Title: A bill to establish the China Censorship Monitor and Action Group, and for other purposes.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This bill establishes the interagency China Censorship Monitor and Action Group. The group shall compile and maintain a public database of instances of China's government punishing a U.S. company for the company's exercise of free speech.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2743 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2743

  To establish the China Censorship Monitor and Action Group, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 30, 2019

  Mr. Gardner (for himself and Mr. Merkley) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish the China Censorship Monitor and Action Group, 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. CHINA CENSORSHIP MONITOR AND ACTION GROUP.

    (a) In General.--There is established an interagency task force, 
which shall be known as the ``China Censorship Monitor and Action 
Group'' (referred to in this section as the ``task force'').
    (b) Membership.--The task force shall be composed of 
representatives of--
            (1) the Department of State;
            (2) the Department of Commerce;
            (3) the Federal Communications Commission; and
            (4) the United States Agency for Global Media.
    (c) Meetings.--The task force shall meet not less frequently than 
quarterly.
    (d) Consultations.--The task force shall regularly consult, to the 
extent necessary and appropriate, with--
            (1) other Federal agencies; and
            (2) relevant stakeholders in the private sector and the 
        media.
    (e) Public Database.--Using information obtained from the agencies 
referred to in subsection (b) and consultations required under 
subsection (d), the task force shall compile and maintain a public 
database, which shall be hosted on a United States Government database 
server, that describes all punitive actions taken by the People's 
Republic of China toward United States companies that involve economic 
or diplomatic retaliation for the exercise of free speech by United 
States companies. The public database required under this subsection 
shall be updated as soon as practicable, but not less frequently than 
semiannually.
    (f) Reporting Requirements.--
            (1) Annual report.--The task force shall submit an annual 
        report to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the 
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
        Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives, and Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
        House of Representatives that describes the activities of the 
        task force during the reporting period.
            (2) Congressional briefings.--Not later than 90 days after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act, and semiannually 
        thereafter, the task force shall provide briefings regarding 
        its activities to the congressional committees referred to in 
        paragraph (1).
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated for each fiscal year such sums as may be necessary to 
carry out this section.
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