IIB 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4490 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JULY 29, 2014 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
AN ACT 
To enhance the missions, objectives, and effectiveness of 
United States international communications, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘United States International Communications Reform Act 
of 2014’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings and declarations. 
Sec. 3. Purposes. 
Sec. 4. Definitions. 
Sec. 5. Broadcasting standards. 
Sec. 6. Eligible broadcast areas. 
TITLE I—ESTABLISHMENT, ORGANIZATION, AND MANAGEMENT 
OF THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS 
AGENCY 
Subtitle A—Establishment of the United States International Communications 
Agency 
Sec. 101. Existence within the Executive Branch. 
Sec. 102. Establishment of the board of the United States International Com-
munications Agency. 
Sec. 103. Authorities and duties of the board of the United States International 
Communications Agency. 
Sec. 104. Establishment of the Chief Executive Officer of the United States 
International Communications Agency. 
Sec. 105. Authorities and duties of the Chief Executive Officer of the United 
States International Communications Agency. 
Sec. 106. Role of the Secretary of State. 
Sec. 107. Role of the Inspector General. 
Sec. 108. Enhanced coordination between United States International Commu-
nications Agency and the Freedom News Network; program 
content sharing; grantee independence. 
Sec. 109. Enhanced coordination among the United States International Com-
munications Agency, the Freedom News Network, and the De-
partment of State; Freedom News Network independence. 
Sec. 110. Grants to the Freedom News Network. 
Sec. 111. Other personnel and compensation limitations. 
Sec. 112. Reporting requirements of the United States International Commu-
nications Agency. 
Subtitle B—The Voice of America 
Sec. 121. Sense of Congress. 
Sec. 122. Principles of the Voice of America. 
Sec. 123. Duties and responsibilities of the Voice of America. 
Sec. 124. Limitation on voice of America news, programming, and content; ex-
ception for broadcasting to Cuba. 
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Sec. 125. Director of Voice of America. 
Subtitle C—General Provisions 
Sec. 131. Federal agency coordination in support of United States public diplo-
macy. 
Sec. 132. Federal agency assistance and coordination with the United States 
International Communications Agency and the Freedom News 
Network during international broadcast surges. 
Sec. 133. Freedom News Network right of first refusal in instances of Federal 
disposal of radio or television broadcast transmission facilities 
or equipment. 
Sec. 134. Repeal of the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994. 
Sec. 135. Effective date. 
TITLE II—THE FREEDOM NEWS NETWORK 
Sec. 201. Sense of Congress. 
Subtitle A—Consolidation of Existing Grantee Organizations 
Sec. 211. Formation of the Freedom News Network from existing grantees. 
Sec. 212. Mission of the Freedom News Network. 
Sec. 213. Standards and principles of the Freedom News Network. 
Subtitle B—Organization of the Freedom News Network 
Sec. 221. Governance of the Freedom News Network. 
Sec. 222. Budget of the Freedom News Network. 
Sec. 223. Assistance from other government agencies. 
Sec. 224. Reports by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of 
State; audits by GAO. 
Sec. 225. Amendments to the United States Information and Educational Ex-
change Act of 1948. 
TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Sec. 301. Preservation of United States National Security objectives. 
Sec. 302. Requirement for authorization of appropriations. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS. 
Congress finds and declares the following: 
(1) United States international broadcasting ex-
ists to advance the United States interests and val-
ues by presenting accurate, objective, and com-
prehensive news and information, which is the foun-
dation for democratic governance, to societies that 
lack a free media. 
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(2) Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights states that ‘‘[e]veryone has the right 
to freedom of opinion and expression’’, and that 
‘‘this right includes freedom to hold opinions without 
interference and to seek, receive and impart infor-
mation and ideas through any media and regardless 
of frontiers’’. 
(3) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified 
before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives on January 23, 2013, that 
the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) ‘‘is 
practically a defunct agency in terms of its capacity 
to be able to tell a message around the world. So 
we’re abdicating the ideological arena and need to 
get back into it.’’. 
(4) The BBG, which was created by Congress 
to oversee the United States international broad-
casting in the wake of the Cold War, has, because 
of structural and managerial issues, had limited suc-
cess to date in both coordinating the various compo-
nents of the international broadcasting framework 
and managing the day-to-day operations of the Fed-
eral components of the international broadcasting 
framework. 
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(5) The lack of regular attendance by board 
members and a periodic inability to form a quorum 
have plagued the BBG and, as a result, it has been 
functionally incapable of running the agency. 
(6) The board of governors has only achieved 
the full slate of all nine governors for seven of its 
17 years of existence, which highlights the difficul-
ties of confirming and retaining governors under the 
current structure. 
(7) Both the Department of State’s Office of 
Inspector General and the Government Account-
ability Office have issued reports which outline a se-
verely dysfunctional organizational structure of the 
Broadcasting Board of Governors. 
(8) The Inspector General of the Department of 
State concluded in its January 2013 report that dys-
function of the BBG stems from ‘‘a flawed legisla-
tive structure and acute internal dissension’’. 
(9) The Inspector General of the Department of 
State also found that the BBG’s structure of nine 
part-time members ‘‘cannot effectively supervise all 
United States Government-supported, civilian inter-
national broadcasting’’, and its involvement in day- 
to-day operations has impeded normal management 
functions. 
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agreement, determination, or other official document 
or proceeding that had been available to the Director 
of the United States Information Agency, the Inter-
national Broadcasting Bureau, or the Board of the 
Broadcasting Board of Governors before the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
(13)(A) To provide for the payment of primary 
and secondary school expenses for dependents of 
personnel stationed in the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) at a cost not to 
exceed expenses authorized by the Department of 
Defense for such schooling for dependents of mem-
bers of the Armed Forces stationed in the Common-
wealth, if the Board determines that schools avail-
able in the Commonwealth are unable to provide 
adequately for the education of the dependents of 
such personnel. 
(B) To provide transportation for dependents of 
such personnel between their places of residence and 
those schools for which expenses are provided under 
subparagraph (A), if the Board determines that such 
schools are not accessible by public means of trans-
portation. 
(b) CONSULTATIONS.—The Chief Executive Officer 
of the United States International Communications Agen-
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