National Diplomacy and Development Strategy Act of 2017

Summary: National Diplomacy and Development Strategy Act of 2017 The Department of State, in coordination with the U.S. Agency for International Development and other relevant federal agencies, shall submit to Congress a comprehensive report on the national diplomacy and development strategy (NDDS) of the United States. The Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review of 2015 may be used to inform its development. Beginning in the year after the initial report is submitted, the State Department shall submit an NDDS report: (1) by October 1 of any year in which a new President is inaugurated; and (2) in any other year, by 90 days after the development of a new National Security Strategy Report. Each report shall set forth the NDDS and shall include a comprehensive description and discussion of:  the leading worldwide interests and objectives of the United States, categorized as vital, highly important, or important; the leading threats, challenges, and opportunities associated with such interests and objectives; an overview of and a plan to utilize the diplomatic and development tools and sources of leverage necessary to address or minimize the threats and challenges and to take advantage of the opportunities; and an identification of any additional resources or statutory authorizations necessary from Congress to implement the NDDS. 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Diplomacy and Development 
Strategy Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL DIPLOMACY AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY.

    (a) Strategy Required.--
            (1) Initial strategy.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the 
                date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
                State, in coordination with the Administrator of the 
                United States Agency for International Development and 
                the heads of other relevant Federal departments and 
                agencies, shall submit to Congress a comprehensive 
                report on the national diplomacy and development 
                strategy (NDDS) of the United States.
                    (B) Use of qddr.--For the purposes of fulfilling 
                the requirement under subparagraph (A), the Quadrennial 
                Diplomacy and Development Review of 2015 may be used to 
                inform the development of the NDDS.
            (2) Subsequent strategies.--Beginning in the year after the 
        initial NDDS report is submitted under paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary of State, in consultation with the Administrator of 
        the United States Agency for International Development and the 
        heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall 
        submit an NDDS report--
                    (A) in any year in which a new President is 
                inaugurated, not later than October 1; and
                    (B) in any other year, not later than 90 days after 
                the development of a new National Security Strategy 
                Report.
    (b) Content.--Each NDDS report required under subsection (a) shall 
set forth the national diplomacy and development strategy of the United 
States and shall, at a minimum, include a comprehensive description and 
discussion of the following matters:
            (1) The leading worldwide interests and objectives of the 
        United States, categorized as vital, highly important, or 
        important, in accordance with categories defined by the 
        Secretary in order to delineate a clear prioritization of the 
        United States interests and objectives.
            (2) The leading threats, challenges, and opportunities 
        associated with these interests and objectives, including--
                    (A) an assessment of the severity and likelihood of 
                the threats, explicitly linking each threat to a vital, 
                highly important, or important national interest or 
                objective;
                    (B) an assessment of the nature of the challenges 
                and how each challenge will evolve if left unaddressed; 
                and
                    (C) an assessment of the opportunities and 
                associated potential benefits to United States 
                interests or objectives.
            (3) An overview of the diplomatic and development tools and 
        sources of leverage necessary to address or minimize the 
        leading threats and challenges and to take advantage of the 
        leading opportunities, including an assessment of whether the 
        United States Government possesses those tools or sources of 
        leverage and--
                    (A) for each threat, challenge, or opportunity that 
                the Secretary assesses the United States Government 
                lacks sufficient tools or sources of leverage to 
                address, minimize, or take advantage of, a detailed 
                plan to develop or improve these tools and sources of 
                leverage; and
                    (B) an identification of key existing or needed 
                military, economic, informational, or intelligence 
                tools or sources of leverage outside the Department of 
                State that are critical to the successful 
                implementation of the NDDS.
            (4) A plan to utilize available diplomatic and development 
        tools or sources of leverage to address or minimize the leading 
        threats and challenges and to take advantage of the leading 
        opportunities, including--
                    (A) a discussion of the optimal allocation of 
                finite resources and identification of the risks 
                associated with that allocation;
                    (B) diplomatic and development regional bureau sub-
                plans, incorporating feedback from the functional 
                bureaus, that seek to promote the national interests 
                and objectives in each respective worldwide region, 
                including a description of key priorities and tasks for 
                United States missions within the region and how 
                individual missions will work together to support the 
                regional and international plan;
                    (C) a description of--
                            (i) how the NDDS is integrated and 
                        coordinated with the current National Defense 
                        Strategy (as required by section 941 of the 
                        National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
                        Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328)); and
                            (ii) how the NDDS supports the national 
                        security strategy (as described in section 108 
                        of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 
                        3043));
                    (D) an identification of relationships and 
                contributions of other United States departments or 
                agencies that are key to the fulfillment of the plan;
                    (E) an identification of the desired role of allied 
                or partner nations and a diplomatic plan to encourage 
                their cooperation in executing the NDDS; and
                    (F) an identification of the desired role of select 
                international organizations, and a diplomatic plan to 
                encourage their cooperation in executing the NDDS.
            (5) An identification of any additional resources or 
        statutory authorizations necessary from Congress to implement 
        the NDDS.
            (6) Such other information as may be necessary to help 
        inform Congress on matters relating to the NDDS.
    (c) Report.--Each NDDS report required under this section shall be 
submitted to the appropriate congressional committees in classified 
form with an unclassified summary.
    (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--In this section, the 
term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives.