United States International Programming to Ukraine and Neighboring Regions

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong support of S. 2183, legislation to bolster U.S.-backed international broadcasting to Ukraine and the surrounding region. This legislation passed the House overwhelmingly last week as part of H.R. 4278. It was authored by myself and Mr. Engel.

While the Senate did not act on the full House package of legislation to support Ukraine, I am pleased that the Senate did recognize and act on this important piece of legislation. With its passage, this bill goes to the President's desk.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation is central to our effort to counter Russian aggression and to send the type of support we need for the democratic development of Ukraine.

Throughout the crisis, Russians and Ukrainians alike have been bombarded by portrayals of Ukrainian protesters and the interim government, as you can hear on the Russian propaganda broadcast, what they call fascist mercenaries.

This, of course, is a rather deplorable attempt to draw a connection between those who yearn for freedom in Ukraine to the brutal Nazi invasion of the second World War. Overwhelmingly, the country of Ukraine voted for independence.

In this false narrative, which really is sort of a big lie, stark images of chaos and violence are used to persuade viewers that ethnic and linguistic Russians are under attack in Ukraine.

Footage of a border crossing between Ukraine and Poland has been used to support the outlandish claims that Ukrainian refugees are fleeing into Russia.

In Crimea, Russian forces have seized control over at least a dozen television and radio stations that are now used to broadcast misleading and false news and information around the clock.

Russian propaganda right now is in overdrive. A survey by Russia's only independent polling service, Levada, earlier this month showed that 63 percent of Russians believe state media portrays an objective picture of Ukraine.

This bill puts us on the offensive in this information battle. It does so by requiring Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Voice of America to increase broadcasts to the people of eastern Ukraine and Crimea, prioritizing programming to populations that are being inundated with Russian propaganda and combating the misinformation they are receiving.

This bill also supports efforts to circumvent Russian jamming. The Russian government has targeted Ukrainian television and radio stations, jamming their signals and disrupting their ability to reach Ukrainian audiences while the Russian propaganda broadcasts come in relentlessly.

In addition, this bill supports U.S. international broadcasting to the Balkans and Moldova, two regions that are subject to the wider Russian propaganda campaign.

The free flow of information forms the foundation for a strong democratic society. Russian propaganda kills democratic prospects. This is the problem with the fact that the state and Russia has now taken over all independent media.

As they struggle to build democracy, this bill will help provide the people of Ukraine with news and information that is accessible, credible, and accurate. It will basically be surrogate broadcasting.

I urge its passage, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. Speaker, it is a sad state of affairs. There was one television station left in Russia that had some measure of independence, that wasn't state-controlled. Russia, President Putin, went after that institution, and now it is no longer broadcasting.

Russia has been waging an intense, aggressive, and very blunt disinformation campaign. Not only is that campaign directed at disinformation to people in Ukraine, but they have also spun tales of sinister plotting by the West. This measure, S. 2183, responds by directing U.S. international broadcasters to advance access to uncensored sources of information, the truth, about what is happening on the ground in Ukraine, to use stringers
and reporters and to operate as a surrogate radio broadcast source in order to get news and information to people that are otherwise subject to the Russian propaganda, state-run propaganda that is coming into the country. I think it is important that this be done because the Ukrainian stations themselves have now been jammed by the Russians, by the Russian Government.

The former head of Radio Free Europe once described the mission of his broadcasts as one that ``irritates authoritarian regimes, inspires democrats, and creates greater space for civil society.'' We need to create greater space for civil society in Eastern Europe today. We need to provide a platform to inspire those who want to see democratic governance, and that is exactly the type of response that is needed.

For years, this type of broadcasting has been pivotal in helping young democracies push back against media lies and distortions and get off of their feet. We know from listening to Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa how important this broadcasting can be. It is the type of broadcasting needed now in Ukraine and the surrounding region more than ever.

So I urge the House to pass S. 2183 and ensure that Russian attempts to undermine democracy in Ukraine through an intense propaganda campaign do not go unanswered.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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