Chris Smith: “this amendment--which I believe should have and will get the support of a very large, bipartisan number of Members of…”

“this amendment--which I believe should have and will get the support of a very large, bipartisan number of Members of this House--would boost the amount of money for Radio Free Asia by $40 million to provide for 24-hour broadcasting. That is the hope here. We will soon be voting on the very contentious issue of most-favored-nation status for China. There are many, many good Members who care deeply about human rights in China who will take a different position than I take, and others like me who believe that we ought to link MFN to human rights. This amendment is something on which we can come together and have a consensus. This is an area, with regard to human rights and freedom broadcasting, where I believe we can all come together and say: Let us be absolutely serious about getting the message of freedom into China and into some of the other countries where freedom does not flourish. As I think Members know, Radio Free Asia was authorized in 1994. It was finally up and running as of last year. We have provided $10 million per year in the bill for new broadcasting to China, Vietnam, Korea, Tibet, and Burma. And soon, I am happy to say, we will be in Laos and Cambodia as well. These efforts are very, very popular among those who care about democracy. This new money would allow, as I indicated earlier, 24-hour-a-day broadcasting. Currently we are only broadcasting 8 hours a day. And again this is surrogate broadcasting.”