II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4648 

To provide for the establishment of United States embassies in the Republic 

of Vanuatu, the Republic of Kiribati, and the Kingdom of Tonga, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2022 

Mr. OSSOFF (for himself, Mr. YOUNG, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. SCHATZ, and 

Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of United States embassies 

in the Republic of Vanuatu, the Republic of Kiribati, 

and the Kingdom of Tonga, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pacific Islands Embas5 sies Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The Pacific Islands are vital to United 

2 States national security and national interests in the 

3 Indo-Pacific region and globally. 

4 (2) The Pacific Islands region spans 15 percent 

5 of the world’s surface area and controls access to 

6 open waters in the Central Pacific, sea lanes to the 

7 Western Hemisphere, supply lines to United States 

8 forward-deployed forces in East Asia, and economi9 cally important fisheries. 

10 (3) The Pacific Islands region is home to the 

11 State of Hawaii, 11 United States territories, United 

12 States Naval Base Guam, and United States Ander13 sen Air Force Base. 

14 (4) Pacific Island countries cooperate with the 

15 United States and United States partners on mari16 time security and efforts to stop illegal, unreported, 

17 and destructive fishing. 

18 (5) The Pacific Islands are rich in biodiversity 

19 and on the frontlines of sea level rise, worsening 

20 tropical storms, and coral reef loss associated with 

21 climate change. 

22 (6) The People’s Republic of China (PRC) 

23 seeks to increase its influence in the Pacific Islands 

24 region, including through infrastructure development 


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1 under the PRC’s Belt and Road Initiative and its 

2 new security agreement with the Solomon Islands. 

3 (7) The United States Embassy in Papua New 

4 Guinea manages the diplomatic affairs of the United 

5 States to the Republic of Vanuatu, and the United 

6 States Embassy in Fiji manages the diplomatic af7 fairs of the United States to the Republic of Kiribati 

8 and the Kingdom of Tonga. 

9 (8) The United States requires a physical diplo10 matic presence in the Republic of Vanuatu, the Re11 public of Kiribati, and the Kingdom of Tonga, to en12 sure the physical and operation security of our ef13 forts in those countries to deepen relations, protect 

14 United States national security, and pursue United 

15 States national interests. 

16 (9) Increasing the number of United States em17 bassies dedicated solely to a Pacific Island country 

18 demonstrates the United States ongoing commit19 ment to the region and to the Pacific Island coun20 tries. 

21 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF EMBASSIES. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITED STATES EMBASSIES

23 IN VANUATU, KIRIBATI, AND TONGA.—As soon as pos24 sible, and not later than 2 years after the date of the en25 actment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall establish 


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1 physical United States embassies in the Republic of 

2 Vanuatu, the Republic of Kiribati, and the Kingdom of 

3 Tonga and recommend to the President ambassadors to 

4 lead each of these 3 embassies. 

5 (b) OTHER STRATEGIES.—In establishing embassies 

6 pursuant to subsection (a) and creating the physical infra7 structure to ensure the physical and operational safety of 

8 embassy personnel, the Secretary of State may pursue 

9 strategies such as renting or purchasing an existing build10 ing or colocation of embassies with like-minded partners 

11 like Australia and New Zealand. 

12 (c) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The President may waive 

13 the requirements under subsection (a) for a period of one 

14 year if the President determines and reports to Congress 

15 in advance that such waiver is necessary to protect the 

16 national security interests of the United States. 

17 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There is authorized to be appropriated for the De19 partment of State— 

20 (1) $40,200,000 for fiscal year 2023 for em21 bassy construction and maintenance of the 3 embas22 sies to be established pursuant to section 3; and 

23 (2) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 to maintain 

24 the embassies. 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

2 (a) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

3 following the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec4 retary of State shall submit to the appropriate congres5 sional committees a report that includes— 

6 (1) a description of the status of activities car7 ried out to achieve the objectives described in this 

8 Act; 

9 (2) an estimate of when embassies will be fully 

10 established pursuant to section 3(a); and 

11 (3) an update on events in the Pacific Islands 

12 region relevant to the establishment of United States 

13 embassies, including activities by the People’s Re14 public of China. 

15 (b) REPORT ON FINAL DISPOSITION.—Not later than 

16 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

17 Secretary of State shall submit a report confirming the 

18 establishment of the 3 embassies required under section 

19 3(a). 

20 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

21 In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com22 mittees’’ means— 

23 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

24 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 


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1 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

2 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

3 Representatives. 

Æ 


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