Text of Senate Amendment 6493

On 2026-06-24, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) delivered a floor speech titled "Text Of Senate Amendment 6493" in the Senate.

Text of Senate Amendment 6493

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)] [Senate] [Page S3613] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6493. Mrs. SHAHEEN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: At the appropriate place, insert the following: Subtitle _--Countering Adversarial Propaganda SEC. _1. ANNUAL REPORT ON FOREIGN MALIGN INFLUENCE ACTIVITIES. (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for five years, the President, in coordination with the heads of relevant departments and agencies, shall submit to Congress a report that includes the following: (1) An assessment of the threats posed by foreign malign influence activities targeting the United States or its allies and partners conducted by the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the Republic of Cuba. (2) A description of significant foreign malign influence activities by foreign adversaries identified during the preceding year, including activities conducted through-- (A) coordinated inauthentic behavior, adversarial propaganda, and malign influence campaigns; (B) cyber-enabled information operations; (C) cognitive, psychological, or behavioral influence activities; (D) covert, proxy, or state-sponsored media operations; and (E) artificial intelligence-enabled capabilities, including generative artificial intelligence systems, synthetic media, deepfakes, automated content generation, and other emerging technologies. (3) An assessment of significant incidents undertaken by foreign adversaries during the preceding year involving foreign-sponsored influence operations targeting democratic institutions, elections, government decision-making, critical infrastructure, public opinion, or societal cohesion in the United States and allied and partner nations. (4) An analysis of emerging trends, tactics, techniques, and procedures employed by foreign adversaries to conduct foreign malign influence activities, including the integration of artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities, proxy networks, state-owned media, and other instruments of national power. (5) An assessment of vulnerabilities within the United States and allied nations that may be exploited by foreign malign influence campaigns. (6) An evaluation of the effectiveness of United States Government efforts to identify, expose, deter, counter, and mitigate foreign malign influence activities. (7) A description of coordination among relevant departments and agencies. (8) Recommendations for legislative, diplomatic, informational, intelligence, economic, technological, or other actions necessary to counter existing and emerging foreign malign influence threats. (b) Form.-- (1) In general.--Each report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. (2) Public availability.--The unclassified portion of each report required by subsection (a) shall be made publicly available on an internet website of the Federal Government not later than 30 days after submission to Congress. SEC. _2. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVERSARIAL PROPAGANDA WATCHER PROGRAM. (a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall establish a program, to be known as the ``Adversarial Propaganda Watchers Program'', within the Department of State to strengthen the capacity of the United States to monitor, expose, and respond to efforts by foreign malign actors to manipulate local information environments in a manner contrary to the interests of the United States and partner governments. (b) Functions.--The Adversarial Propaganda Watchers Program shall-- (1) identify, monitor, and analyze foreign malign operations conducted by the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the Republic of Cuba; (2) strengthen the capacity of the United States Government to engage with host governments, other partner governments, and regional and international organizations and institutions to coordinate responses to adversarial propaganda, coordinated inauthentic behavior, and malign influence operations; and (3) support capacity-building for partner countries, including through nongovernmental entities, to detect and respond to adversarial propaganda, coordinated inauthentic behavior, and malign influence operations. (c) Placement.--In carrying out the Adversarial Propaganda Watchers Program, the Secretary of State shall place officers in select United States diplomatic and consular posts in high-risk partner countries who have sufficient subject matter expertise, language skills, and training to effectively carry out the functions described in subsection (b). ______