H.R. 5117 — SPIN Act

This section prohibits dissemination within the United States, its territories, or possessions of information prepared for foreign audiences under public diplomacy programs (i.e., materials authorized under the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948, or Smith-Mundt Act). It limits access to such information to examination only, in English at the Department of State following its release abroad, by representatives of U.S. press associations, newspapers, magazines, radio systems and stations, research students and scholars, and Members of Congress. (Thus, it eliminates prior authority for domestic availability of such materials upon request and reimbursement of costs and for their transfer to the Archivist of the United States 12 years after initial foreign dissemination.)