[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 861 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 861
To require the United States Government to obtain and maintain the
capacity to transmit internet access service abroad and domestically in
case of emergency-related disruptions, and to strengthen support for
circumvention technologies that allow users to evade government-backed
censorship.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 16, 2023
Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Scott of Florida, and Mr. Hagerty)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the United States Government to obtain and maintain the
capacity to transmit internet access service abroad and domestically in
case of emergency-related disruptions, and to strengthen support for
circumvention technologies that allow users to evade government-backed
censorship.
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 ``Protecting Against Tyrants by
Restoring Internet Access and Yielding Vital Interconnectivity in
Designated Areas Act of 2023'' or the ``PATRIA Y VIDA Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. TRANSMISSION OF INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE; CIRCUMVENTION
TECHNOLOGY.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Applicable official.--The term ``applicable official''
means the Secretary of State or the Administrator of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission.
(3) Eligible company.--The term ``eligible company'' means
a United States company that--
(A) provides internet censorship circumvention
tools that have a demonstrated capability to service
significant numbers of simultaneous user sessions; and
(B) has the capacity to scale up operations in
response to foreign internet censorship activity.
(4) Internet censorship circumvention tool.--The term
``internet censorship circumvention tool'' means a software
application or other tool that an individual can use to evade
foreign government restrictions on internet access.
(b) Capacity To Transmit Internet.--
(1) Transmission in foreign countries.--The Secretary of
State, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Commerce
for Communications and Information, the Commission, the Chief
Executive Officer of the United States Agency for Global Media,
the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, and
the Secretary of Defense, shall obtain and maintain the
capacity of the United States Government to transmit internet
access service to locations in foreign countries where the
provision of additional internet access service would promote
freedom from repressive regimes.
(2) Transmission in the united states.--The Administrator
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in consultation
with the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and
Information, the Commission, and the Administrator of the
Federal Aviation Administration, shall obtain and maintain the
capacity of the United States Government to transmit internet
access service to locations in the United States in the case of
emergency-related network disruptions.
(3) Duties of consulted agencies.--A Federal agency with
which the applicable official consults under paragraph (1) or
(2) shall provide any and all authorizations and support that
the applicable official determines necessary to carry out
internet restoration as provided in the applicable paragraph.
(4) Consultation with other federal agencies.--The
applicable official may consult with other Federal agencies, in
addition to the Federal agencies described in paragraph (1) or
(2), as the applicable official determines appropriate.
(c) Circumvention Technologies.--
(1) Identification.--The Commission, in consultation with
the Secretary of State and each other Federal agency described
in subsection (b)(1), shall identify internet censorship
circumvention tools that are designed to and can effectively
counter large-scale internet censorship activity by foreign
governments.
(2) Surge funding.--The Commission, when necessary due to
increased demand for internet censorship circumvention tools
because of internet censorship activity by a foreign
government, shall rapidly provide funding for eligible
companies to provide internet censorship circumvention tools to
individuals in that country.
(d) Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Commission and the Chief Executive Officer of the United
States Agency for Global Media shall jointly submit to Congress a
report that describes--
(1) as of the date of the report--
(A) the capacity of the United States Government to
transmit internet access service--
(i) in foreign countries to circumvent
censorship; and
(ii) in the United States in the case of
emergency-related network disruptions; and
(B) the capacity of internet censorship
circumvention tools that are available to be used by
individuals in foreign countries seeking to counteract
censors; and
(2) any new resources needed to provide the United States
Government with more robust capacity to--
(A) transmit internet access service--
(i) in foreign countries to circumvent
censorship; and
(ii) in the United States in the case of
emergency-related network disruptions; and
(B) rapidly provide funding for companies to
provide internet censorship circumvention tools to
evade foreign government restrictions on internet
access.
<all>