PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jul 13, 2010
Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2010 - Amends the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 to authorize the Secretary of State to provide for the preparation and dissemination of information intended primarily for foreign audiences abroad about the United States, including about its people, its history, and the federal government's policies, through press, publications, radio, motion pictures, the internet, and other information media, and through information centers and instructors. (Under current law such authority is restricted to information disseminated abroad, with a limited domestic exception.)
Amends the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1986 and 1987 to prohibit Department of State funds from being used to influence public opinion or propagandizing in the United States. (Under current law such provision applies to the United States Information Agency [USIA].)
States that such provision shall: (1) not prohibit the Department from responding to inquiries about its operations, policies, programs, or program material, or making such information available to members of the media, public, or Congress; (2) not be construed to prohibit the Department from engaging in any medium of information on a presumption that a U.S. domestic audience may be exposed to program material; and (3) apply only to the Department and to no other federal department or agency.
People & committees
Rep. Thornberry, Mac [R-TX-13] · R–TX
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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