I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1253 

To modernize and streamline the public diplomacy capabilities of the Department of State, increase evaluation of public diplomacy programming, 

enhance strategic planning for the Department’s public diplomacy physical presence abroad, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2021 

Mr. MEUSER (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To modernize and streamline the public diplomacy capabilities of the Department of State, increase evaluation of 

public diplomacy programming, enhance strategic planning for the Department’s public diplomacy physical 

presence abroad, 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 ‘‘Public Diplomacy Mod5 ernization Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AVOIDING DUPLICATION OF PROGRAMS AND EF2 FORTS. 

3 The Secretary of State shall— 

4 (1) identify opportunities for greater efficiency 

5 of operations, including through improved coordina6 tion of efforts across public diplomacy bureaus and 

7 offices of the Department of State; and 

8 (2) maximize shared use of resources between, 

9 and within, such public diplomacy bureaus and of10 fices in cases in which programs, facilities, or admin11 istrative functions are duplicative or substantially 

12 overlapping. 

13 SEC. 3. IMPROVING RESEARCH AND EVALUATION OF PUB14 LIC DIPLOMACY. 

15 (a) RESEARCH AND EVALUATION ACTIVITIES.—The 

16 Secretary of State, acting through the Director of Re17 search and Evaluation appointed pursuant to subsection 

18 (b), shall— 

19 (1) conduct regular research and evaluation of 

20 public diplomacy programs and activities of the De21 partment, including through the routine use of audi22 ence research, digital analytics, and impact evalua23 tions, to plan and execute such programs and activi24 ties; and 


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1 (2) make available to Congress the findings of 

2 the research and evaluations conducted under para3 graph (1). 

4 (b) DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND EVALUATION.— 

5 (1) APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of State shall appoint a Director of Research 

8 and Evaluation (referred to in this subsection as the 

9 ‘‘Director’’) in the Office of Policy, Planning, and 

10 Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs 

11 of the Department. 

12 (2) LIMITATION ON APPOINTMENT.—The ap13 pointment of the Director pursuant to paragraph (1) 

14 shall not result in an increase in the overall full-time 

15 equivalent positions within the Department of State. 

16 (3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Director shall— 

17 (A) coordinate and oversee the research 

18 and evaluation of public diplomacy programs 

19 and activities of the Department of State in 

20 order to— 

21 (i) improve public diplomacy strate22 gies and tactics; and 

23 (ii) ensure that such programs and 

24 activities are increasing the knowledge, unVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1253.IH H1253

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1 derstanding, and trust of the United 

2 States by relevant target audiences; 

3 (B) routinely organize and oversee audi4 ence research, digital analytics, and impact 

5 evaluations across all public diplomacy bureaus 

6 and offices of the Department; 

7 (C) support United States diplomatic 

8 posts’ public affairs sections; 

9 (D) share appropriate public diplomacy re10 search and evaluation information within the 

11 Department and with other appropriate Federal 

12 departments and agencies; 

13 (E) regularly design and coordinate stand14 ardized research questions, methodologies, and 

15 procedures to ensure that public diplomacy pro16 grams and activities across all public diplomacy 

17 bureaus and offices are designed to meet appro18 priate foreign policy objectives; and 

19 (F) report biannually to the United States 

20 Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, 

21 through the Subcommittee on Research and 

22 Evaluation established pursuant to subsection 

23 (f), regarding the research and evaluation of all 

24 public diplomacy bureaus and offices. 


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1 (4) GUIDANCE AND TRAINING.—Not later than 

2 one year after the appointment of the Director pur3 suant to paragraph (1), the Director shall develop 

4 guidance and training, including curriculum for use 

5 by the Foreign Service Institute, for all public diplo6 macy officers of the Department regarding the read7 ing and interpretation of public diplomacy program 

8 and activity evaluation findings to ensure that such 

9 findings and related lessons learned are implemented 

10 in the planning and evaluation of all public diplo11 macy programs and activities of the Department. 

12 (c) PRIORITIZING RESEARCH AND EVALUATION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of the Office of 

14 Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplo15 macy and Public Affairs of the Department of State 

16 shall ensure that research and evaluation of public 

17 diplomacy and activities of the Department, as co18 ordinated and overseen by the Director pursuant to 

19 subsection (b), supports strategic planning and re20 source allocation across all public diplomacy bureaus 

21 and offices of the Department. 

22 (2) ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES.—Amounts al23 located for the purpose of research and evaluation of 

24 public diplomacy programs and activities of the De25 partment of State pursuant to subsection (b) shall 


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1 be made available to be disbursed at the direction of 

2 the Director of Research and Evaluation among the 

3 research and evaluation staff across all public diplo4 macy bureaus and offices of the Department. 

5 (3) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

6 Congress that the Department of State should 

7 gradually increase its allocation of funds made avail8 able under the headings ‘‘Educational and Cultural 

9 Exchange Programs’’ and ‘‘Diplomatic Programs’’ 

10 for research and evaluation of public diplomacy pro11 grams and activities of the Department pursuant to 

12 subsection (b) to a percentage of program funds that 

13 is commensurate with Federal Government best 

14 practices. 

15 (d) LIMITED EXEMPTION RELATING TO THE PAPER16 WORK REDUCTION ACT.—Chapter 35 of title 44, United 

17 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduc18 tion Act’’) shall not apply to the collection of information 

19 directed at any individuals conducted by, or on behalf of, 

20 the Department of State for the purpose of audience re21 search, monitoring, and evaluations, and in connection 

22 with the Department’s activities conducted pursuant to 

23 any of the following: 

24 (1) The Mutual Educational and Cultural Ex25 change Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.). 


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1 (2) Section 1287 of the National Defense Au2 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 

3 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note). 

4 (3) The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

5 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.). 

6 (e) LIMITED EXEMPTION RELATING TO THE PRI7 VACY ACT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Department of State 

9 shall maintain, collect, use, and disseminate records 

10 (as such term is defined in section 552a(a)(4) of 

11 title 5, United States Code) for audience research, 

12 digital analytics, and impact evaluation of commu13 nications related to public diplomacy efforts intended 

14 for foreign audiences. 

15 (2) CONDITIONS.—Audience research, digital 

16 analytics, and impact evaluations under paragraph 

17 (1) shall be— 

18 (A) reasonably tailored to meet the pur19 poses of this subsection; and 

20 (B) carried out with due regard for privacy 

21 and civil liberties guidance and oversight. 

22 (f) UNITED STATES ADVISORY COMMISSION ON PUB23 LIC DIPLOMACY.— 

24 (1) SUBCOMMITTEE FOR RESEARCH AND EVAL25 UATION.—The United States Advisory Commission 


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1 on Public Diplomacy shall establish a Subcommittee 

2 on Research and Evaluation to monitor and advise 

3 regarding audience research, digital analytics, and 

4 impact evaluations carried out by the Department of 

5 State and the United States Agency for Global 

6 Media. 

7 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Subcommittee on 

8 Research and Evaluation established pursuant to 

9 paragraph (1) shall submit to the Committee on 

10 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 

11 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

12 an annual report, in conjunction with the United 

13 States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy’s 

14 Comprehensive Annual Report on the performance 

15 of the Department of State and the United States 

16 Agency for Global Media, describing all actions 

17 taken by the Subcommittee pursuant to paragraph 

18 (1) and any findings made as a result of such ac19 tions. 

20 SEC. 4. PERMANENT REAUTHORIZATION OF THE UNITED 

21 STATES ADVISORY COMMISSION ON PUBLIC 

22 DIPLOMACY. 

23 Section 1334 of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Re24 structuring Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6553) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘SUN2 SET’’ and inserting ‘‘CONTINUATION’’; and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘until October 1, 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 5. STREAMLINING OF SUPPORT FUNCTIONS. 

5 (a) WORKING GROUP ESTABLISHED.—Not later than 

6 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

7 Secretary of State shall establish a working group to ex8 plore the possibilities and cost-benefit analysis of transi9 tioning to a shared services model as such pertains to 

10 human resources, travel, purchasing, budgetary planning, 

11 and all other executive support functions for all bureaus 

12 of the Department of State that report to the Under Sec13 retary for Public Diplomacy of the Department. 

14 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

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

16 submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

17 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela18 tions of the Senate a plan to implement any such findings 

19 of the working group established under subsection (a). 

20 SEC. 6. GUIDANCE FOR CLOSURE OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 

21 FACILITIES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 

24 shall adopt, and include in the Foreign Affairs Manual, 

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1 lomatic post at which the construction of a new embassy 

2 compound or new consulate compound would result in the 

3 closure or co-location of an American Space, American 

4 Center, American Corner, or any other public diplomacy 

5 facility under the Secure Embassy Construction and 

6 Counterterrorism Act of 1999 (22 U.S.C. 4865 et seq.). 

7 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The guidelines required by 

8 subsection (a) shall include the following: 

9 (1) Standardized notification to each chief of 

10 mission at a diplomatic post describing the require11 ments of the Secure Embassy Construction and 

12 Counterterrorism Act of 1999 and the impact on the 

13 mission footprint of such requirements. 

14 (2) An assessment and recommendations from 

15 each chief of mission of potential impacts to public 

16 diplomacy programming at such diplomatic post if 

17 any public diplomacy facility referred to in section 

18 (a) is closed or staff is co-located in accordance with 

19 such Act. 

20 (3) A process by which assessments and rec21 ommendations under paragraph (2) are considered 

22 by the Secretary of State and the appropriate Under 

23 Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries of the Depart24 ment of State. 


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1 (4) Notification to the Committee on Foreign 

2 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

3 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, prior 

4 to the initiation of a new embassy compound or new 

5 consulate compound design, of the intent to close 

6 any such public diplomacy facility or co-locate public 

7 diplomacy staff in accordance with such Act. 

8 (c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

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

10 submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

11 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela12 tions of the Senate a report containing the guidelines re13 quired under subsection (a) and any recommendations for 

14 any modifications to such guidelines. 

15 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) AUDIENCE RESEARCH.—The term ‘‘audi18 ence research’’ means research conducted at the out19 set of a public diplomacy program or the outset of 

20 campaign planning and design regarding specific au21 dience segments to understand the attitudes, inter22 ests, knowledge, and behaviors of such audience seg23 ments. 

24 (2) DIGITAL ANALYTICS.—The term ‘‘digital 

25 analytics’’ means the analysis of qualitative and 


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1 quantitative data, accumulated in digital format, to 

2 indicate the outputs and outcomes of a public diplo3 macy program or campaign. 

4 (3) IMPACT EVALUATION.—The term ‘‘impact 

5 evaluation’’ means an assessment of the changes in 

6 the audience targeted by a public diplomacy program 

7 or campaign that can be attributed to such program 

8 or campaign. 

9 (4) PUBLIC DIPLOMACY BUREAUS AND OF10 FICES.—The term ‘‘public diplomacy bureaus and 

11 offices’’ means, with respect to the Department, the 

12 following: 

13 (A) The Bureau of Educational and Cul14 tural Affairs. 

15 (B) The Bureau of Global Public Affairs. 

16 (C) The Office of Policy, Planning, and 

17 Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Af18 fairs. 

19 (D) The Global Engagement Center. 

20 (E) The public diplomacy functions within 

21 the regional and functional bureaus. 

Æ 


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