
(2) Authoritarian governments are investing bil-
lions of dollars each year to create, maintain, and 
expand repressive internet censorship and surveil-
lance systems to limit free association, control access 
to information, and prevent citizens from exercising 
their rights to free speech. 
(3) Over two-thirds of the world’s population 
lives in a country where the internet is restricted, 
and governments shut down the internet over 200 
times each year. 
(4) Internet censorship and surveillance tech-
nology is being exported rapidly around the world, 
particularly by the Chinese Government, enabling 
widespread abuses by authoritarian governments. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that it is in the interest 
of the United States to promote global internet freedom 
by countering internet censorship and repressive surveil-
lance and protect the internet as a platform for the free 
exchange of ideas, promotion of human rights and democ-
racy, and advancement of a free press and to support ef-
forts that prevent the deliberate misuse of the internet to 
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repress individuals from exercising their rights to free 
speech and association, including countering the use of 
such technologies by authoritarian regimes. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OPEN TECHNOLOGY 
FUND. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The United States International 
Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6201 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 309 the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 309A. OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND. 
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Grants authorized under 
section 305 shall be available to make annual grants 
for the purpose of promoting, consistent with United 
States law, unrestricted access to uncensored 
sources of information via the internet to enable 
journalists, including journalists employed by or af-
filiated with the Voice of America, Radio Free Eu-
rope/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, the Middle 
East Broadcasting Networks, the Office of Cuba 
Broadcasting, or any entity funded by or partnering 
with the United States Agency for Global Media, to 
create and disseminate, and for their audiences to 
receive, news and information consistent with the 
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purposes, standards, and principles specified in sec-
tions 302 and 303. 
‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 
grantee entity to be known as the ‘Open Technology 
Fund’, which shall carry out the provisions of this 
section. 
‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS OF THE GRANTEE.—In furtherance 
of the mission set forth in subsection (a), the Open Tech-
nology Fund shall seek to advance freedom of the press 
and unrestricted access to the internet in repressive envi-
ronments oversees, and shall— 
‘‘(1) research, develop, implement, and main-
tain— 
‘‘(A) technologies that circumvent tech-
niques used by authoritarian governments, 
nonstate actors, and others to block or censor 
access to the internet, including circumvention 
tools that bypass internet blocking, filtering, 
and other censorship techniques used to limit or 
block legitimate access to content and informa-
tion; and 
‘‘(B) secure communication tools and other 
forms of privacy and security technology that 
facilitate the creation and distribution of news 
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and enable audiences to access media content 
on censored websites; 
‘‘(2) advance internet freedom by supporting 
private and public sector research, development, im-
plementation, and maintenance of technologies that 
provide secure and uncensored access to the internet 
to counter attempts by authoritarian governments, 
nonstate actors, and others to improperly restrict 
freedom online; 
‘‘(3) research and analyze emerging technical 
threats and develop innovative solutions through col-
laboration with the private and public sectors to 
maintain the technological advantage of the United 
States Government over authoritarian governments, 
nonstate actors, and others; 
‘‘(4) develop, acquire, and distribute requisite 
internet freedom technologies and techniques for the 
United States Agency for Global Media, including as 
set forth in paragraph (1), and digital security inter-
ventions, to fully enable the creation and distribution 
of digital content between and to all users and re-
gional audiences; 
‘‘(5) prioritize programs for countries the gov-
ernments of which restrict freedom of expression on 
the internet, and that are important to the national 
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interest of the United States, and are consistent 
with section 7050(b)(2)(C) of the Further Consoli-
dated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116– 
94); and 
‘‘(6) carry out any other effort consistent with 
the purposes of this Act or press freedom overseas 
if requested or approved by the United States Agen-
cy for Global Media. 
‘‘(c) METHODOLOGY.—In carrying out subsection 
(b), the Open Technology Fund shall— 
‘‘(1) support fully open-source tools, code, and 
components, to the extent practicable, to ensure 
such supported tools and technologies are as secure, 
transparent, and accessible as possible, and require 
that any such tools, components, code, or technology 
supported by the Open Technology Fund remain 
fully open-source, to the extent practicable; 
‘‘(2) support technologies that undergo com-
prehensive security audits to ensure that such tech-
nologies are secure and have not been compromised 
in a manner detrimental to the interest of the 
United States or to individuals and organizations 
benefitting from programs supported by the Open 
Technology Fund; 
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‘‘(3) review and update periodically as nec-
essary security auditing procedures used by the 
Open Technology Fund to reflect current industry 
security standards; 
‘‘(4) establish safeguards to mitigate the use of 
such supported technologies for illicit purposes; 
‘‘(5) solicit project proposals through an open, 
transparent, and competitive application process to 
attract innovative applications and reduce barriers to 
entry; 
‘‘(6) seek input from technical, regional, and 
subject matter experts from a wide range of relevant 
disciplines, to review, provide feedback, and evaluate 
proposals to ensure the most competitive projects 
are funded; 
‘‘(7) implement an independent review process, 
through which proposals are reviewed by such ex-
perts to ensure the highest degree of technical re-
view and due diligence; 
‘‘(8) maximize cooperation with the public and 
private sectors, as well as foreign allies and partner 
countries, to maximize efficiencies and eliminate du-
plication of efforts; and 
‘‘(9) utilize any other methodology approved by 
the United States Agency for Global Media in fur-
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therance of the mission of the Open Technology 
Fund. 
‘‘(d) GRANT AGREEMENT.—Any grant agreement 
with or grants made to the Open Technology Fund under 
this section shall be subject to the following limitations 
and restrictions: 
‘‘(1) The headquarters of the Open Technology 
Fund and its senior administrative and managerial 
staff shall be located in a location which ensures 
economy, operational effectiveness, and account-
ability to the United States Agency for Global 
Media. 
‘‘(2) Grants awarded under this section shall be 
made pursuant to a grant agreement which requires 
that grant funds be used only for activities con-
sistent with this section, and that failure to comply 
with such requirements shall permit the grant to be 
terminated without fiscal obligation to the United 
States. 
‘‘(3) Any grant agreement under this section 
shall require that any contract entered into by the 
Open Technology Fund shall specify that all obliga-
tions are assumed by the grantee and not by the 
United States Government. 
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‘‘(4) Any grant agreement under this section 
shall require that any lease agreements entered into 
by the Open Technology Fund shall be, to the max-
imum extent possible, assignable to the United 
States Government. 
‘‘(5) Administrative and managerial costs for 
operation of the Open Technology Fund should be 
kept to a minimum and, to the maximum extent fea-
sible, should not exceed the costs that would have 
been incurred if the Open Technology Fund had 
been operated as a Federal entity rather than as a 
grantee. 
‘‘(6) Grant funds may not be used for any ac-
tivity the purpose of which is influencing the passage 
or defeat of legislation considered by Congress. 
‘‘(e) RELATIONSHIP TO THE UNITED STATES AGEN-
CY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Open Technology 
Fund shall be subject to the same oversight and gov-
ernance by the United States Agency for Global 
Media as other grantees of the Agency as set forth 
in section 305. 
‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE.—The United States Agency 
for Global Media, its broadcast entities, and the 
Open Technology Fund should render assistance to 
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each other as may be necessary to carry out the pur-
poses of this section or any other provision of this 
Act. 
‘‘(3) NOT A FEDERAL AGENCY OR INSTRUMEN-
TALITY.—Nothing in this section may be construed 
to make the Open Technology Fund a Federal agen-
cy or instrumentality. 
‘‘(4) 
DETAILEES.—Under 
the 
Intergovern-
mental Personnel Act, employees of a grantee of the 
United States Agency for Global Media may be de-
tailed to the Agency, and Federal employees may be 
detailed to a grantee of the United States Agency 
for Global Media. 
‘‘(f) RELATIONSHIP
TO OTHER UNITED STATES 
GOVERNMENT-FUNDED
INTERNET
FREEDOM
PRO-
GRAMS.—The United States Agency for Global Media 
shall ensure that internet freedom research and develop-
ment projects of the Open Technology Fund are coordi-
nated with internet freedom programs of the Department 
of State and other relevant United States Government de-
partments, in order to share information and best-prac-
tices relating to the implementation of subsections (b) and 
(c). 
‘‘(g) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 
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‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Open Technology 
Fund shall highlight, in its annual report, internet 
freedom activities, including a comprehensive assess-
ment of the Open Technology Fund’s activities relat-
ing to the implementation of subsections (b) and (c). 
Each such report shall include the following: 
‘‘(A) An assessment of the current state of 
global internet freedom, including trends in cen-
sorship and surveillance technologies and inter-
net shutdowns, and the threats such pose to 
journalists, citizens, and human rights and 
civil-society organizations. 
‘‘(B) A description of the technology 
projects supported by the Open Technology 
Fund and the associated impact of such 
projects in the prior year, including the coun-
tries and regions in which such technologies 
were deployed, and any associated metrics indi-
cating audience usage of such technologies, as 
well as future-year technology project initia-
tives. 
‘‘(2) ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF 
THE OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND.—Not later than two 
years after the date of the enactment of this section, 
the Inspector General of the Department of State 
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and the Foreign Service shall submit to the appro-
priate congressional committees a report on the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) Whether the Open Technology Fund 
is technically sound and cost effective. 
‘‘(B) Whether the Open Technology Fund 
is satisfying the requirements of this section. 
‘‘(C) The extent to which the interests of 
the United States are being served by maintain-
ing the work of the Open Technology Fund. 
‘‘(h) AUDIT AUTHORITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Financial transactions of 
the Open Technology Fund, as such relate to func-
tions carried out under this section, may be audited 
by the Government Accountability Office in accord-
ance with such principles and procedures and under 
such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by 
the Comptroller General of the United States. Any 
such audit shall be conducted at the place or places 
at which accounts of the Open Technology Fund are 
normally kept. 
‘‘(2) ACCESS
BY
GAO.—The Government Ac-
countability Office shall have access to all books, ac-
counts, records, reports, files, papers, and property 
belonging to or in use by the Open Technology Fund 
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pertaining to financial transactions as may be nec-
essary to facilitate an audit. The Government Ac-
countability Office shall be afforded full facilities for 
verifying transactions with any assets held by de-
positories, fiscal agents, and custodians. All such 
books, accounts, records, reports, files, papers, and 
property of the Open Technology Fund shall remain 
in the possession and custody of the Open Tech-
nology Fund. 
‘‘(3) EXERCISE
OF
AUTHORITIES.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, the Inspector 
General of the Department of State and the Foreign 
Service is authorized to exercise the authorities of 
the Inspector General Act of 1978 with respect to 
the Open Technology Fund.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The United States 
International Broadcasting Act of 1994 is amended by— 
(1) in section 304(d) (22 U.S.C. 6203(d)), by 
inserting ‘‘the Open Technology Fund,’’ before ‘‘the 
Middle East Broadcasting Networks’’; 
(2) in sections 305 and 310 (22 U.S.C. 6204 
and 6209), by inserting ‘‘the Open Technology 
Fund,’’ before ‘‘or the Middle East Broadcasting 
Networks’’ each place such term appears; and 
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(3) in section 310 (22 U.S.C. 6209), by insert-
ing ‘‘the Open Technology Fund,’’ before ‘‘and the 
Middle East Broadcasting Networks’’ each place 
such term appears. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated for the Open Technology 
Fund $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and $25,000,000 
for fiscal year 2022 to carry out section 309A of the 
United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994, as 
added by subsection (a). 
Æ 
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