To amend the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 to extend by one year the operation of Radio Free Asia, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that. I rise in support of this bill. I just want to take a moment here to thank Chairman Berman and also Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen for their assistance in moving this bill so expeditiously to the floor. There is a timing issue here. We need to pass this out soon, and this, of course, will allow us to broadcast for an additional year. September 30 is the day on which this authority will expire. I wish we could do more. I do.

Earlier this year, as you know, Chairman Berman passed a State Department authorization bill out of this House that would have established permanent authority for RFA. The other body, the Senate, has yet to take up this legislation. We wish they would.

We can debate the merits of a long-term extension versus sunset repeal, but there is one thing certain in all of this, and that is that the target countries that we broadcast into, countries like North Korea and China, like Burma and Vietnam, they give no indication of allowing a free local press any time soon.

At a practical level, I understand that RFA's sunset restriction has hampered RFA's operations. It hampers the ability to go out and hire, obviously, on a permanent basis. You can't negotiate a lease or capital improvements and so forth. So it is important that we address this issue.

I think it is important that we focus on the success of Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. Radio Free Asia was founded in 1996, and it attempts to replicate what RFERL did in Eastern Europe. Its mission is to act as a surrogate news service, performing as a free press would if it was allowed to operate in any of these countries. Quite simply, its broadcasts are devoted to the enlightenment of people, to letting people know what is actually happening in their country and around the world.

My interest in these broadcasts stems from a trip I took to Dresden, East Germany, years ago, where a man told me about the damage that these broadcasts were inflicting on Soviet tyranny and shared with me the effect that they seemed to be having, an effect without firing a shot, an effect in which the world was changed without the loss of a human life.

Surrogate broadcasts, mainly radio but increasingly these new media, provide people with the news and information about their countries that otherwise they couldn't possibly obtain. As one observer has noted, this type of broadcasting irritates authoritarian regimes. It inspires democracies. It creates greater space for civil society. Yes, it does. It does change societies.

Irritate totalitarian regimes? Yes, that has happened. China has attempted to erect a ``great wall of sound'' to block RFA transmissions. They are not successful, but they block some of them. Vietnam has heavily jammed RFA since the first days of the broadcast. You may not be able to get it inside the capital, but you can get it in the countryside.

We know what news these Communist regimes are afraid of. In North Korea, broadcasting such as this is one of the only sources chipping away at Pyongyang's propaganda machine. When I talk to defectors out of North Korea, as often as not they have listened to these broadcasts, especially the senior civil servicemembers. And military members who defect tell about how it changed their view of the world.

All around the globe, an information war is at play. Iran is spending heavily to block our broadcasting, while beaming its own message into Afghanistan and even the Balkans to sow division. Russia is broadcasting into southeastern Europe as well. Hugo Chavez is crippling local media while bolstering Venezuela's state broadcasts around Latin America, and he is preaching anti-Americanism with those broadcasts. Then there are the 150 sharia-friendly radio broadcasts in Pakistan's Swat Valley. Those are the broadcasts that the Taliban are making in Afghanistan and in northwest Pakistan.

So, from Caracas to Tehran to Pyongyang, these totalitarian regimes understand that controlling information is central to their being. Radio Free Asia is one of our pieces on this chess board.

I look forward to the passage of this legislation and to working with the chairman and ranking member to seek a more important standing for this critical organization.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I also rise in support of H.R. 3593. I want to thank my good friend from California (Mr. Royce), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, for introducing this measure.

Thirteen years ago next week, on September 29, 1996, Radio Free Asia first went on the air with a Mandarin language broadcast into China. Today,

RFA broadcasts into China, Tibet, North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma in nine local languages and dialects. It provides timely, objective news to people who are denied the benefit of a free press in their own homeland.

Not only did Congress create and fund that surrogate broadcasting service, we also urged RFA to increase its transmissions to particularly vulnerable populations, such as the people of North Korea, as we did in the North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004 and last year's reauthorization of that law. We are proud and supportive of the good work that Radio Free Asia continues to do.

While the authorization of appropriations for RFA was previously extended, it appears that the statutory section detailing RFA's grant- making authority was inadvertently omitted from that reauthorization, leaving it to expire at the end of this month. Therefore, we have this one-sentence bill before us today to correct that oversight. In the time when we see bills of over 1,000 pages in length which many have not read, it is wonderful to see a very simple bill, a brief bill, but a very important bill.

Both Republican and Democrat versions of The Foreign Relations Authorization Act introduced in this Congress include a provision that would remove the sunset of RFA authority, making it permanent. I look forward to working toward a long-term reauthorization of the RFA on a bipartisan basis during the year ahead. I urge support for this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the author of this legislation and the individual behind the United States' international broadcasting of Radio Free Asia, Mr. Royce of California.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3593) to amend the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 to extend by one year the operation of Radio Free Asia, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, Radio Free Asia provides timely, accurate and useful news and information to countries whose leadership prohibits access to truly free media. Listeners in China, Tibet, Vietnam, Laos, North Korea and Burma can learn about what is happening in their own countries and in their own languages and dialects through professional and objective reporting and discussion programs on RFA.

RFA's performance is impressive in parts of the world where governments make independent broadcasting difficult or even impossible. It is one of our most dynamic surrogate broadcasters.

RFA uses well-established means of information dissemination, such as shortwave transmissions and hand-cranked radios, that are spirited to listeners who are otherwise entirely cut off from the world. It also makes use of modern media technologies such as live streaming over the Internet in regions where access to computers is relatively common but where governments place controls on news reporting. The listener feedback to these programs by e-mail and during call-in talk shows is very impressive. It provides a credible window on the pervasiveness of corruption and autocracy.

I think most of us agree that it is useful to continue operating RFA, as it serves to help maintain freedom of information overseas as well as promoting better understanding of United States values such as democracy.

The legislation before us, offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) would reauthorize RFA to continue its operations for the next fiscal year. I strongly urge all of our colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3593, which amends the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 to extend for an additional year the grant-making authority of the Broadcasting Board of Governors regarding Radio Free Asia (RFA). Without this legislation, that grant-making authority will expire this week, putting the important services of RFA at risk.

The U.S. International Broadcasting Act of 1994 called for RFA to engage in ``the continuation of existing U.S. international broadcasting, and the creation of a new broadcasting service to people of the . . . countries of Asia, which lack adequate sources of free information and ideas [to] enhance the promotion of information and ideas.'' Reflecting its mandate, Radio Free Asia describes its mission as providing ``accurate and timely news and information to Asian countries whose governments prohibit access to a free press.'' One of RFA's ultimate aims is ``to serve as a model on which others may shape their own emerging journalistic traditions.''

Guided by its core principles of freedom of expression and opinion, RFA has provided domestic news and information to its listeners since 1996. Each RFA broadcast--in nine different languages--is distinctive as each reflects the unique culture and preferences of its listeners.

As a result of its rigorous journalistic standards and hard work, RFA has won numerous honors. This year, for example, Radio Free Asia was named Broadcaster of the Year by the prestigious New York Festivals Radio Programming and Promotions Awards.

That recognition is well deserved as Radio Free Asia is an important voice for millions of listeners, and this legislation will ensure that RFA's voice will be heard for another 12 months. For this reason, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3593.

I ask unanimous consent the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3593 and H.R. 2131 en bloc, and the Senate proceed to their immediate consideration en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the bills be read a third time and passed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid on the table en bloc, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.