I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1590

To enhance United States leadership and the functioning of international 

organizations and multilateral institutions. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2003

Mr. LANTOS (for himself and Mr. DREIER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on International Relations 

A BILL

To enhance United States leadership and the functioning 

of international organizations and multilateral institutions.

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 ‘‘United States Inter5 national Leadership Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) International organizations and other multi9 lateral institutions play a key role in United States 

10 foreign policy and serve key United States foreign 
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1 policy objectives, such as obligating all countries to 

2 freeze assets of terrorist groups, preventing the pro3 liferation of chemical, biological and nuclear weap4 ons, and spearheading the fight to combat the rav5 ages of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. 

6 (2) Decisions at many international organiza7 tions, including membership and key positions, re8 main subject to determinations made by regional 

9 groups where democratic states are often in the mi10 nority and where there is intensive cooperation 

11 among repressive regimes. As a result, the United 

12 States has often been blocked in its attempts to take 

13 action in these institutions to advance its goals and 

14 objectives, including at the United Nations Human 

15 Rights Commission (where a representative of Libya 

16 was elected as chairman and the United States tem17 porarily lost a seat). 

18 (3) In order to address these shortcomings, the 

19 United States must actively work to improve the 

20 workings of international organizations and multilat21 eral institutions, particularly by creating a caucus of 

22 democratic countries that will advance United States 

23 interests. In the Second Ministerial Conference of 

24 the Community of Democracies in Seoul, Korea, on 

25 November 10–20, 2002, numerous countries rec-
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1 ommended working together as a democracy caucus 

2 in international organizations such as the United 

3 Nations and ensuring that international and regional 

4 institutions develop and apply democratic standards 

5 for member states. 

6 (4) In addition, the United States has short7 changed its ability to influence these organizations 

8 by failing to obtain enough support for positions 

9 that are congruent to or consistent with United 

10 States objectives and has not done enough to build 

11 expertise in the United States Government in the 

12 area of multilateral diplomacy. 

13 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF A DEMOCRACY CAUCUS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President of the United 

15 States, acting through the Secretary of State and the rel16 evant United States chiefs of mission, shall seek to estab17 lish a democracy caucus at the United Nations, the United 

18 Nations Human Rights Commission, the United Nations 

19 Conference on Disarmament, and at other broad-based 

20 international organizations. 

21 (b) PURPOSES OF THE CAUCUS.—A democracy cau22 cus at an international organization should—

23 (1) forge common positions, including, as ap24 propriate, at the ministerial level, on matters of con-
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1 cern before the organization and work within and 

2 across regional lines to promote agreed positions; 

3 (2) work to revise an increasingly outmoded 

4 system of regional voting and decision making; and 

5 (3) set up a rotational leadership scheme to 

6 provide member states an opportunity, for a set pe7 riod of time, to serve as the designated president of 

8 the caucus, responsible for serving as its voice in 

9 each organization. 

10 SEC. 4. ANNUAL DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS ON MULTILATERAL 

11 ISSUES. 

12 The Secretary of State, acting through the principal 

13 officers responsible for advising the Secretary on inter14 national organizations, shall ensure that a high-level dele15 gation from the United States Government, on an annual 

16 basis, is sent to consult with key foreign governments in 

17 every region in order to promote the United States agenda 

18 at key international fora, such as the United Nations Gen19 eral Assembly, United Nations Human Rights Commis20 sion, the United Nations Education, Science, and Cultural 

21 Organization, and the International Whaling Commission.
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1 SEC. 5. LEADERSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP OF INTER2 NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS. 

3 The President, acting through the Secretary of State 

4 and the relevant United States chiefs of mission, shall use 

5 the voice, vote, and influence of the United States to—

6 (1) where appropriate, reform the criteria for 

7 leadership and, in appropriate cases for membership, 

8 at all United Nations bodies and at other inter9 national organizations and multilateral institutions 

10 to which the United States is a member so as to ex11 clude nations that violate the principles of the spe12 cific organization; 

13 (2) make it a policy of the United Nations and 

14 other international organizations and multilateral in15 stitutions, in which the United States is a member, 

16 that a member state may not stand in nomination 

17 or be in rotation for a leadership position in such 

18 bodies if such member state is subject to sanctions 

19 imposed by the United Nations Security Council; 

20 and 

21 (3) work to ensure that no member state stand 

22 in nomination or be in rotation for a leadership posi23 tion in such organizations if such member state is 

24 subject to a determination under section 620A of the 

25 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, section 40 of the 
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1 Arms Export Control Act, or section 6(j) of the Ex2 port Administration Act. 

3 SEC. 6. INCREASED TRAINING IN MULTILATERAL DIPLO4 MACY. 

5 (a) TRAINING PROGRAMS.—Section 708 of the For6 eign Service Act (22 U.S.C. 4028) is amended by adding 

7 after subsection (b) the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(c) TRAINING IN MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab10 lish a series of training courses for officers of the 

11 Service, including appropriate chiefs of mission, on 

12 the conduct of diplomacy at international organiza13 tions and other multilateral institutions and at 

14 broad-based multilateral negotiations of inter15 national instruments. 

16 ‘‘(2) PARTICULAR PROGRAMS.—The Secretary 

17 shall ensure that the training described in paragraph 

18 (1) is provided at various stages of the career of 

19 members of the Service. In particular, the Secretary 

20 shall ensure that after January 1, 2004—

21 ‘‘(A) officers of the Service receive training 

22 on the conduct of diplomacy at international or23 ganizations and other multilateral institutions 

24 and at broad-based multilateral negotiations of 
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1 international instruments as part of their train2 ing upon entry of the service; and 

3 ‘‘(B) officers of the Service, including 

4 chiefs of mission, who are assigned to United 

5 States missions representing the United States 

6 to international organizations and other multi7 lateral institutions or who are assigned in 

8 Washington, D.C. to positions that have as 

9 their primary responsibility formulation of pol10 icy towards such organizations and institutions 

11 or towards participation in broad-based multi12 lateral negotiations of international instruments 

13 receive specialized training in the areas de14 scribed in paragraph (1) prior to beginning of 

15 service for such assignment or, if receiving such 

16 training at that time is not practical, within the 

17 first year of beginning such assignment.’’. 

18 (b) TRAINING FOR CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES.—

19 The Secretary shall ensure that employees of the Depart20 ment of State that are members of the civil service and 

21 that are assigned to positions described in section 708(c) 

22 of the Foreign Service Act (as amended by this Act) have 

23 training described in such section. 

24 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 708 of 

25 such Act is further amended—
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1 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘(a) The’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘(a) TRAINING ON HUMAN RIGHTS.—

3 The’’; and 

4 (2) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘(b) The’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘(b) TRAINING ON REFUGEE LAW AND

6 RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION.—The’’. 

7 SEC. 7. PROMOTING ASSIGNMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL OR8 GANIZATIONS. 

9 (a) PROMOTIONS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 603(b) of the For11 eign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4003) is 

12 amended by striking the period at the end and in13 serting the following: ‘‘, and shall consider whether 

14 the member of the Service has served in a position 

15 whose primary responsibility is to formulate policy 

16 towards or represent the United States at an inter17 national organization, a multilateral institution, or a 

18 broad-based multilateral negotiation of an inter19 national instrument.’’. 

20 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

21 by paragraph (1) shall take effect January 1, 2010. 

22 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF A MULTILATERAL DIPLO23 MACY CONE IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE.— 

24 (1) FINDINGS.—
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1 (A) The Department of State maintains a 

2 number of United States missions both within 

3 the United States and abroad that are dedi4 cated to representing the United States to 

5 international organizations and multilateral in6 stitutions, including missions in New York, 

7 Brussels, Geneva, Rome, Montreal, Nairobi, Vi8 enna, and Paris, which will soon be responsible 

9 for United States representation to UNESCO 

10 and OECD. 

11 (B) In offices at the Harry S. Truman 

12 Building, the Department maintains a signifi13 cant number of positions in bureaus that are ei14 ther dedicated, or whose primary responsibility 

15 is, to represent the United States to such orga16 nizations and institutions or at multilateral ne17 gotiations. 

18 (C) Given the large number of positions in 

19 the United States and abroad that are dedi20 cated to multilateral diplomacy, the Department 

21 of State may be well served in developing per22 sons with specialized skills necessary to become 

23 experts in this unique form of diplomacy. 

24 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

25 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
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1 shall submit to the appropriate congressional com2 mittees a report—

3 (A) evaluating whether a new cone should 

4 be established for the Foreign Service that con5 centrates on members of the Service that serve 

6 at international organizations and multilateral 

7 institutions or are primarily responsible for par8 ticipation in broad-based multilateral negotia9 tions of international instruments; and 

10 (B) provides alternative mechanisms for 

11 achieving the objective of developing a core 

12 group of United States diplomats and other 

13 government employees who have expertise and 

14 broad experience in conducting multilateral di15 plomacy. 

16 SEC. 8. IMPLEMENTATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF OF17 FICE ON MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—The Secretary of 

19 State is authorized to establish, within the Bureau of 

20 International Organizational Affairs, an Office on Multi21 lateral Negotiations to be headed by a Special Representa22 tive for Multilateral Negotiations (in this section referred 

23 to as the ‘‘special representative’’). 

24 (b) APPOINTMENT.—The special representative shall 

25 be appointed by the President with the advice and consent 
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1 of the Senate and shall have the rank of Ambassador-at2 Large. At the discretion of the President another official 

3 at the Department may serve as the special representative. 

4 The President may direct that the special representative 

5 report to the Assistant Secretary for International Organi6 zations. 

7 (c) STAFFING.—The special representative shall have 

8 a staff of foreign service and civil service officers skilled 

9 in multilateral diplomacy. 

10 (d) DUTIES.—The special representative shall have 

11 the following responsibilities: 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The primary responsibility 

13 of the special representative shall be to assist in the 

14 organization of, and preparation for, United States 

15 participation in multilateral negotiations, including 

16 the advocacy efforts undertaken by the Department 

17 of State and other United States agencies. 

18 (2) ADVISORY ROLE.—The special representa19 tive shall advise the President and the Secretary of 

20 State, as appropriate, regarding advocacy at inter21 national organizations and multilateral institutions 

22 and negotiations and, in coordination with the As23 sistant Secretary of State for International Organi24 zational Affairs, shall make recommendations re25 garding—
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1 (A) effective strategies (and tactics) to 

2 achieve United States policy objectives at multi3 lateral negotiations; 

4 (B) the need for and timing of high level 

5 intervention by the President, the Secretary of 

6 State, the Deputy Secretary of State, and other 

7 United States officials to secure support from 

8 key foreign government officials for the United 

9 States position at such organizations, institu10 tions, and negotiations; 

11 (C) the composition of United States dele12 gations to multilateral negotiations; and 

13 (D) liaison with Congress, international or14 ganizations, nongovernmental organizations, 

15 and the private sector on matters affecting mul16 tilateral negotiations. 

17 (3) DEMOCRACY CAUCUS.—The special rep18 resentative, in coordination with the Assistant Sec19 retary for International Organizational Affairs, shall 

20 ensure the establishment of a democracy caucus (de21 scribed in section 3). 

22 (4) ANNUAL DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS OF MULTI23 LATERAL ISSUES.—The special representative, in co24 ordination with the Assistant Secretary for Inter25 national Organizational Affairs, shall organize an-
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1 nual consultations between the principal officers re2 sponsible for advising the Secretary of State on 

3 international organizations and foreign governments 

4 to promote the United States agenda at the United 

5 Nations General Assembly and other key inter6 national fora (such as the United Nations Human 

7 Rights Commission) as described in section 4. 

8 (5) LEADERSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP OF INTER9 NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.—The special representa10 tive, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary of 

11 International Organizational Affairs, shall direct the 

12 efforts of the United States Government to reform 

13 the criteria for leadership and membership of inter14 national organizations as described in section 5. 

15 (6) PARTICIPATION IN MULTILATERAL NEGO16 TIATIONS.—The special representative, or members 

17 of the special representative’s staff, may, as required 

18 by the President or the Secretary of State, serve on 

19 a United States delegation to any multilateral nego20 tiation. 

21 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 

23 submit a plan to establish a democracy caucus (described 

24 in section 3) to the Committee on International Relations 

25 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
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1 Foreign Relations of the Senate. The report required by 

2 section 7(c) may be submitted together with the report 

3 under this subsection. 

4 SEC. 9. SYNCHRONIZATION OF UNITED STATES CONTRIBU5 TIONS TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS. 

6 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act, the President shall submit a plan to the 

8 appropriate congressional committees on the implementa9 tion of section 404 of the Foreign Relations Authorization 

10 Act of 2003 (Public Law 107–228), (relating to a resump11 tion by the United States of the payment of its full con12 tribution to certain international organizations at the be13 ginning of each calendar year).

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