*EPF416 07/25/2002
Congressional Report, July 25: Public Diplomacy Legislation
(House-passed measure expands public diplomacy initiatives) (350)

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation aimed at enhancing public diplomacy programs conducted by the U.S. Department of State, with an expanded emphasis in the Middle East.

By unanimous vote July 22, the House passed the Freedom Promotion Act of 2002, which is designed to bolster U.S. education programs, cultural exchanges and news broadcasts, especially in the Middle East region, according to Representative Henry Hyde, chairman of the House International Relations Committee and a chief sponsor of the legislation.

"This legislation is designed to meet a number of pressing needs by reorienting and reinvigorating our approach to public diplomacy," Hyde said.

Hyde's committee voted out the measure April 25, and it now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Hyde said the bill elevates the role and prominence of public diplomacy within the State Department's programs and decisionmaking and includes a requirement that the Secretary of State prepare an annual strategic plan for the use of public diplomacy, including an operational plan for its implementation.

The measure also establishes a series of initiatives focused on the Muslim world, and it reorganizes the international broadcasting operations.

"The measures in this bill are long overdue, but they represent only the first steps in what must become an ongoing effort to ensure that the truth about our country rises above the cacophony of hate and misinformation that often passes for discourse in many areas of the world," Hyde said.

The measure also:

-- Requires the State Department to increase the number of people in the Foreign Service who are proficient in languages spoken in Muslim countries;

-- Expands the role of the under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs to include additional educational and cultural programs;

-- Authorizes $298 million in the current fiscal year and $512 million in fiscal 2003 for public diplomacy programs, and an additional $110 million over two years for educational, cultural and non-broadcast programs; and

-- Authorizes $135 million in fiscal year 2003 to create an Arabic satellite television network in the Middle East.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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