(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. 
(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-
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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. 
(10) The Government Accountability Office re-
port determined that there was significant overlap 
among the BBG’s languages services, and that the 
BBG did not systematically consider the financial 
cost of overlap. 
(11) According to the Office of the Inspector 
General, the BBG’s Office of Contracts is not in 
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compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation, 
lacks appropriate contract oversight, and violates the 
Anti-Deficiency Act. The Office of the Inspector 
General also determined that the Broadcasting 
Board of Governors has not adequately performed 
full and open competitions or price determinations, 
has entered into hundreds of personal service con-
tracts without statutory authority, and contractors 
regularly work without valid contracts in place. 
(12) The size and make-up of the BBG work-
force should be closely examined, given the agency’s 
broader broadcasting and technical mission, as well 
as changing media technologies. 
(13) The BBG should be structured to ensure 
that more taxpayer dollars are dedicated to the sub-
stantive, broadcasting, and information-related ele-
ments of the agency’s mission. 
(14) The lack of a coherent and well defined 
mission of the Voice of America has led to program-
ming that duplicates the efforts of the Office of 
Cuba Broadcasting, Radio Free Asia, RFE/RL, In-
corporated, and the Middle East Broadcasting Net-
works, Incorporated that results in inefficient use of 
tax-payer funding. 
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(15) The annual survey conducted by the 
‘‘Partnership for Public Service’’ consistently ranks 
the Broadcasting Board of Governors at or near the 
bottom of all Federal agencies in terms of ‘‘overall 
best places to work’’ and ‘‘the extent to which em-
ployees feel their skills and talents are used effec-
tively’’. The consistency of these low scores point to 
structural, cultural, and functional problems at the 
Broadcasting Board of Governors. 
(16) The Federal and non-Federal organiza-
tions that comprise the United States international 
broadcasting framework have different, yet com-
plementary, missions that necessitate coordination at 
all levels of management. 
(17) The Broadcasting Board of Governors has 
an overabundance of senior civil service positions, 
defined here as full-time employees encumbering 
GS–14 and GS–15 positions on the General Sched-
ule pay scale. 
(18) United States international broadcasting 
should seek to leverage public-private partnerships, 
including the licensing of content and the use of 
technology owned or operated by non-governmental 
sources, where possible to expand outreach capacity. 
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(19) Shortwave broadcasting has been an im-
portant method of communication that should be 
utilized in regions as a component of United States 
international broadcasting where a critical need for 
the platform exists. 
(20) Congressional action is necessary at this 
time to improve international broadcasting oper-
ations, strengthen the United States public diplo-
macy efforts, enhance the grantee surrogate broad-
casting effort, restore focus to news, programming, 
and content, and maximize the value of Federal and 
non-Federal resources that are dedicated to public 
diplomacy and international broadcasting. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are as follows: 
(1) To provide objective, accurate, credible, and 
comprehensive news and information to societies 
that lack freedom of expression and information. 
(2) To improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and 
flexibility of United States international broad-
casting to allow it to adapt to constantly changing 
political and media environments through clarifica-
tion of missions, improved coordination, and organi-
zational restructuring. 
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(3) To coordinate the complementary efforts of 
the Department of State and United States inter-
national broadcasting. 
(4) To create a United States international 
broadcasting 
framework 
that 
more 
effectively 
leverages the broadcasting tools available and cre-
ates specialization of expertise in mission oriented 
programming, while minimizing waste and ineffi-
ciency. 
(5) To improve United States international 
broadcasting workforce effectiveness, security, and 
satisfaction. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Committee on 
Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 
(2) GRANTEE.—The term ‘‘grantee’’ means the 
non-Federal 
organization 
described 
in 
section 
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 
exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code 
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as of day before the date of the enactment of this 
Act that receives Federal funding from the Broad-
casting Board of Governors, and includes Radio 
Free Asia, RFE/RL, Incorporated, and the Middle 
East Broadcasting Networks, Incorporated. 
(3) FREEDOM
NEWS
NETWORK.—The term 
‘‘Freedom News Network’’ refers to the non-Federal 
organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax 
under section 501(a) of such Code that would re-
ceive Federal funding and be responsible for pro-
moting democratic freedoms and free media oper-
ations for foreign audiences in societies that lack 
freedom of expression and information, and con-
sisting of the consolidation of the grantee in accord-
ance with section 211. 
(4) PUBLIC DIPLOMACY.—The term ‘‘public di-
plomacy’’ means the effort to achieve broad United 
States foreign policy goals and objectives, advance 
national interests, and enhance national security by 
informing and influencing foreign publics and by ex-
panding and strengthening the relationship between 
the people and Government of the United States and 
citizens of other countries. 
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SEC. 5. BROADCASTING STANDARDS. 
United States international broadcasting shall incor-
porate the following standards into all of its broadcasting 
efforts: 
(1) Be consistent with the broad foreign policy 
objectives of the United States. 
(2) Be consistent with the international tele-
communications policies and treaty obligations of the 
United States. 
(3) Complement and not duplicate the activities 
of private United States broadcasters. 
(4) Be conducted in accordance with the high-
est professional standards of broadcast journalism 
while remaining consistent with and supportive of 
the broad foreign policy objectives of the United 
States. 
(5) Be based on reliable, research-based infor-
mation, both quantitative and qualitative, about its 
potential audience. 
(6) Be designed so as to effectively reach a sig-
nificant audience. 
(7) Promote freedom of expression, religion, 
and respect for human rights and human equality. 
SEC. 6. ELIGIBLE BROADCAST AREAS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Board of the United States 
International Communications Agency and the Board of 
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the Freedom News Network, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of State, shall ensure that United States inter-
national broadcasting is conducted only to countries and 
regions that— 
(1) lack democratic rule, or the indicia of demo-
cratic rule, such as demonstrable proof of free and 
fair elections; 
(2) lack the legal and political environment that 
allows media organizations and journalists to oper-
ate free from government-led or permitted harass-
ment, intimidation, retribution, and from economic 
impediments to the development, production, and 
dissemination of news and related programming and 
content; 
(3) lack established, domestic, and widely acces-
sible media that provide accurate, objective, and 
comprehensive news and related programming and 
content; and 
(4) by virtue of the criteria described in this 
subsection, would benefit the national security and 
related interests of the United States, and the safety 
and security of United States citizens at home and 
abroad. 
(b) EXCEPTION.—The United States International 
Communications Agency and the Freedom News Network 
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may broadcast to countries that fall outside of the criteria 
described in subsection (a) if the Chief Executive Officer 
of the Agency and the Freedom News Network, in con-
sultation with the Secretary of State, determine it is in 
the national security interest of the United States, or in 
the interests of preserving the safety and security of 
United States citizens at home and abroad, to do so. 
TITLE I—ESTABLISHMENT, OR-
GANIZATION, AND MANAGE-
MENT 
OF 
THE 
UNITED 
STATES 
INTERNATIONAL 
COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY 
Subtitle A—Establishment of the 
United 
States 
International 
Communications Agency 
SEC. 101. EXISTENCE WITHIN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. 
There is hereby established a single Federal organiza-
tion consisting of the Voice of America and the offices that 
constitute the International Broadcasting Bureau and re-
ferred to hereafter as the ‘‘United States International 
Communications Agency’’, which shall exist within the ex-
ecutive branch of Government as an independent estab-
lishment described in section 104 of title 5, United States 
Code. 
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