Chinese-Backed Media Accountability Act
Latest action · Oct 5, 2020 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedOct 5, 2020
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Chinese-Backed Media Accountability Act
This bill places restrictions on nonimmigrant visas for journalists from China who work for a Chinese state-run media organization.
The Department of State shall report to Congress on the number of Chinese nationals who (1) work as journalists for an organization identified as a Chinese state-run media organization (or whose work product is effectively controlled by China's government or the Chinese Communist Party); (2) were in the United States on the date this bill was enacted; and (3) were issued an H-1B, I-1, or L-1 visa in the past year. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may not approve a petition for one of these visas for such a Chinese journalist until the State Department submits this report, which shall be due within 30 days of this bill's enactment. The State Department shall update this report every two years and provide other related information.
In addition, the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs must ensure that (1) the number of such visas issued to Chinese journalists does not exceed the number of U.S. journalists in China, and (2) such a visa is valid for no longer than 90 days.
The bill identifies specific organizations, such as China Central Television and the People's Daily, as Chinese state-run media organizations, and directs the State Department to identify any other organizations that qualify as such.
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Oct 5, 2020.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-TN | Marsha Blackburn | Original | Oct 5, 2020 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Oct 5, 2020Introduced in Senate
- Oct 5, 2020Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Immigration.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Oct 5, 2020Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.