By Max Keiser: On 12/29/12, President Obama signed HR
4310, the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. Section 1078 (thomas.loc.
gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.4310:) of the bill authorizes the use of propaganda
inside the US, which had previously been banned since 1948 when the Smith-Mundt
Act was passed.
History of Section 1078:
1) First version of NDAA is proposed, does
not include domestic propaganda legislation (3/29/12)
2) Domestic propaganda legislation introduced by Rep. Thornberry as stand-alone
legislation not related to NDAA, HR 5736, entitled ‘Smith-Mundt Modernization
Act of 2012.’ Defeated in committee vote. (5/10/12)
3) Exact text of HR 5736 introduced as Section 1097 of third version of NDAA,
which was approved by the house.
House sends bill to Senate. Section 1097 is entitled ‘Dissemination Abroad of
Information about the United States.’ The text of this Section 1097 is
virtually identical to that of HR 5736, except one word is removed (see
below)*. (5/18/12)
4) NDAA referred to Senate. Section 1097 appears in fourth version of bill,
‘Referred in Senate’ version. In this version, there is a Section 1078, listed
as ‘Authority for Corps of Engineers to Construct Projects Critical to
Navigation Safety’ (6/19/12)
5) Section 1097 does not appear ‘Public Print’ version, nor does Section 1078.
There is no section regarding ‘Dissemination Abroad of Information.’ (12/4/12)
6) In, ‘Engrossed Amendment Senate’ version, Section 1097 reappears as ‘Transportation
of Individuals to and from Facilities of Department of Veterans Affairs.’ There
is no section regarding ‘Dissemination Abroad of Information.’ (12/12/12)
7) Final version of bill is returned to House and Senate for re-approval.
Section 1097 does not appear, and the ‘Transportation of Individuals’ clause
does not appear elsewhere in the bill. Section 1078 reappears, now entitled
‘Dissemination Abroad of Information about the United States.’ The text of this
Section 1078 is identical to the text of Section 1097 from the third version of
the bill discussed in point #3. (12/21/12)
8) Obama signs this final version of HR 4310. (12/29/12)
That is the basic history of this bill. All
information is sourced from Library of Congress.