Title: Open Technology Fund Authorization Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Open Technology Fund Authorization Act
This bill authorizes the existing Open Technology Fund (OTF) as an independent grantee within the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM).
The OTF is an independent nonprofit organization within the purview of the USAGM that supports the development of internet freedom technologies that create ways to counter censorship efforts.
As an independent grantee authorized by this bill, the OTF shall seek to advance freedom of the press and unrestricted internet access in repressive environments through functions such as
To advance freedom of the press and unrestricted internet access, the OTF shall use methods that include
The Department of State must report on the effectiveness of the OTF and the extent to which U.S. interests are being served by its work, and the Government Accountability Office shall have access to all information pertaining to financial transactions as may be necessary to facilitate an audit.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6621 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6621

 To amend the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 to 
  authorize the Open Technology Fund of the United States Agency for 
                 Global Media, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 24, 2020

  Mr. McCaul (for himself, Mr. Engel, Mr. Curtis, and Mr. Malinowski) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 to 
  authorize the Open Technology Fund of the United States Agency for 
                 Global Media, 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 ``Open Technology Fund Authorization 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The political, economic, and social benefits of the 
        internet are important to advancing democracy and freedom 
        throughout the world.
            (2) Authoritarian governments are investing billions of 
        dollars each year to create, maintain, and expand repressive 
        internet censorship and surveillance systems to limit free 
        association, control access to information, and prevent 
        citizens from exercising their rights to free speech.
            (3) Over two-thirds of the world's population lives in a 
        country where the internet is restricted, and governments shut 
        down the internet over 200 times each year.
            (4) Internet censorship and surveillance technology is 
        being exported rapidly around the world, particularly by the 
        Chinese Government, enabling widespread abuses by authoritarian 
        governments.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that it is in the interest of the 
United States to promote global internet freedom by countering internet 
censorship and repressive surveillance and protect the internet as a 
platform for the free exchange of ideas, promotion of human rights and 
democracy, and advancement of a free press and to support efforts that 
prevent the deliberate misuse of the internet to repress individuals 
from exercising their rights to free speech and association, including 
countering the use of such technologies by authoritarian regimes.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND.

    (a) In General.--The United States International Broadcasting Act 
of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6201 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 
309 the following new section:

``SEC. 309A. OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND.

    ``(a) Authority.--
            ``(1) In general.--Grants authorized under section 305 
        shall be available to make annual grants for the purpose of 
        promoting, consistent with United States law, unrestricted 
        access to uncensored sources of information via the internet to 
        enable journalists, including journalists employed by or 
        affiliated with the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio 
        Liberty, Radio Free Asia, the Middle East Broadcasting 
        Networks, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, or any entity funded 
        by or partnering with the United States Agency for Global 
        Media, to create and disseminate, and for their audiences to 
        receive, news and information consistent with the purposes, 
        standards, and principles specified in sections 302 and 303.
            ``(2) Establishment.--There is established a grantee entity 
        to be known as the `Open Technology Fund', which shall carry 
        out the provisions of this section.
    ``(b) Functions of the Grantee.--In furtherance of the mission set 
forth in subsection (a), the Open Technology Fund shall seek to advance 
freedom of the press and unrestricted access to the internet in 
repressive environments oversees, and shall--
            ``(1) research, develop, implement, and maintain--
                    ``(A) technologies that circumvent techniques used 
                by authoritarian governments, nonstate actors, and 
                others to block or censor access to the internet, 
                including circumvention tools that bypass internet 
                blocking, filtering, and other censorship techniques 
                used to limit or block legitimate access to content and 
                information; and
                    ``(B) secure communication tools and other forms of 
                privacy and security technology that facilitate the 
                creation and distribution of news and enable audiences 
                to access media content on censored websites;
            ``(2) advance internet freedom by supporting private and 
        public sector research, development, implementation, and 
        maintenance of technologies that provide secure and uncensored 
        access to the internet to counter attempts by authoritarian 
        governments, nonstate actors, and others to improperly restrict 
        freedom online;
            ``(3) research and analyze emerging technical threats and 
        develop innovative solutions through collaboration with the 
        private and public sectors to maintain the technological 
        advantage of the United States Government over authoritarian 
        governments, nonstate actors, and others;
            ``(4) develop, acquire, and distribute requisite internet 
        freedom technologies and techniques for the United States 
        Agency for Global Media, including as set forth in paragraph 
        (1), and digital security interventions, to fully enable the 
        creation and distribution of digital content between and to all 
        users and regional audiences;
            ``(5) prioritize programs for countries the governments of 
        which restrict freedom of expression on the internet, and that 
        are important to the national interest of the United States, 
        and are consistent with section 7050(b)(2)(C) of the Further 
        Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116-94); and
            ``(6) carry out any other effort consistent with the 
        purposes of this Act or press freedom overseas if requested or 
        approved by the United States Agency for Global Media.
    ``(c) Methodology.--In carrying out subsection (b), the Open 
Technology Fund shall--
            ``(1) support fully open-source tools, code, and 
        components, to the extent practicable, to ensure such supported 
        tools and technologies are as secure, transparent, and 
        accessible as possible, and require that any such tools, 
        components, code, or technology supported by the Open 
        Technology Fund remain fully open-source, to the extent 
        practicable;
            ``(2) support technologies that undergo comprehensive 
        security audits to ensure that such technologies are secure and 
        have not been compromised in a manner detrimental to the 
        interest of the United States or to individuals and 
        organizations benefitting from programs supported by the Open 
        Technology Fund;
            ``(3) review and update periodically as necessary security 
        auditing procedures used by the Open Technology Fund to reflect 
        current industry security standards;
            ``(4) establish safeguards to mitigate the use of such 
        supported technologies for illicit purposes;
            ``(5) solicit project proposals through an open, 
        transparent, and competitive application process to attract 
        innovative applications and reduce barriers to entry;
            ``(6) seek input from technical, regional, and subject 
        matter experts from a wide range of relevant disciplines, to 
        review, provide feedback, and evaluate proposals to ensure the 
        most competitive projects are funded;
            ``(7) implement an independent review process, through 
        which proposals are reviewed by such experts to ensure the 
        highest degree of technical review and due diligence;
            ``(8) maximize cooperation with the public and private 
        sectors, as well as foreign allies and partner countries, to 
        maximize efficiencies and eliminate duplication of efforts; and
            ``(9) utilize any other methodology approved by the United 
        States Agency for Global Media in furtherance of the mission of 
        the Open Technology Fund.
    ``(d) Grant Agreement.--Any grant agreement with or grants made to 
the Open Technology Fund under this section shall be subject to the 
following limitations and restrictions:
            ``(1) The headquarters of the Open Technology Fund and its 
        senior administrative and managerial staff shall be located in 
        a location which ensures economy, operational effectiveness, 
        and accountability to the United States Agency for Global 
        Media.
            ``(2) Grants awarded under this section shall be made 
        pursuant to a grant agreement which requires that grant funds 
        be used only for activities consistent with this section, and 
        that failure to comply with such requirements shall permit the 
        grant to be terminated without fiscal obligation to the United 
        States.
            ``(3) Any grant agreement under this section shall require 
        that any contract entered into by the Open Technology Fund 
        shall specify that all obligations are assumed by the grantee 
        and not by the United States Government.
            ``(4) Any grant agreement under this section shall require 
        that any lease agreements entered into by the Open Technology 
        Fund shall be, to the maximum extent possible, assignable to 
        the United States Government.
            ``(5) Administrative and managerial costs for operation of 
        the Open Technology Fund should be kept to a minimum and, to 
        the maximum extent feasible, should not exceed the costs that 
        would have been incurred if the Open Technology Fund had been 
        operated as a Federal entity rather than as a grantee.
            ``(6) Grant funds may not be used for any activity the 
        purpose of which is influencing the passage or defeat of 
        legislation considered by Congress.
    ``(e) Relationship to the United States Agency for Global Media.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Open Technology Fund shall be 
        subject to the same oversight and governance by the United 
        States Agency for Global Media as other grantees of the Agency 
        as set forth in section 305.
            ``(2) Assistance.--The United States Agency for Global 
        Media, its broadcast entities, and the Open Technology Fund 
        should render assistance to each other as may be necessary to 
        carry out the purposes of this section or any other provision 
        of this Act.
            ``(3) Not a federal agency or instrumentality.--Nothing in 
        this section may be construed to make the Open Technology Fund 
        a Federal agency or instrumentality.
            ``(4) Detailees.--Under the Intergovernmental Personnel 
        Act, employees of a grantee of the United States Agency for 
        Global Media may be detailed to the Agency, and Federal 
        employees may be detailed to a grantee of the United States 
        Agency for Global Media.
    ``(f) Relationship to Other United States Government-Funded 
Internet Freedom Programs.--The United States Agency for Global Media 
shall ensure that internet freedom research and development projects of 
the Open Technology Fund are coordinated with internet freedom programs 
of the Department of State and other relevant United States Government 
departments, in order to share information and best-practices relating 
to the implementation of subsections (b) and (c).
    ``(g) Reporting Requirements.--
            ``(1) Annual report.--The Open Technology Fund shall 
        highlight, in its annual report, internet freedom activities, 
        including a comprehensive assessment of the Open Technology 
        Fund's activities relating to the implementation of subsections 
        (b) and (c). Each such report shall include the following:
                    ``(A) An assessment of the current state of global 
                internet freedom, including trends in censorship and 
                surveillance technologies and internet shutdowns, and 
                the threats such pose to journalists, citizens, and 
                human rights and civil-society organizations.
                    ``(B) A description of the technology projects 
                supported by the Open Technology Fund and the 
                associated impact of such projects in the prior year, 
                including the countries and regions in which such 
                technologies were deployed, and any associated metrics 
                indicating audience usage of such technologies, as well 
                as future-year technology project initiatives.
            ``(2) Assessment of the effectiveness of the open 
        technology fund.--Not later than two years after the date of 
        the enactment of this section, the Inspector General of the 
        Department of State and the Foreign Service shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a report on the following:
                    ``(A) Whether the Open Technology Fund is 
                technically sound and cost effective.
                    ``(B) Whether the Open Technology Fund is 
                satisfying the requirements of this section.
                    ``(C) The extent to which the interests of the 
                United States are being served by maintaining the work 
                of the Open Technology Fund.
    ``(h) Audit Authorities.--
            ``(1) In general.--Financial transactions of the Open 
        Technology Fund, as such relate to functions carried out under 
        this section, may be audited by the Government Accountability 
        Office in accordance with such principles and procedures and 
        under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the 
        Comptroller General of the United States. Any such audit shall 
        be conducted at the place or places at which accounts of the 
        Open Technology Fund are normally kept.
            ``(2) Access by gao.--The Government Accountability Office 
        shall have access to all books, accounts, records, reports, 
        files, papers, and property belonging to or in use by the Open 
        Technology Fund pertaining to financial transactions as may be 
        necessary to facilitate an audit. The Government Accountability 
        Office shall be afforded full facilities for verifying 
        transactions with any assets held by depositories, fiscal 
        agents, and custodians. All such books, accounts, records, 
        reports, files, papers, and property of the Open Technology 
        Fund shall remain in the possession and custody of the Open 
        Technology Fund.
            ``(3) Exercise of authorities.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, the Inspector General of the Department of 
        State and the Foreign Service is authorized to exercise the 
        authorities of the Inspector General Act of 1978 with respect 
        to the Open Technology Fund.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--The United States International 
Broadcasting Act of 1994 is amended by--
            (1) in section 304(d) (22 U.S.C. 6203(d)), by inserting 
        ``the Open Technology Fund,'' before ``the Middle East 
        Broadcasting Networks'';
            (2) in sections 305 and 310 (22 U.S.C. 6204 and 6209), by 
        inserting ``the Open Technology Fund,'' before ``or the Middle 
        East Broadcasting Networks'' each place such term appears; and
            (3) in section 310 (22 U.S.C. 6209), by inserting ``the 
        Open Technology Fund,'' before ``and the Middle East 
        Broadcasting Networks'' each place such term appears.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated for the Open Technology Fund $20,000,000 for fiscal year 
2021 and $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 to carry out section 309A of 
the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994, as added by 
subsection (a).
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