Mr. James P. Rubin, Special Envoy and Coordinator, Global Engagement Center (July 24, 2023)

Summary

The Committee on Small Business, Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations writes to Rubin, Special Envoy and Coordinator of the Global Engagement Center at the U.S. Department of State, to follow up on a June 7, 2023 letter. The Committee states that, other than confirmation of receipt, the Committee has not heard back, and that the requested documents were due no later than June 21, 2023. The letter reiterates the request for an unredacted list of all GEC grant recipients and associated award numbers from FY 2019 to present, and unredacted copies of all GEC Award Purpose and Objective Alignment documents from FY 2019 to present. The signature block names Roger Williams and Beth Van Duyne, each as Chairman.

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                                                  July 24, 2023

Mr. James P. Rubin
Special Envoy and Coordinator
Global Engagement Center
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520

Dear Mr. Rubin:

         The Committee on Small Business, Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and
Regulations writes to follow up on our June 7, 2023 letter requesting information on the Biden
Administration’s funding of entities that pressure advertising and social media companies to
remove small businesses from their platforms because of their apparent political positions or the
political opinions of the business owners.1 To date, other than confirmation of receipt of the
letter, we have not heard back; despite repeated attempts to reach your staff for an update. The
requested documents were due back to us no later than June 21, 2023. The documents requested
were intentionally narrowly tailored to enable a quick response. There is no excuse for failing to
timely fulfill the Committee’s request or failing to provide staff an update on the status of the
response.

         Since our initial letter establishing this investigation, a preliminary injunction on the
Biden Administration’s proxy suppression of speech has been placed through State of Missouri
et al. v. Joseph R. Biden, et al., and the Administration’s Motion to Stay has been denied.2
Members of your staff were explicitly named in the judgement concerning what the judge called
arguably “the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history”.3 The
Committee’s request is now more timely than ever.

      As previously mentioned, this Committee wishes to understand the use of any Global
Engagement Center funding of entities whose actions have resulted in small businesses’ loss of
economic opportunities from the freedom of engaging in uncensored speech on online platforms.



1
  Letter from Roger Williams, et al., Chairman, H. Comm. on Small Bus., to James P. Rubin, Special Envoy and
Coordinator, Global Engagement Center, U.S. Dep’t of State (Jun. 7, 2023).
2
  State of Missouri, et al. v. Joseph R. Biden Jr., et. al., No. 3:22-cv-01213-TAD-KDM (W.D. La. filed Jul. 4, 2023);
see also State of Missouri, et al. v. Joseph R. Biden Jr., et. al., No. 3:22-cv-01213-TAD-KDM (W.D. La. filed Jul.
10, 2023).
3
  Id.
Mr. James P. Rubin
July 24, 2023
Page 2 of 2

The federal government cannot circumvent constitutional protections by using private actors to
accomplish what the State itself is prohibited from doing.4

       The Committee is reiterating its request for the following documentation as soon as
possible and would appreciate your prompt attention:

      1. Unredacted list of all GEC grant recipients and associated award numbers from FY 2019
         – present.

      2. Unredacted copies of all GEC Award Purpose and Objective Alignment documents from
         FY 2019 – present.

       To schedule the delivery of your response or ask any related follow-up questions, please
contact the Committee on Small Business Staff at (202) 225-5821. The Committee on Small
Business has broad authority to investigate “problems of all types of small business” under
House Rule X. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this inquiry.

                                             Sincerely,




__________________________                                     __________________________
Roger Williams                                                 Beth Van Duyne
Chairman                                                       Chairman
Committee on Small Business                                    Subcommittee on Oversight,
                                                               Investigations, and Regulations



cc:      The Honorable Nydia M. Velasquez, Ranking Member
         Committee on Small Business

         The Honorable Kweisi Mfume, Ranking Member
         Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations




4
 Norwood v. Harrison, 413 U.S. 455, 465 (1973), “The government “may not induce, encourage, or promote private
persons to accomplish what it is constitutionally forbidden to accomplish.”; Biden v. Knight First Amendment
Institute at Columbia Univ., 141 S. Ct. 1220, 1226 (2021), A private entity thus violates the First Amendment “if the
government coerces or induces it to take action the government itself would not be permitted to do, such as censor
expression of a lawful viewpoint.” (Thomas, J., concurring).


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