WASHINGTON—Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) issued the below statement after introducing H.R. 3776, a bipartisan bill to help keep the internet open, reliable and secure:

“The U.S. is increasingly under attack by foreign actors online.  Now more than ever, we need a high-ranking cyber diplomat at the State Department to prioritize these efforts and ensure we keep the internet open, reliable and secure. The bipartisan Cyber Diplomacy Act will help counter foreign threats on the internet while promoting human rights and new jobs and economic growth.”

The Cyber Diplomacy Act (H.R. 3776):

• Establishes a high-level Ambassador for Cyberspace to lead the State Department’s cyber diplomacy efforts and directs the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations to advance United States international cyberspace policy;
• Creates a United States international cyber policy that advances democratic principles and reject attempts by Russia and China to extort more control and censorship over the Internet;
• Specifies key objectives for implementing the strategy, including securing commitments on responsible state behavior, and requires regular updates to the strategy;
• Promotes working with foreign governments to support the United States international cyberspace policy and establishes a congressional notification process for preexisting and future arrangements; and
• Requires the State Department’s annual country report on human rights to include assessments related to internet freedoms.

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