,,ii #aaith ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #eefb ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,september #bd1 #bjbf,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 ,jimmy ,lai ,internet ,freedom ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,the ,people's ,republic of ,china has repeatedly violated its obligations under the ,joint ,declaration by suppressing the basic rights and freedoms of ,hong ,kongers4 7#b7 ,on ,june #cj1 #bjbj1 the ,national ,people's ,congress passed a law on ,safeguarding ,national ,security in the ,hong ,kong ,special ,administrative ,region 7referred to in this ,act as the ,national ,security ,law71 which further erodes ,hong ,kong's autonomy and enables authorities to suppress dissent4 7#c7 ,the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china continues to utilize the ,national ,security ,law to undermine the fundamental rights of ,hong ,kongers by suppressing freedoms of speech1 assembly1 religion1 and the press4 7#d7 ,article #i of the ,national ,security ,law authorizes unprecedented regulation and supervision of internet activity in ,hong ,kong1 including expanded police powers to force internet service providers to censor content1 hand over user information1 and block access to platforms4 7#e7 ,on ,january #ac1 #bjba1 the ,hong ,kong ,broadband ,network blocked public access to ,h,k,chronicles1 which is a website promoting pro-democracy viewpoints1 under the authorities of the ,national ,security ,law4 7#f7 ,on ,january #bh1 #bjba1 the ,hong ,kong ,internet ,registration ,corporation ,limited enacted a revised acceptable use policy that enables authorities to require the rejection of website registration requests that may incite illegal acts4 7#g7 ,on ,february #d1 #bjba1 ,carrie ,lam expressed support for implementing additional laws to increase internet censorship4 7#h7 ,on ,february #ab1 #bjba1 internet service providers blocked access to the ,taiwan ,transitional ,justice ,commission website in ,hong ,kong4 7#i7 ,major tech companies including ,facebook1 ,twitter1 ,whats,app1 and ,google have stopped reviewing requests for user data from ,hong ,kong authorities4 7#aj7 ,on ,february #bh1 #bjba1 #dg pro-democracy activists in ,hong ,kong were arrested charged under the ,national ,security ,law on the charge of conspiracy to commit subversion4 7#aa7 ,on ,december #ab1 #bjbb1 ,chris ,tang and ,john ,lee advocated for ,google to remove search results for a pro-democracy song4 7#ab7 ,on ,february #ad1 #bjbc1 ,john ,lee reaffirmed his commitment to pass ,article #bc of the ,basic ,law by #bjbd1 which would require ,hong ,kong to enact national security legislation for seven types of offenses1 further eroding individual freedoms and giving unrestricted power to authorities4 7#ac7 ,in ,march #bjbc1 ,hong ,kong authorities arrested a student returning from ,japan for violating the ,national ,security ,law by sharing pro-democracy statements online while studying abroad4 7#ad7 ,on ,may #af1 #bjbc1 ,john ,lee encouraged public libraries to remove books with messages that do not serve the interests of ,hong ,kong4 7#ae7 ,on ,june #f1 #bjbc1 the ,hong ,kong government attempted to ban all forms of broadcasting and distribution of a pro-democracy song4 7#af7 ,on ,march #ai1 #bjbd1 ,hong ,kong's ,legislative ,council passed ,article #bc of the ,basic ,law1 which created new criminal offenses1 expanded legal penalties1 and broadened the authorities' power to target political opposition and criminalize free speech4 7#ag7 ,in ,may #bjbd1 #de out of #dg pro-democracy activists were convicted of conspiracy to commit subversion and later handed prison sentences under ,beijing's-imposed ,national ,security ,law4 7#ah7 ,on ,december #ae1 #bjbe1 pro-democracy activist ,jimmy ,lai was convicted by ,hong ,kong's ,high ,court and later sentenced to #bj years in prison4 7#ai7 ,on ,july #ae1 #bjbf1 ,hong ,kong national security police raided #b independent bookstores and arrested #e people under authorities granted by the newly passed ,article #bc ,ordinance4 #c4 ,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 #d4 ,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 a group composed of-- 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 7#c7 ,joint declaration ,the term ,joint ,declaration means the ,joint ,declaration of the ,government of the ,united ,kingdom of ,great ,britain and ,northern ,ireland and the ,government of the ,people's ,republic of ,china on the ,question of ,hong ,kong1 done at ,beijing on ,december #ai1 #aihd4 #e4 ,hong ,kong ,internet ,freedom ,program 7a7 ,interagency working group ,the ,secretary of ,state is authorized to establish an interagency working group1 composed of the individuals occupying the positions listed in section #d7b71 to develop a strategy to bolster internet resiliency and online access in ,hong ,kong4 7b7 ,hong ,kong ,internet ,freedom ,program 7#a7 ,department of ,state ,the ,secretary of ,state shall establish a ,hong ,kong ,internet ,freedom ,program in the ,bureau of ,democracy1 ,human ,rights1 and ,labor of the ,department of ,state4 7#b7 ,open ,technology ,fund ,the ,chief ,executive ,officer of the ,open ,technology ,fund is authorized to establish a ,hong ,kong ,internet ,freedom ,program4 7#c7 ,coordination ,the programs established pursuant to paragraphs 7#a7 and 7#b7 shall operate independently1 but shall strategically coordinate with other entities represented in the interagency working group4 7c7 ,independence ,during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this ,act and ending on ,september #cj1 #bjca1 the programs established pursuant to subsection 7b7 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 7d7 ,consolidation of ,department of ,state program ,beginning on ,october #a1 #bjca1 the ,secretary of ,state may-- 7#a7 consolidate the program established pursuant to subsection 7b77#a7 with the mainland ,china initiatives in the ,bureau of ,democracy1 ,human ,rights1 and ,labor2 or 7#b7 continue to carry out such program in accordance with subsection 7c74 7e7 ,consolidation of ,open ,technology ,fund ,program ,beginning on ,october #a1 #bjca1 the ,chief ,executive ,officer 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 7c74 #f4 ,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 programs receiving grants pursuant to paragraph 7#a7 should strive-- 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 awarded pursuant to paragraph 7#a7 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 #bjbg for grants awarded pursuant to subsection 7a7 by any entity represented in the interagency working group4 7c7 ,authorization of appropriations 7#a7 ,open ,technology ,fund ,in addition to the amounts 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 #bjbg through #bjca to carry out this section4 7#b7 ,bureau of ,democracy1 ,human ,rights1 and ,labor ,in addition to the amounts authorized to be expended pursuant to subsection 7b71 there are authorized to be appropriated to the ,office of ,internet ,freedom ,programs of the ,bureau of ,democracy1 ,human ,rights1 and ,labor of the ,department of ,state #aj1jjj1jjj for each of the fiscal years #bjbg through #bjca to carry out this section4 7#c7 ,availability ,amounts appropriated pursuant to paragraphs 7#a7 and 7#b7 shall remain available until expended4 #g4 ,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 #bjbg2 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 #f7;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