IB 
Union Calendar No. 407 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4490 
[Report No. 113–541] 
To enhance the missions, objectives, and effectiveness of United States 
international communications, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 28, 2014 
Mr. ROYCE (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. 
ROHRABACHER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. KEATING, and Mr. 
SALMON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs 
JULY 18, 2014 
Additional sponsors: Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. SIRES, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. POE of 
Texas, Mr. STOCKMAN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, and Mr. JONES 
JULY 18, 2014 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 28, 2014] 
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A BILL 
To enhance the missions, objectives, and effectiveness of 
United States international communications, and for 
other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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 Commu-
nications 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 Inter-
national 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 con-
tent sharing; Grantee independence. 
Sec. 109. Enhanced coordination among the United States International Commu-
nications Agency, the Freedom News Network, and the Depart-
ment 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 Communica-
tions Agency. 
Subtitle B—The Voice of America 
Sec. 121. Sense of Congress. 
Sec. 122. Principles of the Voice of America. 
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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. 
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 dis-
posal 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. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS. 
Congress finds and declares the following: 
(1) United States international broadcasting ex-
ists to advance the United States’ interests and values 
by presenting accurate, objective, and comprehensive 
news and information, which is the foundation for 
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democratic governance, to societies that lack a free 
media. 
(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 inter-
ference and to seek, receive and impart information 
and ideas through any media and regardless of fron-
tiers’’. 
(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 prac-
tically 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 broadcasting 
in the wake of the Cold War, has, because of struc-
tural and managerial issues, had limited success to 
date in both coordinating the various components of 
the international broadcasting framework and man-
aging the day-to-day operations of the Federal compo-
nents 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 difficulties of con-
firming and retaining governors under the current 
structure. 
(7) Both the Department of State’s Office of In-
spector General and the Government Accountability 
Office have issued reports which outline a severely 
dysfunctional organizational structure of the Broad-
casting 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 legislative 
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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(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 Gen-
eral, the BBG’s Office of Contracts is not in compli-
ance 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 Gov-
ernors has not adequately performed full and open 
competitions or price determinations, has entered into 
hundreds of personal service contracts without statu-
tory authority, and contractors regularly work with-
out valid contracts in place. 
(12) The size and make-up of the BBG workforce 
should be closely examined, given the agency’s broader 
broadcasting and technical mission, as well as chang-
ing 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. 
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(14) The lack of a coherent and well defined mis-
sion of the Voice of America has led to programming 
that duplicates the efforts of the Office of Cuba Broad-
casting, Radio Free Asia, RFE/RL, Incorporated, 
and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Incor-
porated that results in inefficient use of tax-payer 
funding. 
(15) The annual survey conducted by the ‘‘Part-
nership for Public Service’’ consistently ranks the 
Broadcasting Board of Governors at or near the bot-
tom of all Federal agencies in terms of ‘‘overall best 
places to work’’ and ‘‘the extent to which employees 
feel their skills and talents are used effectively’’. The 
consistency of these low scores point to structural, cul-
tural, and functional problems at the Broadcasting 
Board of Governors. 
(16) The Federal and non-Federal organizations 
that comprise the United States international broad-
casting framework have different, yet complementary, 
missions that necessitate coordination at all levels of 
management. 
(17) The Broadcasting Board of Governors has 
an overabundance of senior civil service positions, de-
fined here as full-time employees encumbering GS-14 
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and GS-15 positions on the General Schedule pay 
scale. 
(18) United States international broadcasting 
should seek to leverage public-private partnerships, 
including the licensing of content and the use of tech-
nology owned or operated by non-governmental 
sources, where possible to expand outreach capacity. 
(19) Shortwave broadcasting has been an impor-
tant method of communication that should be utilized 
in regions as a component of United States inter-
national 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 di-
plomacy 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. 
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(2) To improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and 
flexibility of United States international broadcasting 
to allow it to adapt to constantly changing political 
and media environments through clarification of mis-
sions, improved coordination, and organizational re-
structuring. 
(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 creates speciali-
zation of expertise in mission oriented programming, 
while minimizing waste and inefficiency. 
(5) To improve United States international 
broadcasting workforce effectiveness, security, and sat-
isfaction. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) 
APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit-
tees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate, the Committee on Appropria-
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tions of the House of Representatives, and the Com-
mittee 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 as 
of day before the date of the enactment of this Act 
that receives Federal funding from the Broadcasting 
Board of Governors, and includes Radio Free Asia, 
RFE/RL, Incorporated, and the Middle East Broad-
casting 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 In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax 
under section 501(a) of such Code that would receive 
Federal funding and be responsible for promoting 
democratic freedoms and free media operations for 
foreign audiences in societies that lack freedom of ex-
pression and information, and consisting of the con-
solidation of the grantee in accordance 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 na-
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tional interests, and enhance national security by in-
forming 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. 
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) Not duplicate the activities of private United 
States broadcasters. 
(4) Be conducted in accordance with the highest 
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 informa-
tion, both quantitative and qualitative, about its po-
tential audience. 
(6) Be designed so as to effectively reach a sig-
nificant audience. 
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(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 
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 operate 
free from government-led or permitted harassment, in-
timidation, retribution, and from economic impedi-
ments to the development, production, and dissemina-
tion of news and related programming and content; 
(3) lack established, domestic, and widely acces-
sible media that provide accurate, objective, and com-
prehensive news and related programming and con-
tent; and 
(4) by virtue of the criteria described in this sub-
section, would benefit the national security and re-
lated interests of the United States, and the safety 
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and security of United States citizens at home and 
abroad. 
(b) EXCEPTION.—The United States International 
Communications Agency and the Freedom News Network 
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 consulta-
tion with the Secretary of State, determine it is in the na-
tional security interest of the United States, or in the inter-
ests 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 Com-
munications Agency’’, which shall exist within the executive 
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branch of Government as an independent establishment de-
scribed in section 104 of title 5, United States Code. 
SEC. 102. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BOARD OF THE UNITED 
STATES INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS 
AGENCY. 
(a) COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD OF THE UNITED 
STATES INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Board’’) of the United States Inter-
national Communications Agency shall consist of 
nine members, as follows: 
(A) Eight voting members who shall be ap-
pointed by the President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate. 
(B) The Secretary of State, who shall also 
be a voting member. 
(2) CHAIR.—The President shall appoint one 
member (other than the Secretary of State) as Chair 
of the Board, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate. 
(3) POLITICAL
AFFILIATION.—Exclusive of the 
Secretary of State, not more than four members of the 
Board shall be of the same political party. 
(4) RETENTION OF EXISTING BBG MEMBERS.— 
The presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed 
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members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors 
serving as of the date of the enactment of this Act 
shall constitute the Board of the United States Inter-
national Communications Agency and hold office the 
remainder of their original terms of office without re-
appointment to the Board. 
(b) TERM OF OFFICE.—The term of office of each mem-
ber of the Board shall be three years, except that the Sec-
retary of State shall remain a member of the Board during 
the Secretary’s term of service. Of the other eight voting 
members, the initial terms of office of two members shall 
be one year, and the initial terms of office of three other 
members shall be two years, as determined by the President. 
The President shall appoint, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, Board members to fill vacancies oc-
curring prior to the expiration of a term, in which case 
the members so appointed shall serve for the remainder of 
such term. Members may not serve beyond their terms. 
When there is no Secretary of State, the Acting Secretary 
of State shall serve as a member of the Board until a Sec-
retary is appointed. 
(c) SELECTION OF BOARD.—Members of the Board 
shall be citizens of the United States who are not regular 
full-time employees of the United States Government. Such 
members shall be selected by the President from among citi-
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zens distinguished in the fields of public diplomacy, mass 
communications, print, broadcast media, or foreign affairs. 
(d) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Board, while at-
tending meetings of the Board or while engaged in duties 
relating to such meetings or in other activities of the Board 
pursuant to this section (including travel time) shall be en-
titled to receive compensation equal to the daily equivalent 
of the compensation prescribed for level IV of the Executive 
Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code. 
While away from their homes or regular places of business, 
members of the Board may be allowed travel expenses, in-
cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with 
section 5703 of such title for persons in the Government 
service employed intermittently. The Secretary of State 
shall not be entitled to any compensation under this chap-
ter. 
(e) DECISIONS.—Decisions of the Board shall be made 
by majority vote, a quorum being present. A quorum shall 
consist of a majority of members then serving at the time 
a decision of the Board is made. 
(f) TRANSPARENCY.—The Board of the United States 
International Communications Agency shall adhere to the 
provisions specified in the Government in the Sunshine Act 
(Public Law 94–409). 
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SEC. 103. AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD OF 
THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL COM-
MUNICATIONS AGENCY. 
The Board of the United States International Commu-
nications Agency shall have the following authorities: 
(1) To review and evaluate the mission and op-
eration of, and to assess the quality, effectiveness, and 
professional integrity of, all programming produced 
by the United States International Communications 
Agency to ensure alignment with the broad foreign 
policy objectives of the United States. 
(2) To ensure that broadcasting of the United 
States International Communications Agency is con-
ducted in accordance with the standards specified in 
section 5. 
(3) To review, evaluate, and recommend to the 
Chief Executive of the United States International 
Communications Agency, at least annually, in con-
sultation with the Secretary of State, the necessity of 
adding or deleting of language services of the Agency. 
(4) To submit to the President and Congress an 
annual report which summarizes and evaluates ac-
tivities of the United States International Commu-
nications Agency described in this title. 
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