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Earlier this month, U.S. Representative Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-04) and Chairman of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, John Moolenaar (R-MI-02), led a bipartisan letter calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Biden administration to sponsor a federal prize competition to support satellite technology that offers internet accessibility for repressed citizens of authoritarian nations or countries at war.
In the letter the lawmakers stated, “The value of open forums for ideas and information cannot be overstated: Authoritarian governments across the globe cut off internet access to maintain coercive power and undermine freedom. Democracy can prevail through civil discourse; it does not need propaganda or disinformation like authoritarianism does, but we must provide it with the oxygen to compete.”
“According to the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, prize competitions benefit the federal government with specific, measurable outcomes,” the lawmakers wrote. “ First, these allow federal agencies to pay only for success: competition increases cost effectiveness, stimulates private-sector investment, and maximizes the return on taxpayer dollars. Secondly, such competitions establish ambitious goals while increasing the number and diversity of individuals, organizations, and teams tackling a problem, including smaller to midsize companies that have not previously received federal funding. Lastly, these prizes underscore our commitment to some of our most deeply-held values as a democracy, inspiring the public to tackle scientific, technical, and societal problems.”
The additional signers include Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), Neal Dunn (R-FL-02), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11), and André Carson (D-IN-07).
The letter in full can be found here.
[Ed. Note: Radio Free Europe was an American Cold War response to communist hegemony.]
