A bill to establish the China Censorship Monitor and Action Group, and for other purposes.

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 413 To establish the China Censorship Monitor and Action Group, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 24, 2021 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. CORNYN) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act: 4 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 5 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 6 mittees’’ means— 7 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 8 the Senate; and 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S413.IS S413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 413 IS (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 1 the House of Representatives. 2 (2) QUALIFIED RESEARCH ENTITY.—The term 3 ‘‘qualified research entity’’ means an entity that— 4 (A) is a nonpartisan research organization 5 or a federally funded research and development 6 center; 7 (B) has appropriate expertise and analyt- 8 ical capability to write the report required 9 under section 3; and 10 (C) is free from any financial, commercial, 11 or other entanglements, which could undermine 12 the independence of such report or create a 13 conflict of interest or the appearance of a con- 14 flict of interest, with— 15 (i) the Government of the People’s 16 Republic of China; 17 (ii) the Chinese Communist Party; 18 (iii) any company incorporated in the 19 People’s Republic of China or a subsidiary 20 of such company; or 21 (iv) any company or entity incor- 22 porated outside of the People’s Republic of 23 China that is believed to have a substantial 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S413.IS S413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 413 IS financial or commercial interest in the Peo- 1 ple’s Republic of China. 2 (3) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 3 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 4 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law- 5 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 6 United States; or 7 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 8 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 9 United States, including a foreign branch of 10 such an entity. 11 SEC. 2. CHINA CENSORSHIP MONITOR AND ACTION GROUP. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish an 13 interagency task force, which shall be known as the 14 ‘‘China Censorship Monitor and Action Group’’ (referred 15 to in this section as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 16 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The President shall— 17 (1) appoint the chair of the Task Force from 18 among the staff of the National Security Council; 19 (2) appoint the vice chair of the Task Force 20 from among the staff of the National Economic 21 Council; and 22 (3) direct the head of each of the following ex- 23 ecutive branch agencies to appoint personnel to par- 24 ticipate in the Task Force: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S413.IS S413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 413 IS (A) The Department of State. 1 (B) The Department of Commerce. 2 (C) The Department of the Treasury. 3 (D) The Department of Justice. 4 (E) The Office of the United States Trade 5 Representative. 6 (F) The Office of the Director of National 7 Intelligence, and other appropriate elements of 8 the intelligence community (as defined in sec- 9 tion 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 10 U.S.C. 3003)). 11 (G) The Federal Communications Commis- 12 sion. 13 (H) The United States Agency for Global 14 Media. 15 (I) Other agencies designated by the Presi- 16 dent. 17 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Task Force shall— 18 (1) oversee the development and execution of an 19 integrated Federal Government strategy to monitor 20 and address the impacts of efforts directed, or di- 21 rectly supported, by the Government of the People’s 22 Republic of China to censor or intimidate, in the 23 United States or in any of its possessions or terri- 24 tories, any United States person, including United 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S413.IS S413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 413 IS States companies that conduct business in the Peo- 1 ple’s Republic of China, which are exercising their 2 right to freedom of speech; and 3 (2) submit the strategy developed pursuant to 4 paragraph (1) to the appropriate congressional com- 5 mittees not later than 120 days after the date of the 6 enactment of this Act. 7 (d) MEETINGS.—The Task Force shall meet not less 8 frequently than twice per year. 9 (e) CONSULTATIONS.—The Task Force should regu- 10 larly consult, to the extent necessary and appropriate, 11 with— 12 (1) Federal agencies that are not represented 13 on the Task Force; 14 (2) independent agencies of the United States 15 Government that are not represented on the Task 16 Force; 17 (3) relevant stakeholders in the private sector 18 and the media; and 19 (4) relevant stakeholders among United States 20 allies and partners facing similar challenges related 21 to censorship or intimidation by the Government of 22 the People’s Republic of China. 23 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S413.IS S413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 413 IS (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Task Force shall 1 submit an annual report to the appropriate congres- 2 sional committees that describes, with respect to the 3 reporting period— 4 (A) the strategic objectives and policies 5 pursued by the Task Force to address the chal- 6 lenges of censorship and intimidation of United 7 States persons while in the United States or 8 any of its possessions or territories, which is di- 9 rected or directly supported by the Government 10 of the People’s Republic of China; 11 (B) the activities conducted by the Task 12 Force in support of the strategic objectives and 13 policies referred to in subparagraph (A); and 14 (C) the results of the activities referred to 15 in subparagraph (B) and the impact of such ac- 16 tivities on the national interests of the United 17 States. 18 (2) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report submitted 19 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be unclassified, but 20 may include a classified annex. 21 (3) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS.—Not later 22 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 23 Act, and annually thereafter, the Task Force shall 24 provide briefings to the appropriate congressional 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S413.IS S413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 413 IS committees regarding the activities of the Task 1 Force to execute the strategy developed pursuant to 2 subsection (c)(1). 3 SEC. 3. REPORT ON CENSORSHIP AND INTIMIDATION OF 4 UNITED STATES PERSONS BY THE GOVERN- 5 MENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF 6 CHINA. 7 (a) REPORT.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 9 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 10 of State shall select and seek to enter into an agree- 11 ment with a qualified research entity that is inde- 12 pendent of the Department of State to write a re- 13 port on censorship and intimidation in the United 14 States and its possessions and territories of United 15 States persons, including United States companies 16 that conduct business in the People’s Republic of 17 China, which is directed or directly supported by the 18 Government of the People’s Republic of China. 19 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report 20 required under paragraph (1) shall— 21 (A) assess major trends, patterns, and 22 methods of the Government of the People’s Re- 23 public of China’s efforts to direct or directly 24 support censorship and intimidation of United 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S413.IS S413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 413 IS States persons, including United States compa- 1 nies that conduct business in the People’s Re- 2 public of China, which are exercising their right 3 to freedom of speech; 4 (B) assess, including through the use of il- 5 lustrative examples, as appropriate, the impact 6 on and consequences for United States persons, 7 including United States companies that conduct 8 business in the People’s Republic of China, that 9 criticize— 10 (i) the Chinese Communist Party; 11 (ii) the Government of the People’s 12 Republic of China; 13 (iii) the authoritarian model of gov- 14 ernment of the People’s Republic of China; 15 or 16 (iv) a particular policy advanced by 17 the Chinese Communist Party or the Gov- 18 ernment of the People’s Republic of China; 19 (C) identify the implications for the United 20 States of the matters described in subpara- 21 graphs (A) and (B); 22 (D) include best practices for industries in 23 which freedom of expression issues are particu- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S413.IS S413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 413 IS larly acute, including the media and film indus- 1 tries; 2 (E) include policy recommendations for the 3 United States Government, including rec- 4 ommendations regarding collaboration with 5 United States allies and partners, to address 6 censorship and intimidation by the Government 7 of the People’s Republic of China; and 8 (F) include policy recommendations for 9 United States persons, including United States 10 companies that conduct business in China, to 11 address censorship and intimidation by the Gov- 12 ernment of the People’s Republic of China. 13 (3) APPLICABILITY TO UNITED STATES ALLIES 14 AND PARTNERS.—To the extent practicable, the re- 15 port required under paragraph (1) should identify 16 implications and policy recommendations that are 17 relevant to United States allies and partners facing 18 censorship and intimidation directed or directly sup- 19 ported by the Government of the People’s Republic 20 of China. 21 (b) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 23 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 24 of State shall submit the report written by the quali- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S413.IS S413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 413 IS fied research entity selected pursuant to subsection 1 (a)(1) to the appropriate congressional committees. 2 (2) PUBLICATION.—The report referred to in 3 paragraph (1) shall be made accessible to the public 4 online through relevant United States Government 5 websites. 6 (c) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SUPPORT.—The Sec- 7 retary of State and other Federal agencies selected by the 8 President shall provide the qualified research entity se- 9 lected pursuant to subsection (a)(1) with timely access to 10 appropriate information, data, resources, and analyses 11 necessary for such entity to write the report described in 12 subsection (a) in a thorough and independent manner. 13 SEC. 4. SUNSET. 14 This Act shall terminate on the date that is 5 years 15 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S413.IS S413 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS