Title: USIA for Strategic Competition Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
United States Information Abroad for Strategic Competition Act or the USIA for Strategic Competition Act
This bill establishes measures to advance U.S. messaging and interests globally, including by requiring the Department of State to reconstitute for five years the Active Measures Working Group to create an information statecraft strategy for the U.S. government.
The purpose of the strategy shall be to reduce the ability of the Communist Party of China (CCP) to influence global discourse, and such strategy shall include an identification of (1) specific CCP narratives that contribute to its ability to influence global discourse, (2) counter-narratives that are most effective and most likely to reduce the ability of the CCP to influence global discourse, and (3) specific quantitative objectives for advancing such counter-narratives.
The State Department must also conduct regular research and evaluation of its public diplomacy programs and activities and ensure that such research and evaluation support strategic planning and resource allocation across all diplomacy bureaus and offices of the State Department.
Further, the bill makes permanent the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, revises the rating criteria used by the commission when evaluating certain public diplomacy and international broadcasting activities, and requires the commission to establish a Subcommittee on Research and Evaluation.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7938 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7938

To improve and coordinate United States information statecraft strategy 
  and capabilities for an era of strategic competition, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 4, 2020

  Mr. McCaul introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To improve and coordinate United States information statecraft strategy 
  and capabilities for an era of strategic competition, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``United States Information Abroad for 
Strategic Competition Act'' or the ``USIA for Strategic Competition 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Beginning in 1983, the Soviet Union waged a 
        disinformation campaign against the United States which came to 
        be known as ``Operation INFEKTION'', falsely accusing the 
        Department of Defense of engineering and spreading the AIDS 
        virus.
            (2) In 1987, the Soviet Union publicly disavowed its AIDS 
        disinformation following the efforts of the United States 
        Active Measures Working Group to refute these lies and 
        discredit the Soviet Union.
            (3) Shortly thereafter, the Working Group entered a period 
        of institutional decline because its work was perceived to 
        contravene Department of State efforts to engage with the 
        Soviet Union, and effectively ceased to exist following the 
        fall of the Soviet Union.
            (4) The final report issued by members of the Working 
        Group, published by the United States Information Agency in 
        1992 at the request of the House of Representatives, warned 
        that ``[a]s long as states and groups interested in 
        manipulating world opinion, limiting U.S. Government actions, 
        or generating opposition to U.S. policies and interests 
        continue to use these techniques, there will be a need for the 
        United States Information Agency to systematically monitor, 
        analyze, and counter them.''.
            (5) In 2020, the Communist Party of China (CCP) began a 
        disinformation campaign against the United States, falsely 
        accusing the United States of being the source of the SARS-CoV-
        2 novel coronavirus and the United States Army of bringing the 
        virus to China.

SEC. 3. INFORMATION STATECRAFT.

    (a) Finding.--The 2017 National Security Strategy establishes that 
it is a priority of United States Information Statecraft to ``improve 
our understanding of how adversaries gain informational and 
psychological advantages across all policies'' and ``empower a true 
public diplomacy capability to compete effectively in this arena''.
    (b) Policy.--It is the policy of the United States to advance 
United States foreign policy and national security interests through a 
holistic approach to public diplomacy, which shall include the 
following:
            (1) Championing and promoting United States values, 
        including democratic governance, individual liberty, and 
        internationally recognized human rights.
            (2) Supporting the international dissemination of unbiased 
        and fact-based information, and protecting the free flow of 
        information globally.
            (3) Refuting and countering foreign state and nonstate 
        propaganda, disinformation, and narratives that undermine 
        United States values, such as the promotion of authoritarian 
        governance, the denigration of individual liberty, and the 
        disregard of internationally recognized human rights.
            (4) Discrediting foreign state and nonstate actors 
        responsible for such propaganda, disinformation, and 
        narratives, and seeking to reduce the ability of such actors to 
        influence global discourse.
            (5) Coordinating and integrating such efforts with the 
        efforts of United States allies and partners that share United 
        States values.
            (6) Providing for robust exchange, analytic, and 
        coordination mechanisms to accomplish such objectives.
    (c) Global Engagement Center.--Paragraph (3) of section 1287(b) of 
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (22 U.S.C. 
2656 note; Public Law 114-328) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(3) As needed, support the development and dissemination 
        of fact-based narratives and analysis to--
                    ``(A) refute and counter propaganda and 
                disinformation directed at the United States and United 
                States allies and partner nations;
                    ``(B) discredit the actors responsible for such 
                propaganda and disinformation; and
                    ``(C) reduce the ability of such actors to 
                influence global discourse.''.

SEC. 4. ACTIVE MEASURES WORKING GROUP FOR THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The ``Communique on the Current State of the 
        Ideological Sphere'', an April 22, 2013, notice from the 
        Communist Party of China's (CCP) Central Committee more 
        commonly known as ``Document 9'', establishes that under the 
        leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping, the CCP considers 
        constitutional democracy, internationally recognized human 
        rights, liberal economics, independent journalism, and internal 
        dissent to be security threats.
            (2) In his remarks before the 19th Communist Party Congress 
        in 2017, which were titled in part ``Strive for the Great 
        Success of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New 
        Era'', General Secretary Xi Jinping said, ``the banner of 
        socialism with Chinese characteristics is now flying high and 
        proud for all to see. It means that the path, the theory, the 
        system, and the culture of socialism with Chinese 
        characteristics have kept developing, blazing a new trail for 
        other developing countries to achieve modernization. It offers 
        a new option for other countries and nations.''.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the CCP is 
hostile to United States values and seeks to advance an alternate set 
of authoritarian values, and therefore that the CCP and its ability to 
influence global discourse is a national security threat to the United 
States.
    (c) Reconstitution.--The Secretary of State shall reconstitute the 
Active Measures Working Group (in this section referred to as the 
``Working Group'') for a period of five years.
    (d) Purpose.--The purpose of the Working Group shall be to create a 
regularly updated information statecraft strategy for the whole of the 
United States Government to reduce the ability of the CCP to influence 
global discourse.
    (e) Membership.--The Working Group shall include the following 
officials:
            (1) The Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy of the 
        Department of State.
            (2) The Assistant Secretary of East Asian and Pacific 
        Affairs and the Assistant Secretary of South and Central Asian 
        Affairs of the Department of State.
            (3) The Special Envoy and Coordinator of the Global 
        Engagement Center.
            (4) The Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Asia of 
        the United States Agency for International Development.
            (5) The Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Security 
        Affairs of the Department of Defense.
            (6) The Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific 
        Command.
            (7) Other officials the Secretary of State and the 
        President determine appropriate.
    (f) Chair.--The Secretary of State shall designate a member of the 
Working Group as the Chairperson.
    (g) Cooperation.--The President shall ensure that the various 
agencies and departments of the United States cooperate with the 
Working Group, adopt and effectuate the information statecraft strategy 
required under subsection (h), and share information appropriately to 
advance the strategy.
    (h) Information Statecraft Strategy.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Working Group shall submit to 
        the appropriate congressional committees and distribute to each 
        Federal department and agency an information statecraft 
        strategy.
            (2) Contents.--The information statecraft strategy and 
        biannual updates thereto required under this subsection shall 
        include the following:
                    (A) An identification of the specific CCP 
                narratives that most contribute to the CCP's ability to 
                influence global discourse, and the entities primarily 
                responsible for advancing these narratives and 
                contributing to the CCP's ability to influence global 
                discourse.
                    (B) An identification of counternarratives most 
                effective and most likely to reduce the ability of the 
                CCP to influence global discourse and discredit the 
                entities that contribute to the CCP's ability to 
                influence global discourse.
                    (C) A detailed plan, including instructions for 
                public diplomacy officers at each United States 
                diplomatic or consular post, to implement such 
                counternarratives.
                    (D) An identification of specific quantitative 
                objectives for advancing such counternarratives, and an 
                identification of the United States officials 
                responsible for accomplishing such objectives.
                    (E) A quantitative analysis of United States 
                efforts to accomplish such objectives in the preceding 
                six months, informed by the data and analytical 
                capabilities of the Under Secretary for Public 
                Diplomacy of the Department of State and the Global 
                Engagement Center.
            (3) Biannual updates.--Not later than 180 days after the 
        submission of the information statecraft strategy under 
        paragraph (1) and every 180 days thereafter for a period of 
        five years, the Working Group shall submit to the appropriate 
        congressional committees an updated information statecraft 
        strategy.
            (4) Form.--The information statecraft strategy and biannual 
        updates thereto required under this subsection may be in 
        classified form.
            (5) Chief of mission responsibilities.--The Secretary of 
        State should ensure that each United States chief of mission--
                    (A) advances through both programming and 
                communications the objectives of the information 
                statecraft strategy and biannual updates thereto;
                    (B) assigns at least one Foreign Service officer to 
                be primarily responsible for coordinating such efforts 
                at the United States diplomatic or consular post at 
                which such chief of mission is assigned; and
                    (C) provides quantitative data to the Working Group 
                about the efforts of such chief of mission to 
                accomplish the objectives of the strategy, including 
                updates thereto.

SEC. 5. SPECIAL FAST-TRACK PROCEDURES.

    The Secretary of State shall establish procedures for use in 
special circumstances, as determined by the Secretary, to provide for 
rapid, synchronized releases of information content globally, 
regionally, or across subsets of United States diplomatic and consular 
posts.

SEC. 6. RESEARCH AND EVALUATION.

    (a) Research and Evaluation Activities.--The Secretary of State, 
acting through the Director of Research and Evaluation appointed 
pursuant to subsection (b), shall--
            (1) conduct regular research and evaluation of public 
        diplomacy programs and activities of the Department of State, 
        including through the routine use of audience research, digital 
        analytics, and impact evaluations, to plan and execute such 
        programs and activities; and
            (2) make available to Congress the findings of such 
        research and evaluations.
    (b) Director of Research and Evaluation.--
            (1) Appointment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall appoint 
        a Director of Research and Evaluation (referred to in this 
        subsection as the ``Director'') in the Office of Policy, 
        Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs 
        of the Department of State.
            (2) Limitation on appointment.--The appointment of the 
        Director pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not result in an 
        increase in the overall full-time equivalent positions within 
        the Department of State.
            (3) Responsibilities.--The Director shall--
                    (A) report to the Director of Policy Planning of 
                the Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources for 
                Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs of the Department 
                of State;
                    (B) coordinate and oversee the research and 
                evaluation of public diplomacy programs and activities 
                of the Department to--
                            (i) improve public diplomacy strategies and 
                        tactics; and
                            (ii) ensure that such programs and 
                        activities are increasing the knowledge, 
                        understanding, and trust of the United States 
                        by relevant target audiences;
                    (C) routinely organize and oversee audience 
                research, digital analytics, and impact evaluations 
                across all public diplomacy bureaus and offices of the 
                Department;
                    (D) support the public affairs sections of United 
                States diplomatic and consular posts;
                    (E) share appropriate public diplomacy research and 
                evaluation information within the Department and with 
                other appropriate Federal departments and agencies;
                    (F) regularly design and coordinate standardized 
                research questions, methodologies, and procedures to 
                ensure that public diplomacy programs and activities 
                across all public diplomacy bureaus and offices of the 
                Department are designed to meet appropriate foreign 
                policy objectives; and
                    (G) report biannually to the United States Advisory 
                Commission on Public Diplomacy of the Department of 
                State, through the Subcommittee on Research and 
                Evaluation established pursuant to subsection (f), 
                regarding the research and evaluation of all public 
                diplomacy bureaus and offices of the Department.
            (4) Guidance and training.--Not later than one year after 
        the appointment of the Director pursuant to paragraph (1), the 
        Director shall develop guidance and training, including 
        curriculum for use by the Foreign Service Institute, for all 
        public diplomacy officers of the Department of State regarding 
        the reading and interpretation of public diplomacy program and 
        activity evaluation findings to ensure that such findings and 
        related lessons learned are implemented in the planning and 
        evaluation of all public diplomacy programs and activities of 
        the Department.
    (c) Prioritizing Research and Evaluation.--
            (1) In general.--The Director of Policy Planning of the 
        Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy 
        and Public Affairs of the Department of State shall ensure that 
        research and evaluation of public diplomacy programs and 
        activities of the Department, as coordinated and overseen by 
        the Director pursuant to subsection (b), support strategic 
        planning and resource allocation across all public diplomacy 
        bureaus and offices of the Department.
            (2) Allocation of resources.--Amounts allocated for the 
        purpose of research and evaluation of public diplomacy programs 
        and activities of the Department of State pursuant to 
        subsection (b) shall be made available to be disbursed at the 
        direction of the Director referred to in paragraph (1) among 
        the research and evaluation staff across all public diplomacy 
        bureaus and offices of the Department.
            (3) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
        the Department of State should gradually increase to a 
        percentage of program funds that is commensurate with Federal 
        Government best practices its allocation of funds made 
        available under the headings ``Educational and Cultural 
        Exchange Programs'' and ``Diplomatic Programs'' for research 
        and evaluation of public diplomacy programs and activities of 
        the Department pursuant to subsection (b).
    (d) Limited Exemption Relating to the Paperwork Reduction Act.--
Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly 
known as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act'') shall not apply to the 
collection of information directed at any individuals conducted by, or 
on behalf of, the Department of State for the purpose of audience 
research, monitoring, and evaluations, and in connection with the 
Department's activities, including interagency activities, conducted 
pursuant to this Act or to any of the following:
            (1) The United States Information and Educational Exchange 
        Act of 1948 (22 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.).
            (2) The Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 
        1961 (22 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.).
            (3) Section 1287 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
        for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note).
            (4) The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et 
        seq.).
    (e) Limited Exemption Relating to the Privacy Act.--
            (1) In general.--The Department of State shall maintain, 
        collect, use, and disseminate records (as such term is defined 
        in section 552a(a)(4) of title 5, United States Code) for 
        audience research, digital analytics, and impact evaluations of 
        communications related to public diplomacy programs and 
        activities of the Department, including interagency efforts, 
        intended for foreign audiences.
            (2) Conditions.--Audience research, digital analytics, and 
        impact evaluations under paragraph (1) shall be--
                    (A) reasonably tailored to meet the purposes of the 
                public diplomacy programs and activities of the 
                Department of State, including related interagency 
                activities; and
                    (B) carried out with due regard for privacy and 
                civil liberties guidance and oversight.
    (f) United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.--
            (1) In general.--Section 1334 of the Foreign Affairs Reform 
        and Restructuring Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6553) is amended--
                    (A) in the section heading, by striking ``sunset'' 
                and inserting ``continuation''; and
                    (B) by striking ``until October 1, 2020''.
            (2) Effectiveness assessment.--Subparagraph (B) of section 
        604(d)(1) of the United States Information and Educational 
        Exchange Act of 1948 (22 U.S.C. 1469(d)(1)) is amended to read 
        as follows:
                    ``(B) Effectiveness assessment.--In evaluating the 
                public diplomacy and international broadcasting 
                activities described in subparagraph (A), the 
                Commission shall conduct an assessment that considers 
                the relation to the United States national interest, 
                the public diplomacy target impact, the achieved 
                impact, and the cost of public diplomacy activities and 
                international broadcasting. The assessment shall 
                include, if practicable, an appropriate metric such as 
                `cost-per-audience' or `cost-per-student' for each such 
                activity. Upon the completion of the assessment, the 
                Commission shall assign a rating of--
                            ``(i) `effective' for activities that--
                                    ``(I) set appropriate goals and 
                                achieve all or most of the desired 
                                results;
                                    ``(II) are well-managed;
                                    ``(III) are cost efficient; and
                                    ``(IV) quantifiably advance the 
                                priorities of the most recent National 
                                Security Strategy and related national 
                                strategies for defense and foreign 
                                policy;
                            ``(ii) `moderately effective' for 
                        activities that--
                                    ``(I) set appropriate goals and 
                                achieve some desired results;
                                    ``(II) are generally well-managed;
                                    ``(III) may need to improve their 
                                cost efficiency, including reducing 
                                overhead; and
                                    ``(IV) have a substantive rationale 
                                for advancing the priorities of the 
                                most recent National Security Strategy 
                                and related national strategies for 
                                defense and foreign policy, but have 
                                not demonstrated quantifiable results;
                            ``(iii) `ineffective' for activities that--
                                    ``(I) lack appropriate goals or 
                                fail to achieve stated goals or desired 
                                results;
                                    ``(II) are not well-managed;
                                    ``(III) are not cost efficient, 
                                such as through insufficient use of 
                                available resources to achieve stated 
                                goals or desired results, or have 
                                excessive overhead; or
                                    ``(IV) do not have a substantive 
                                rationale for advancing the priorities 
                                of the most recent National Security 
                                Strategy and related national 
                                strategies for defense and foreign 
                                policy; or
                            ``(iv) `results not demonstrated' for 
                        activities that--
                                    ``(I) do not have acceptable 
                                performance public diplomacy metrics 
                                for measuring results; or
                                    ``(II) are unable or failed to 
                                collect data to determine if such 
                                activities are effective.''.
            (3) Subcommittee for research and evaluation.--The United 
        States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy shall establish 
        a Subcommittee on Research and Evaluation to monitor and advise 
        regarding audience research, digital analytics, and impact 
        evaluations carried out by the Department of State and the 
        United States Agency for Global Media.
            (4) Annual report.--The Subcommittee on Research and 
        Evaluation established pursuant to paragraph (3) shall submit 
        to the appropriate congressional committees an annual report, 
        in conjunction with the United States Advisory Commission on 
        Public Diplomacy's Comprehensive Annual Report on the 
        performance of the Department of State and the United States 
        Agency for Global Media, describing all actions taken by the 
        Subcommittee pursuant to such paragraph and any findings made 
        as a result of such actions.

SEC. 7. FOREIGN MISSION LANGUAGE SUPPORT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall ensure that each 
United States chief of mission has available appropriate personnel and 
resources to provide translation services for such chief of mission and 
the ability to translate content into local languages.
    (b) Notification.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act and annually thereafter for a period of five 
years, the Secretary of State shall notify the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate of any United States diplomatic or consular 
posts that do not have permanent capabilities to provide translation 
services to the chief of mission of such a post or translate content 
into local languages.

SEC. 8. LATERAL ENTRY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PERSONNEL.

    The Secretary of State shall make full use of available 
authorities, including section 404 of the Department of State 
Authorities Act, Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-323), to recruit not 
fewer than ten individuals with extensive experience in strategic 
communications, including in foreign languages, graphic design, market 
research, social media engagement, audio and video content creation, 
and related capabilities for lateral entry into the Foreign Service at 
a grade level higher than FS-4. Such individuals shall be assigned to 
United States diplomatic or consular posts which the Secretary 
determines are in need of personnel to engage in public diplomacy 
efforts consistent with this Act.
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