Thornberry and Smith Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Counter 21st Century Threats

Press Release

U.S. Congressmen Mac Thornberry (TX-13) and Adam Smith (D-WA), both members of the House Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, introduced "The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2010" (H.R. 5729), a bipartisan bill to revise an outdated law that interferes with the United States' diplomatic and military efforts.

"It is time -- passed time really -- to update this law that ties the hands of our diplomats, military, and intelligence professionals. This bill removes legal hurdles and helps bring America's public diplomacy and communications efforts into the information age," Congressman Thornberry said.

The law at issue is the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which was created during the early days of the Cold War to provide the State Department authority to counter Soviet propaganda in foreign media. The Act divides the global media market between "foreign audiences" and "domestic audiences" and prohibits the State Department from issuing any communication which could be heard or read by audiences here at home.

"While the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 was developed to counter communism during the Cold War, it is outdated for the wars of today," said Congressman Adam Smith. "Effective strategic communication and public diplomacy should be front-and-center as we work to roll back al-Qaeda's and other violent extremists' influence among disaffected populations. An essential part of our efforts must be a coordinated, comprehensive, adequately resourced plan to counter their radical messages and undermine their recruitment abilities. To do this, Smith-Mundt must be updated to bolster our strategic communications and public diplomacy capacity on all fronts and mediums -- especially online."

Recently, the law prohibited a Minneapolis-based radio station that provides programming for the Somali-American community from replaying a Voice of America-produced piece rebutting terrorist propaganda. Even after a dozen members of this community were recruited by al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda linked Somali militia, State Department lawyers refused the replay request, noting that Smith-Mundt tied their hands.

Additionally, a June 2009 House Armed Services Committee report suggested that the law is also hindering ongoing military efforts, suggesting that " the committee's concern is that over the past sixty years, applicability of this law has affected the development of Department of Defense policy…The committee does not believe that Public Law 80--402 should constrain the Department of Defense and its partners' strategic communication and messaging efforts abroad."

"There is solid evidence that this mid-20th century law constrains our ability to counter 21st century threats and to be as effective as possible when it comes to foreign policy. Congress has a responsibility to change that, and updating this law is a significant step in the right direction," Congressman Thornberry explained.

H.R. 5729 was introduced along with eight other sponsors, including Reps. Dan Boren (D-OK), Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), James Langevin (D-RI), Jeff Miller (R-FL), Ted Poe (R-TX), Dennis Rehberg (R-MT), and John Tanner (D-TN).

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