City and State Diplomacy Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3571 To establish an Office of Subnational Diplomacy within the Department of State, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 27, 2019 Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself and Mr. WILSON of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To establish an Office of Subnational Diplomacy within the Department of State, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘City and State Diplo- 4 macy Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The supremacy clause of the United States 8 Constitution (article VI, clause 2) establishes that 9 the Federal Government has the primary role in con- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3571.IH H3571 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3571 IH ducting diplomacy on behalf of the United States; in 1 turn, the Department of State, which was created 2 pursuant to statute by Congress in 1789, has the 3 lead role in formulating and implementing United 4 States foreign policy. 5 (2) The growth of subnational cooperation has 6 enabled States and municipalities to play an increas- 7 ingly significant role in foreign policy and com- 8 plement the efforts of the Department of State by— 9 (A) supporting exchanges and cooperation 10 agreements between elected leaders and officials 11 of State and municipal governments and those 12 of international cities, regions, and countries; 13 (B) promoting United States exports to 14 foreign markets and foreign direct investment 15 into the United States; and 16 (C) sharing best practices and striking 17 agreements with foreign counterparts on a wide 18 range of topics, including facilitating trade and 19 investment, protecting the health and safety of 20 their respective citizens, cooperating on energy 21 and the environment, and promoting people-to- 22 people exchanges. 23 (3) Global networks made up exclusively of local 24 government officials are at the forefront of har- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3571.IH H3571 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3571 IH nessing the power of cities to advance international 1 cooperation, including C40 Cities Climate Leader- 2 ship Group, ICLEI, United Cities and Local Govern- 3 ments, Global Parliament of Mayors, Urban20, 4 Strong Cities Network, and Global Compact of May- 5 ors. 6 (4) In 2010, the Department of State appointed 7 the first-ever special representative for Global Inter- 8 governmental Affairs, who led efforts to build stra- 9 tegic peer-to-peer relationships between the Depart- 10 ment of State, State and local officials, and their 11 foreign counterparts. 12 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 13 It is the sense of Congress that it is in the interest 14 of the United States to promote subnational engagements, 15 align such engagements with national foreign policy objec- 16 tives, and leverage Federal resources to enhance the im- 17 pact of such engagements. 18 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF SUBNATIONAL 19 DIPLOMACY. 20 Section 1 of the State Department Basic Authorities 21 Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a) is amended by adding at 22 the end the following new subsection: 23 ‘‘(h) OFFICE OF SUBNATIONAL DIPLOMACY.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3571.IH H3571 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3571 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be established 1 within the Department of State an Office of Sub- 2 national Diplomacy (in this subsection referred to as 3 the ‘Office’). 4 ‘‘(2) HEAD OF OFFICE.—The head of the Office 5 shall be the Ambassador-at-Large for Subnational 6 Diplomacy (in this subsection referred to as the 7 ‘Ambassador’). The Ambassador shall— 8 ‘‘(A) be appointed by the President, by and 9 with the advice and consent of the Senate; and 10 ‘‘(B) report directly to the Under Sec- 11 retary for Political Affairs. 12 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.— 13 ‘‘(A) PRINCIPAL DUTY.—The principal 14 duty of the Ambassador shall be the overall su- 15 pervision (including policy oversight of re- 16 sources) of Federal support for subnational en- 17 gagements by State and municipal governments 18 with foreign governments. The Ambassador 19 shall be the principal adviser to the Secretary 20 of State on subnational engagements and the 21 principal official on such matters within the 22 senior management of the Department of State. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3571.IH H3571 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3571 IH ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—The addi- 1 tional duties of the Ambassador shall include 2 the following: 3 ‘‘(i) Coordinating overall United 4 States policy and programs in support of 5 subnational engagements by State and mu- 6 nicipal governments with foreign govern- 7 ments, including with respect to the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(I) Coordinating resources 10 across the Department of State and 11 throughout the Federal Government 12 in support of such engagements. 13 ‘‘(II) Identifying policy, program, 14 and funding disputes among relevant 15 Federal agencies regarding such co- 16 ordination. 17 ‘‘(III) Identifying gaps in Fed- 18 eral support for such engagements 19 and developing corresponding policy 20 or programmatic changes to address 21 such gaps. 22 ‘‘(ii) Promoting United States foreign 23 policy goals through support for sub- 24 national engagements and aligning sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3571.IH H3571 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3571 IH national priorities with national foreign 1 policy goals, as appropriate. 2 ‘‘(iii) Maintaining a public database of 3 subnational engagements. 4 ‘‘(iv) Providing advisory support to 5 subnational engagements, including by as- 6 sisting State and municipal governments 7 to— 8 ‘‘(I) develop, implement, and, as 9 necessary, adjust global engagement 10 and public diplomacy strategies; and 11 ‘‘(II) implement programs to co- 12 operate with foreign governments on 13 policy priorities or managing shared 14 resources. 15 ‘‘(v) Facilitating linkages and net- 16 works between State and municipal govern- 17 ments and their foreign counterparts. 18 ‘‘(vi) Overseeing the work of Depart- 19 ment of State detailees assigned to State 20 and municipal governments pursuant to 21 this subsection. 22 ‘‘(vii) Negotiating agreements and 23 memoranda of understanding with foreign 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3571.IH H3571 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3571 IH governments to support subnational en- 1 gagements and priorities. 2 ‘‘(viii) Promoting United States trade 3 and foreign exports on behalf of United 4 States businesses through exchanges be- 5 tween the United States and foreign state, 6 municipal, and provincial governments, and 7 by establishing a more enduring relation- 8 ship overall between subnational govern- 9 ments. 10 ‘‘(ix) Coordinating subnational en- 11 gagements with the associations of sub- 12 national elected leaders, including the U.S. 13 Conference of Mayors, National Governors 14 Association, National League of Cities, Na- 15 tional Association of Counties, Council of 16 State Governments, National Conference of 17 State Legislators, and State International 18 Development Offices. 19 ‘‘(4) DETAILEES.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 21 State, acting through the Ambassador, is au- 22 thorized to detail Foreign Service officers to 23 State and municipal governments on a reim- 24 bursable or nonreimbursable basis. Such details 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3571.IH H3571 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3571 IH shall be for a period not to exceed two years, 1 and shall be without interruption or loss of For- 2 eign Service status or privilege. 3 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Detailees under 4 subparagraph (A) shall carry out the following: 5 ‘‘(i) Supporting the mission and objec- 6 tives of the Office. 7 ‘‘(ii) Coordinating activities relating to 8 State and municipal government sub- 9 national engagements with the Department 10 of State, including the Office, Department 11 leadership, and regional and functional bu- 12 reaus of the Department, as appropriate. 13 ‘‘(iii) Engaging the Department of 14 State and other Federal agencies regarding 15 security, public health, trade promotion, 16 and other programs executed at the State 17 or municipal government level. 18 ‘‘(iv) Advising State and municipal 19 government officials regarding questions of 20 global affairs, foreign policy, cooperative 21 agreements, and public diplomacy. 22 ‘‘(v) Any other duties requested by 23 State and municipal governments and ap- 24 proved by the Office. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3571.IH H3571 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3571 IH ‘‘(5) REPORT AND BRIEFING.— 1 ‘‘(A) REPORT.—Not later than one year 2 after the date of the enactment of this sub- 3 section, the Ambassador shall submit to the 4 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 5 Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 6 Relations of the Senate a report that includes 7 information relating to the following: 8 ‘‘(i) The staffing plan (including per- 9 manent and temporary staff) for the Of- 10 fice. 11 ‘‘(ii) The funding level provided to the 12 Office for the Office, together with a jus- 13 tification relating to such level. 14 ‘‘(iii) The status of filling the position 15 of Ambassador-at-Large for Subnational 16 Diplomacy. 17 ‘‘(iv) A strategic plan for the Office. 18 ‘‘(v) Any other matters as determined 19 relevant by the Ambassador. 20 ‘‘(B) BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 30 days 21 after the submission of the report required 22 under subparagraph (A) and annually there- 23 after, the Ambassador shall brief the Committee 24 on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3571.IH H3571 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3571 IH tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations 1 of the Senate on the work of the Office and any 2 changes made to the organizational structure or 3 funding of the Office. 4 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 5 ‘‘(A) MUNICIPAL.—The term ‘municipal’ 6 means, with respect to the government of a mu- 7 nicipality, a municipality with a population of 8 not fewer than 100,000 people. 9 ‘‘(B) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means the 10 50 States, the District of Columbia, and any 11 territory or possession of the United States. 12 ‘‘(C) SUBNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT.—The 13 term ‘subnational engagement’ means formal 14 meetings or events between elected officials of 15 State or municipal governments and their for- 16 eign counterparts.’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3571.IH H3571 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS