Chinese-Backed Media Accountability Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4797 To place restrictions on the issuance of nonimmigrant visas to Chinese jour- nalists employed by a Chinese state-run media organization or effectively controlled by the Government of the People’s Republic of China or the Chinese Communist Party, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 5, 2020 Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To place restrictions on the issuance of nonimmigrant visas to Chinese journalists employed by a Chinese state-run media organization or effectively controlled by the Gov- ernment of the People’s Republic of China or the Chinese Communist Party, 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. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chinese-Backed Media 4 Accountability Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4797.IS S4797 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4797 IS SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON NONIMMIGRANT VISAS FOR CHI- 1 NESE JOURNALISTS. 2 (a) DEFINED TERM.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 4 ‘‘Chinese state-run media organization’’ includes— 5 (A) China Central Television; 6 (B) China News Service; 7 (C) the People’s Daily; 8 (D) the Global Times; 9 (E) Xinhua News Agency; 10 (F) China Global Television Network; 11 (G) China Radio International; 12 (H) China Daily Distribution Corporation; 13 and 14 (I) Hai Tian Development USA. 15 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL CHINESE 16 STATE-RUN MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary 17 of State shall determine whether any media organi- 18 zation not listed under paragraph (1)— 19 (A) is a Chinese state-run media organiza- 20 tion; and 21 (B) is subject to the visa restrictions set 22 forth in this section. 23 (b) REPORT ON CHINESE JOURNALISTS IN THE 24 UNITED STATES.—Not later than 30 days after the date 25 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4797.IS S4797 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4797 IS submit a report to Congress that identifies the number 1 of nationals of the People’s Republic of China— 2 (1) who are engaged in the journalism profes- 3 sion; 4 (2)(A) who are employed by a Chinese state-run 5 media organization; or 6 (B) whose work product, in the opinion of the 7 Secretary of State, is effectively controlled by the 8 Government of the People’s Republic of China or the 9 Chinese Communist Party; 10 (3) who, during the most recent 1-year period— 11 (A) were issued a nonimmigrant visa under 12 section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the Immigration 13 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 14 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b)) (commonly known as an 15 ‘‘H–1B visa’’) or were granted an extension for 16 such visa; 17 (B) were issued a nonimmigrant visa under 18 section 101(a)(15)(I) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 19 1101(a)(15)(I)) (commonly known as an ‘‘I–1 20 visa’’) or were granted an extension for such 21 visa; or 22 (C) were issued a nonimmigrant visa under 23 section 101(a)(15)(L) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 24 1101(a)(15)(L)) (commonly known as an ‘‘L–1 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4797.IS S4797 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4797 IS visa’’) or were granted an extension for such 1 visa; and 2 (4) who were physically present in the United 3 States on the date of the enactment of this Act. 4 (c) REVIEW OF CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT VISA 5 HOLDERS.—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 6 may not approve a petition for a nonimmigrant visa re- 7 ferred to in subsection (b)(3) to any journalist from the 8 People’s Republic of China described in subsection (b)(2), 9 and the Bureau of Consular Affairs may not issue such 10 a visa to any such journalist, until after the Secretary of 11 State submits the report required under subsection (b). 12 (d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN NON- 13 IMMIGRANT VISAS.—Before issuing a nonimmigrant visa 14 referred to in subsection (b)(3) to a journalist from the 15 People’s Republic of China described in subsection (b)(2), 16 the Bureau of Consular Affairs shall ensure that— 17 (1) the number of nonimmigrant visas issued to 18 journalists from the People’s Republic of China de- 19 scribed in subsection (b)(2) does not exceed the 20 number of United States journalists in the People’s 21 Republic of China; and 22 (2) such visa is valid for a period not to exceed 23 90 days. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4797.IS S4797 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4797 IS (e) RENEWALS.—A nonimmigrant visa issued to a 1 journalist from the People’s Republic of China described 2 in subsection (b)(2) may be renewed by U.S. Citizenship 3 and Immigration Services for an additional 90-day period 4 if the number of valid nonimmigrant visas issued to Chi- 5 nese journalists described in subsection (b)(2) is fewer 6 than the number of United States journalists in the Peo- 7 ple’s Republic of China. 8 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 9 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 45 days after the date 10 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and 11 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a report 12 to Congress regarding the ongoing monitoring of the num- 13 ber of Chinese journalists described in section 2(b). 14 (b) BIENNIAL CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS.—The 15 Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 16 rity shall ensure that appropriate staff are available to 17 provide a biennial briefings to the appropriate congres- 18 sional committees regarding— 19 (1) the number of Chinese journalists described 20 in section 2(b); 21 (2) the number of United States journalists in 22 the People’s Republic of China; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4797.IS S4797 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4797 IS (3) the names of entities that are labeled, or 1 considered to be labeled, as foreign missions of the 2 People’s Republic of China. 3 (4) the extent to which the Department of State 4 and the Department of Homeland Security are com- 5 plying with the visa restrictions under this Act; and 6 (5) recommendations for improving the accu- 7 racy of reporting from the People’s Republic of 8 China— 9 (A) to prevent future pandemics origi- 10 nating from the People’s Republic of China; 11 and 12 (B) to provide accurate information to the 13 public regarding— 14 (i) the mistreatment by the Govern- 15 ment of the People’s Republic of China of 16 natives of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autono- 17 mous Region and followers of the Falun 18 Gong religious movement; and 19 (ii) conditions affecting the political 20 and civil rights of the people in Hong 21 Kong. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4797.IS S4797 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS