Support for Radio Free Europe

(a) Sense of congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty shall be immediately restored to its full capacity and operational position prior to Executive order attempting to shutter the agency; (2) Radio Free Europe provides reliable, uncensored, and accessible news and reporting in Ukraine and other countries where media freedom is restricted; (3) Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is one of the most critical sources of unrestricted, independent news and reporting for audiences on the periphery of the Russian Federation; (4) the Government of the Russian Federation has engaged in systematic targeting of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reporters inside the Russian Federation, which has negatively impacted the organization’s ability to provide timely, reliable, and accurate news from inside the country; and (5) despite pressure from the Government of the Russian Federation, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s audience continues to grow inside the Russian Federation and surrounding countries. (b) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated $250,000,000 for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for fiscal year 2026. (c) Authorization of new bureaus Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty may explore opening new bureaus to help expand its ability to reach audiences on the periphery of the Russian Federation. (d) Initiatives To bolster radio free europe/Radio liberty bureaus around russian federation’s periphery To help expand its reach to Russian-speaking audiences and increase its reach to audiences through digital media, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty should— (1) evaluate where Russian disinformation is most deeply pervasive in the Eurasia region; (2) develop strategies to better communicate with predominately Russian-speaking regions; (3) build on efforts to increase capacity and programming to counter disinformation in real time; (4) expand Russian language investigative journalism; (5) improve the technical capacity of the Ukraine bureau; and (6) continue efforts to increase digital news services. (e) Report required Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes— (1) recommendations of locations to open new bureaus to help reach new audiences in the broader Eurasia region; (2) an assessment of current staffing and anticipated staffing needs in order to effectively reach audiences in the broader Eurasia region; and (3) an assessment of the impact of the Government of the Russian Federation closing down Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty within the Russian Federation. (f) Appropriate congressional committees defined In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees means— (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.