Congressional Record: October 10, 2002 (Senate)
Page S10361-S10388
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
[...]
By Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. Kyl):
S. 3093. A bill to develop and deploy technologies to defeat Internet
jamming and censorship; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, over the past seven years, Congressman
Chris Cox and I have teamed up several times on legislation affecting
the Internet. The Global Internet Freedom Act that I will introduce
today could be called "Cox-Wyden V," because this is our fifth
collaboration. I am pleased to be joined by Senator Kyl in introducing
this bill in the Senate.
This legislation aims to foster the development and deployment of
technologies to defeat state-sponsored Internet jamming and censorship,
and in turn, to help unleash the potential of the Internet to promote
the causes of freedom and democracy worldwide.
This is a time when Americans are acutely focused on security threats
emanating from sources beyond U.S. borders. The terrorist attacks of
September 11 made plain that ignorance, extremism, and hate abroad can
have terrible consequences not just in other countries, but right here
at home. And the daily drumbeat of debate over Iraq emphasizes that
oppressive foreign regimes can pose serious hazards. The world is truly
getting smaller.
In the field of information technology, Americans have rightly
responded with a renewed emphasis on cybersecurity. The interlinked
computer networks that make up the Internet, and on which American's
critical infrastructure increasingly relies, must be secured against
would-be cyberterrorists. This is a matter of top importance, and I
have sponsored legislation, as Chairman of the Science and Technology
Subcommittee, to promote research and innovation in this area. It is my
hope that the Cybersecurity Research and Development Act will be signed
by the President in the coming weeks.
But it is important to remember that the international nature of the
Internet does not just create new threats. It also presents tremendous
new opportunities.
Openness, transparency, and the unfettered flow of information have
always been the allies of freedom and democracy. Over time, nothing
erodes oppression and intolerance like the widespread dissemination of
knowledge and ideas. And technology has often played a key role in this
process. From the printing press to radio, technological advances have
revolutionized the spread information and ideas and opened up new
horizons for people everywhere. Not surprisingly, the foes of freedom,
understanding the threat these technologies pose, have often responded
with such steps as censoring the press, jamming radio broadcasts, and
putting media outlets under state control.
The Internet promises to revolutionize the spread of information yet
again. Unlike its predecessor technologies, it offers a truly worldwide
network that makes geographic distance irrelevant. It enables any
person connected to it to exchange ideas quickly and easily with people
and organizations on the other side of the globe. The quantity and
variety of information it permits access to are virtually unlimited.
So once again, governments that fear freedom are trying to rein in
the technology's potential. They block access to websites. They censor
websites and email. They interrupt Internet search engines when users
try explore the "wrong" topics. They closely monitor citizens'
Internet usage and make it known that those who visit the "wrong"
websites will be punished. Or
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they prevent Internet access altogether, by prohibiting ownership of
personal computers.
For a confirmed example of this, I would simply call attention to the
inaugural report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China,
issued just last week, October 2. This report, the product of a
bipartisan commission with members from the Senate, the House of
Representatives, and the Administration, finds that "over the last 18
months, the Chinese government has issued an extensive and still
growing series of regulations restricting Internet content and placing
monitoring requirements on industry." It goes on to cite accounts of
the Chinese government using high-tech software and hardware to
"block, filter, and hack websites and e-mail." Offshore dissident
websites, foreign news websites, search engines, and Voice of America's
weekly e-mail to China are all subject to being blocked. Internet users
attempting to access foreign web-sites often find themselves redirected
to Chinese government-approved websites.
Other countries, from Cuba to Burma to Tunisia to Vietnam, engage in
similar activity.
There are technologies that can help defeat the firewalls and filters
that these governments choose to erect. Proxy servers, intermediaries,
"mirrors," and encryption may all have useful applications in this
regard. But the U.S. Government has done little to promote
technological approaches. This country devotes considerable resources
to combat the jamming of Voice of America broadcasting abroad. But to
date, it has budgeted only about $1 million for technologies to counter
Internet jamming and censorship.
This country can and should do better. The Internet is too important
a communications medium, and its potential as a force for freedom and
democracy is too great, to make a second-rate effort in this area.
That is why Senator Kyl and I are introducing the Global Internet
Freedom Act today. It is time for the U.S. Government to make a serious
commitment to support technology that can help keep the Internet open,
available, and free of political censorship for people all over the
world.
This legislation would establish an Office of Global Internet
Freedom, with the express mission of promoting technology to combat
state-sponsored Internet jamming. The office would be based in the
Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, NTIA, to take advantage of NTIA's extensive expertise
in international telecommunications and Internet issues. Location
within the Department of Commerce will also help ensure close ties with
American technology companies, whose active involvement will be
essential for any technology-based effort to succeed. Cooperation with
the International Broadcasting Bureau will be indispensable as well,
and is required in the legislation.
Funding for the new office would be authorized at $30 million for
each of the next two fiscal years. The office would make an annual
report to Congress on its activities, and on the extent of state-
sponsored Internet blocking in different countries around the world.
Finally, the bill would express the sense of Congress that the United
States should denounce the practice of state-sponsored blocking of
access to the Internet, should submit a resolution on the topic to the
United Nations Human Rights Convention, and should deploy technologies
to address the problem as soon as practicable.
As I mentioned at the outset, Representatives Chris Cox and Tom
Lantos have already introduced companion legislation in the House, and
I strongly applaud them for taking the lead on this issue. Here in the
Senate, I urge my colleagues to join Senator Kyl and myself in this
important, bipartisan effort.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 3093
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the "Global Internet Freedom
Act".
SEC. 2 FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of
association are fundamental characteristics of a free
society. The first amendment to the Constitution of the
United States guarantees that "Congress shall make no law .
. . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble." These
constitutional provisions guarantee the rights of Americans
to communicate and associate with one another without
restriction, including unfettered communication and
association via the Internet. Article 19 of the United
Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights explicitly
guarantees the freedom to "receive and impart information
and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers".
(2) All people have the right to communicate freely with
others, and to have unrestricted access to news and
information, on the Internet.
(3) With nearly 10 percent of the world's population now
online, and more gaining access each day, the Internet stands
to become the most powerful engine for democratization and
the free exchange of ideas ever invented.
(4) Unrestricted access to news and information on the
Internet is a check on repressive rule by authoritarian
regimes around the world.
(5) The governments of Burma, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, the
People's Republic of China, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Vietnam,
among others, are taking active measures to keep their
citizens from freely accessing the Internet and obtaining
international political, religious, and economic news and
information.
(6) Intergovernmental, nongovernmental, and media
organizations have reported the widespread and increasing
pattern by authoritarian governments to block, jam, and
monitor Internet access and content, using technologies such
as firewalls, filters, and "black boxes". Such jamming and
monitoring of individual activity on the Internet includes
surveillance of e-mail messages, message boards, and the use
of particular words; "stealth blocking" individuals from
visiting websites; the development of "black lists" of
users that seek to visit these websites; and the denial of
access to the Internet.
(7) The Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, as well as
hundreds of news sources with an Internet presence, are
routinely being jammed by repressive governments.
(8) Since the 1940s, the United States has deployed anti-
jamming technologies to make Voice of America and other
United States Government sponsored broadcasting available to
people in nations with governments that seek to block news
and information.
(9) The United States Government has thus far commenced
only modest steps to fund and deploy technologies to defeat
Internet censorship. To date, the Voice of America and Radio
Free Asia have committed a total of $1,000,000 for technology
to counter Internet jamming by the People's Republic of
China. This technology, which has been successful in
attracting 100,000 electronic hits per day from the People's
Republic of China, has been relied upon by Voice of America
and Radio Free Asia to ensure access to their programming by
citizens of the People's Republic of China, but United States
Government financial support for the technology has lapsed.
In most other countries there is no meaningful United States
support for Internet freedom.
(10) The success of United States policy in support of
freedom of speech, press, and association requires new
initiatives and technologies to defeat totalitarian and
authoritarian controls on news and information over the
Internet.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to adopt an effective and robust global Internet
freedom policy;
(2) to establish an office within the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration with the
sole mission of promoting technological means of countering
Internet jamming and blocking by repressive regimes;
(3) to expedite the development and deployment of
technology to protect Internet freedom around the world;
(4) to authorize the commitment of a substantial portion of
United States Government resources to the continued
development and implementation of technologies to counter the
jamming of the Internet;
(5) to utilize the expertise of the private sector in the
development and implementation of such technologies, so that
the many current technologies used commercially for securing
business transactions and providing virtual meeting space can
be used to promote democracy and freedom; and
(6 to bring to bear the pressure of the free world on
repressive governments guilty of Internet censorship and the
intimidation and persecution of their citizens who use the
Internet.
SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES TO DEFEAT
INTERNET JAMMING AND CENSORSHIP.
(a) Establishment of Office of Global Internet Freedom.--
There is established in the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration the Office of Global Internet
Freedom (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the
"Office"). The Office shall be
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headed by a Director who shall develop and implement, in
consultation with the International Broadcasting Bureau, a
comprehensive global strategy for promoting technology to
combat state-sponsored and state-directed Internet jamming
and persecution of those who use the Internet.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Office $30,000,000 for each of the
fiscal years 2003 and 2004.
(c) Corporation of Other Federal Departments and
Agencies.--Each department and agency of the United States
Government shall cooperate fully with, and assist in the
implementation of, the strategy developed by the Office and
shall make such resources and information available to the
Office as is necessary to the achievement of the purposes of
this Act.
(d) Report to Congress.--On March 1 following the date of
the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the
Director of the Office shall submit to the Congress a report
on the status of state interference with Internet use and of
efforts by the United States to counter such interference.
Each report shall list the countries that pursue policies of
Internet censorship, blocking, and other abuses; provide
information concerning the government agencies or quasi-
governmental organizations that implement Internet
censorship; and describe with the greatest particularity
practicable the technological means by which such blocking
and other abuses are accomplished. In the discretion of the
Director, such report may be submitted in both a classified
and nonclassified version.
(e) Limitation on Authority.--Nothing in this Act shall be
interpreted to authorize any action by the United States to
interfere with foreign national censorship for the purpose of
protecting minors from harm, preserving public morality, or
assisting with legitimate law enforcement aims.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of the Congress that the United States
should--
(1) publicly, prominently, and consistently denounce
governments that restrict, censor, ban, and block access to
information on the Internet;
(2) direct the United States Representative to the United
Nations to submit a resolution at the next annual meeting of
the United Nations Human Rights Commission condemning all
governments that practice Internet censorship and deny
freedom to access and share information; and
(3) deploy, at the earliest practicable date, technologies
aimed at defeating state-directed Internet censorship and the
persecution of those who use the Internet.
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce, with Senator
Wyden, the Global Internet Freedom Act.
The Internet is one of the most powerful tools to promote the
exchange of ideas and to disseminate information. In that regard, it is
a key component in our efforts to reach populations living under
undemocratic governments that continue to restrict freedom of speech,
the press, and association. Unfortunately, however, many authoritarian
governments including the regimes in the People's Republic of China,
Saudi Arabia, Syria, Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea aggressively block
and censor the Internet, often subjecting to torture and imprisonment
those individuals who dare to resist the controls.
In Vietnam, for example, the Prime Minister issued a decree in August
2000 that prohibits individuals from using the Internet "for the
purpose of hostile actions against the country or to destabilize
security, violate morality, or violate other laws and regulations."
The Communist government owns and controls the sole Internet access
provider, which is authorized to monitor the sites that subscribers
use. It erects firewalls to block sites it deems politically or
culturally inappropriate. And it is seeking additional authority to
monitor some 4,000 Internet cafes in Vietnam, and hold responsible the
owners of these cafes for customer use of the Internet.
The situation in Syria is no better. Like Vietnam, that country has
only one government-run Internet service provider. The Government
blocks access to Internet sites that contain information deemed
politically sensitive including pro-Israel sites and also periodically
blocks access to servers that provide free e-mail services. In 2000,
the Syrian Government which monitors e-mail detained one individual for
simply forwarding via e-mail a political cartoon.
The Chinese Government is one of the worst offenders. Beijing has
passed sweeping regulations in the past 2 years prohibiting news and
commentary on Internet sites in China that are not state-sanctioned.
The Ministry of Information Industry regulates Internet access, and the
Ministries of Public and State Security monitor its use. According to
the State Department's most recent Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices.
Despite the continued expansion of the Internet in the
country, the Chinese government maintained its efforts to
monitor and control content on the Internet. . . . The
authorities block access to Web sites they find offensive.
Authorities have at times blocked politically sensitive Web
sites, including those of dissident groups and some major
foreign news organizations, such as the VOA, the Washington
Post, the New York Times, and the BBC.
The U.S.-China Security Review Commission noted in its recent report
that China has even convinced American companies like Yahoo! to assist
in its censorship efforts, and others, like America Online, to leave
open the possibility of turning over names, e-mail addresses, or
records of political dissidents if the Chinese Government demands them.
Those who attempt to circumvent Internet restrictions in China are
often subject to harsh punishment. For example, Huang Qi, the operator
of an Internet site that posted information about missing persons,
including students who disappeared in the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, was
tried secretly and found guilty of "subverting state power."
According to the State Department, Huang was bound hand and foot and
beaten by police while they tried to force him to confess.
These are but a few examples of the incredible lengths that
authoritarian governments will go to in order to preserve control over
their populations and prevent change. Voice of America, Radio Free
Asia, Amnesty International, and the National Endowment for Democracy--
just to name a few--all utilize the Internet to try to provide news,
spread democratic values, and promote human rights in these countries.
But the obstacles they face are great.
The U.S. private sector is developing a number of techniques and
technologies to combat Internet blocking. Unfortunately, however, the
U.S. Government has contributed few resources to assist these efforts
and to put the new techniques to use. For example, Voice of America and
Radio Free Asia have budgeted only $1 million for technology to counter
Chinese Government Internet jamming, and that funding has now expired.
This is why I am pleased to introduce the Global Internet Freedom
Act. This bill will take an important step toward promoting Internet
freedom throughout the world. Specifically, it establishes, within the
Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, the Office of Global Internet Freedom. It authorizes
$30 million per year in fiscal years 2003 and 2004 for this office,
which would be responsible for developing and implementing a
comprehensive global strategy to combat state-sponsored Internet
jamming and persecution of Internet users. Additionally, the director
of the office would be required to submit to Congress an annual report
on U.S. efforts to counter state interference with Internet use.
Similar legislation has already been introduced in the House of
Representatives by Congressmen Cox and Lantos.
I cannot stress enough the importance of the Internet in promoting
the flow of democratic ideas. If the benefits of the Internet are able
to reach more and more people around the globe, repressive governments
will begin to be challenged by individuals who are freely exchanging
views and getting uncensored news and information.
The United States should take full advantage of the opportunities
inherent in worldwide access to the Internet, and should make clear to
the international community that fostering Internet freedom is a top
priority. Creation of an Office of Global Internet Freedom will enable
us to do just that.
I ask unanimous consent that the bill be printed in the Record.
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