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. 

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 ‘‘City and State Diplo5 macy Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The supremacy clause of the United States 

9 Constitution (article VI, clause 2) establishes that 

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1 ducting diplomacy on behalf of the United States; in 

2 turn, the Department of State, which was created 

3 pursuant to statute by Congress in 1789, has the 

4 lead role in formulating and implementing United 

5 States foreign policy. 

6 (2) The growth of subnational cooperation has 

7 enabled States and municipalities to play an increas8 ingly significant role in foreign policy and com9 plement the efforts of the Department of State by— 

10 (A) supporting exchanges and cooperation 

11 agreements between elected leaders and officials 

12 of State and municipal governments and those 

13 of international cities, regions, and countries; 

14 (B) promoting United States exports to 

15 foreign markets and foreign direct investment 

16 into the United States; and 

17 (C) sharing best practices and striking 

18 agreements with foreign counterparts on a wide 

19 range of topics, including facilitating trade and 

20 investment, protecting the health and safety of 

21 their respective citizens, cooperating on energy 

22 and the environment, and promoting people-to23 people exchanges. 

24 (3) Global networks made up exclusively of local 

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1 nessing the power of cities to advance international 

2 cooperation, including C40 Cities Climate Leader3 ship Group, ICLEI, United Cities and Local Govern4 ments, Global Parliament of Mayors, Urban20, 

5 Strong Cities Network, and Global Compact of May6 ors. 

7 (4) In 2010, the Department of State appointed 

8 the first-ever special representative for Global Inter9 governmental Affairs, who led efforts to build stra10 tegic peer-to-peer relationships between the Depart11 ment of State, State and local officials, and their 

12 foreign counterparts. 

13 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

14 It is the sense of Congress that it is in the interest 

15 of the United States to promote subnational engagements, 

16 align such engagements with national foreign policy objec17 tives, and leverage Federal resources to enhance the im18 pact of such engagements. 

19 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF SUBNATIONAL 

20 DIPLOMACY. 

21 Section 1 of the State Department Basic Authorities 

22 Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a) is amended by adding at 

23 the end the following new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(h) OFFICE OF SUBNATIONAL DIPLOMACY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be established 

2 within the Department of State an Office of Sub3 national Diplomacy (in this subsection referred to as 

4 the ‘Office’). 

5 ‘‘(2) HEAD OF OFFICE.—The head of the Office 

6 shall be the Ambassador-at-Large for Subnational 

7 Diplomacy (in this subsection referred to as the 

8 ‘Ambassador’). The Ambassador shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) be appointed by the President, by and 

10 with the advice and consent of the Senate; and 

11 ‘‘(B) report directly to the Under Sec12 retary for Political Affairs. 

13 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) PRINCIPAL DUTY.—The principal 

15 duty of the Ambassador shall be the overall su16 pervision (including policy oversight of re17 sources) of Federal support for subnational en18 gagements by State and municipal governments 

19 with foreign governments. The Ambassador 

20 shall be the principal adviser to the Secretary 

21 of State on subnational engagements and the 

22 principal official on such matters within the 

23 senior management of the Department of State. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—The addi2 tional duties of the Ambassador shall include 

3 the following: 

4 ‘‘(i) Coordinating overall United 

5 States policy and programs in support of 

6 subnational engagements by State and mu7 nicipal governments with foreign govern8 ments, including with respect to the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(I) Coordinating resources 

11 across the Department of State and 

12 throughout the Federal Government 

13 in support of such engagements. 

14 ‘‘(II) Identifying policy, program, 

15 and funding disputes among relevant 

16 Federal agencies regarding such co17 ordination. 

18 ‘‘(III) Identifying gaps in Fed19 eral support for such engagements 

20 and developing corresponding policy 

21 or programmatic changes to address 

22 such gaps. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Promoting United States foreign 

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1 national priorities with national foreign 

2 policy goals, as appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Maintaining a public database of 

4 subnational engagements. 

5 ‘‘(iv) Providing advisory support to 

6 subnational engagements, including by as7 sisting State and municipal governments 

8 to— 

9 ‘‘(I) develop, implement, and, as 

10 necessary, adjust global engagement 

11 and public diplomacy strategies; and 

12 ‘‘(II) implement programs to co13 operate with foreign governments on 

14 policy priorities or managing shared 

15 resources. 

16 ‘‘(v) Facilitating linkages and net17 works between State and municipal govern18 ments and their foreign counterparts. 

19 ‘‘(vi) Overseeing the work of Depart20 ment of State detailees assigned to State 

21 and municipal governments pursuant to 

22 this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(vii) Negotiating agreements and 

24 memoranda of understanding with foreign 


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1 governments to support subnational en2 gagements and priorities. 

3 ‘‘(viii) Promoting United States trade 

4 and foreign exports on behalf of United 

5 States businesses through exchanges be6 tween the United States and foreign state, 

7 municipal, and provincial governments, and 

8 by establishing a more enduring relation9 ship overall between subnational govern10 ments. 

11 ‘‘(ix) Coordinating subnational en12 gagements with the associations of sub13 national elected leaders, including the U.S. 

14 Conference of Mayors, National Governors 

15 Association, National League of Cities, Na16 tional Association of Counties, Council of 

17 State Governments, National Conference of 

18 State Legislators, and State International 

19 Development Offices. 

20 ‘‘(4) DETAILEES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

22 State, acting through the Ambassador, is au23 thorized to detail Foreign Service officers to 

24 State and municipal governments on a reim25 bursable or nonreimbursable basis. Such details 


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1 shall be for a period not to exceed two years, 

2 and shall be without interruption or loss of For3 eign Service status or privilege. 

4 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Detailees under 

5 subparagraph (A) shall carry out the following: 

6 ‘‘(i) Supporting the mission and objec7 tives of the Office. 

8 ‘‘(ii) Coordinating activities relating to 

9 State and municipal government sub10 national engagements with the Department 

11 of State, including the Office, Department 

12 leadership, and regional and functional bu13 reaus of the Department, as appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(iii) Engaging the Department of 

15 State and other Federal agencies regarding 

16 security, public health, trade promotion, 

17 and other programs executed at the State 

18 or municipal government level. 

19 ‘‘(iv) Advising State and municipal 

20 government officials regarding questions of 

21 global affairs, foreign policy, cooperative 

22 agreements, and public diplomacy. 

23 ‘‘(v) Any other duties requested by 

24 State and municipal governments and ap25 proved by the Office. 


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1 ‘‘(5) REPORT AND BRIEFING.— 

2 ‘‘(A) REPORT.—Not later than one year 

3 after the date of the enactment of this sub4 section, the Ambassador shall submit to the 

5 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 

6 Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 

7 Relations of the Senate a report that includes 

8 information relating to the following: 

9 ‘‘(i) The staffing plan (including per10 manent and temporary staff) for the Of11 fice. 

12 ‘‘(ii) The funding level provided to the 

13 Office for the Office, together with a jus14 tification relating to such level. 

15 ‘‘(iii) The status of filling the position 

16 of Ambassador-at-Large for Subnational 

17 Diplomacy. 

18 ‘‘(iv) A strategic plan for the Office. 

19 ‘‘(v) Any other matters as determined 

20 relevant by the Ambassador. 

21 ‘‘(B) BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 30 days 

22 after the submission of the report required 

23 under subparagraph (A) and annually there24 after, the Ambassador shall brief the Committee 

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1 tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations 

2 of the Senate on the work of the Office and any 

3 changes made to the organizational structure or 

4 funding of the Office. 

5 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

6 ‘‘(A) MUNICIPAL.—The term ‘municipal’ 

7 means, with respect to the government of a mu8 nicipality, a municipality with a population of 

9 not fewer than 100,000 people. 

10 ‘‘(B) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means the 

11 50 States, the District of Columbia, and any 

12 territory or possession of the United States. 

13 ‘‘(C) SUBNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT.—The 

14 term ‘subnational engagement’ means formal 

15 meetings or events between elected officials of 

16 State or municipal governments and their for17 eign counterparts.’’. 

Æ 


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