S.Amdt. 6660

SA 6660. Mr. SCHATZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle D of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1252. REPORT ON BENEFITS OF FACT-BASED JOURNALISM IN
INDO-PACIFIC REGION.

(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in
consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to
the appropriate committees of Congress a report outlining the
benefits, to United States foreign policy, defense, and
security objectives in the Indo-Pacific region, of
editorially independent, fact-based journalism in the Indo-
Pacific region, including throughout the Pacific Islands.
(b) Elements.--The report required by subsection (a) shall
include an assessment of the following:
(1) The benefits to United States foreign policy, defense,
and security interests of an information environment in the
Indo-Pacific region, including the Pacific Islands, that
includes fact-based reporting on the malign activities of
competitors and adversaries in the region.
(2) The risks to United States operations and activities of
insufficient editorially independent news media in the Indo-
Pacific region.
(c) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified
annex.
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