,,ii #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #dbde ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,july #ba1 #bjbj,mr4 ,lankford 7for himself and ,mr4 ,kaine7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations ,a ,,bill ,to develop and deploy firewall circumvention tools for the people of ,hong ,kong after the ,people's ,republic of ,china violated its agreement under the ,joint ,declaration1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,safeguarding ,internet ,freedom in ,hong ,kong ,act of #bjbj4 #b4 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that the ,united ,states should-- 7#a7 support the ability of the people of ,hong ,kong to maintain their freedom to access information online2 and 7#b7 focus on investments in technologies that facilitate the unhindered exchange of information in ,hong ,kong in advance of any future efforts by the ,chinese ,communist ,party-- 7,a7 to suppress internet access2 7,b7 to increase online censorship2 or 7,c7 to inhibit online communication and content-sharing by the people of ,hong ,kong4 #c4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,appropriate congressional committees ,the term appropriate congressional committees means-- 7,a7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations of the ,senate2 7,b7 the ,committee on ,appropriations of the ,senate2 7,c7 the ,select ,committee on ,intelligence of the ,senate2 7,d7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs of the ,house of ,representatives2 7,e7 the ,committee on ,appropriations of the ,house of ,representatives2 and 7,f7 the ,permanent ,select ,committee on ,intelligence of the ,house of ,representatives4 7#b7 ,interagency working group ,the term interagency working group means-- 7,a7 the ,under ,secretary of ,state for ,civilian ,security1 ,democracy1 and ,human ,rights2 7,b7 the ,assistant ,secretary of ,state for ,east ,asian and ,pacific ,affairs2 7,c7 the ,chief ,executive ,officer of the ,open ,technology ,fund2 and 7,d7 the ,administrator of the ,united ,states ,agency for ,international ,development4 #d4 ,hong ,kong ,internet ,freedom ,program 7a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of ,state is authorized to establish an interagency working group to develop a strategy to bolster internet resiliency and online access in ,hong ,kong4 ,the ,secretary shall establish a ,hong ,kong ,internet ,freedom ,program in the ,bureau of ,democracy1 ,human ,rights1 and ,labor at the ,department of ,state4 ,additionally1 the ,chief ,executive ,officer of the ,open ,technology ,fund is authorized to establish a ,hong ,kong ,internet ,freedom ,program4 ,these programs shall operate independently1 but in strategic coordination with other entities in the interagency working group4 7b7 ,independence ,during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this ,act and ending on ,september #cj1 #bjbc1 the ,program shall be carried out independent from the mainland ,china internet freedom portfolios in order to focus on supporting liberties presently enjoyed by the people of ,hong ,kong4 7c7 ,consolidation of ,department of ,state program ,beginning on ,october #a1 #bjbc1 the ,secretary of ,state may-- 7#a7 consolidate the ,program with the mainland ,china initiatives in the ,bureau of ,democracy1 ,human ,rights1 and ,labor2 or 7#b7 continue to carry out the ,program in accordance with subsection 7b74 7d7 ,consolidation of ,open ,technology ,fund ,program ,beginning on ,october #a1 #bjbc1 the ,,ceo of the ,open ,technology ,fund may-- 7#a7 consolidate the ,program with the mainland ,china initiatives in the ,open ,technology ,fund2 or 7#b7 continue to carry out the ,program in accordance with subsection 7b74 #e4 ,support for information programs 7a7 ,grants authorized 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of ,state1 working through the ,open ,technology ,fund and the ,bureau of ,democracy1 ,human ,rights1 and ,labor1 is authorized to award grants to private organizations to support and develop programs in ,hong ,kong that promote or expand-- 7,a7 online information access2 7,b7 freedom of the press2 7,c7 disruptive technologies that bypass internet blocking1 filtering1 and other censorship techniques2 7,d7 virtual private networks2 7,e7 firewall circumvention tools2 7,f7 distributed denial of service mitigation techniques2 7,g7 digital security capacity building for internet users2 or 7,h7 digital resiliency for international organizations1 pro-democracy activists1 and other civil society actors in ,hong ,kong1 including emergency support4 7#b7 ,goals ,the goals of the programs developed with grants authorized under paragraph 7#a7 should be-- 7,a7 to make the technologies described in paragraph 7#a7 available in ,hong ,kong2 7,b7 to increase the number of the tools in the circumvention technology portfolio2 7,c7 to promote the availability of such technologies and tools in ,hong ,kong2 7,d7 to encourage the adoption of such technologies and tools by the people of ,hong ,kong2 7,e7 to scale up the distribution of such technologies and tools throughout ,hong ,kong2 7,f7 to prioritize the development of tools1 components1 code1 and technologies that are fully open-source1 to the extent practicable2 7,g7 to conduct research on repressive tactics that undermine internet freedom in ,hong ,kong2 and 7,h7 to engage ,american private industry1 including e-commerce firms and social networking companies1 on the importance of preserving internet access in ,hong ,kong4 7#c7 ,grant recipients ,grants authorized under this subsection shall be distributed to multiple vendors and suppliers through an open1 fair1 competitive1 and evidence-based decision process-- 7,a7 to diversify the technical base2 and 7,b7 to reduce the risk of mitigation by bad actors4 7#d7 ,security audits ,new technologies developed using grants from this subsection shall undergo comprehensive security audits to ensure that such technologies are secure and have not been compromised in a manner detrimental to the interests of the ,united ,states or to individuals or organizations benefitting from programs supported by the ,open ,technology ,fund4 7b7 ,funding source ,the ,secretary of ,state is authorized to expend funds from the ,human ,rights and ,democracy ,fund of the ,bureau of ,democracy1 ,human ,rights1 and ,labor of the ,department of ,state during fiscal year #bjbj for grants authorized under subsection 7a7 at any entity in the interagency working group4 7c7 ,authorization of appropriations 7#a7 ,open technology fund ,in addition to the funds authorized to be expended pursuant to subsection 7b71 there are authorized to be appropriated to the ,open ,technology ,fund #e1jjj1jjj for each of the fiscal years #bjba through #bjbc to carry out this section4 7#b7 ,bureau of democracy1 human rights1 and labor ,in addition to the funds authorized to be expended pursuant to subsection 7b71 there are authorized to be appropriated to the ,office of ,internet ,freedom ,programs in the ,bureau of ,democracy1 ,human ,rights1 and ,labor of the ,department of ,state #aj1jjj1jjj for each of the fiscal years #bjba through #bjbc to carry out this section4 7#c7 ,availability ,amounts appropriated pursuant to paragraphs 7#a7 and 7#b7 shall remain available until expended4 #f4 ,strategic planning report ,not later than #abj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,state and the interagency working group shall submit a classified report to the appropriate congressional committees that-- 7#a7 describes the ,federal ,government's plan to bolster and increase the availability of firewall circumvention technology in ,hong ,kong during fiscal year #bjba1 including-- 7,a7 secure private messaging tools2 7,b7 secure file storage and sharing platforms2 7,c7 virtual private networks2 7,d7 satellite internet2 7,e7 proxies2 7,f7 refraction routing2 7,g7 pluggable transports2 and 7,h7 other secure communication mechanisms and anti-censorship technologies2 7#b7 outlines a plan for-- 7,a7 supporting the preservation of an open1 interoperable1 reliable1 and secure internet in ,hong ,kong2 7,b7 increasing the supply of the technology referred to in paragraph 7#a72 7,c7 accelerating the dissemination of such technology2 7,d7 promoting the availability of such technology in ,hong ,kong2 7,e7 utilizing presently available tools in the mainland ,china portfolio for further use in the unique context of ,hong ,kong2 7,f7 expanding the portfolio of tools in order to diversify and strengthen the effectiveness and resiliency of the circumvention efforts2 and 7,g7 providing training for high-risk groups and individuals in ,hong ,kong2 7#c7 includes a detailed description of the technical and fiscal steps necessary to implement the plans referred to in paragraphs 7#a7 and 7#b71 including an analysis of the market conditions in ,hong ,kong2 7#d7 describes the ,federal ,government's plans for awarding grants to private organizations for the purposes described in section #e7;a77#a72 7#e7 outlines the interagency working group's consultations regarding the implementation of this ,act to ensure that all ,federal efforts are aligned and well coordinated2 and 7#f7 outlines the ,department of ,state's strategy to influence global internet legal standards at international organizations and multilateral fora4