II 

Calendar No. 458 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4320 

To enhance security at United States diplomatic facilities, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 26, 2022 

Mr. RISCH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

JULY 21, 2022 

Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To enhance security at United States diplomatic facilities, 

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 ‘‘Secure Embassy Con5 struction and Counterterrorism Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The Secure Embassy Construction and 

2 Counterterrorism Act of 1999 (title VI of division A 

3 of appendix G of Public Law 106–113) was a nec4 essary response to bombings on August 7, 1998, at 

5 the United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and 

6 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania that were destroyed by 

7 simultaneously exploding bombs. The resulting ex8 plosions killed 220 persons and injured more than 

9 4,000 others. Twelve Americans and 40 Kenyan and 

10 Tanzanian employees of the United States Foreign 

11 Service were killed in the attacks. 

12 (2) Those bombings, followed by the expedi13 tionary diplomatic efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, 

14 demonstrated the need to prioritize the security of 

15 United States posts and personnel abroad above 

16 other considerations. 

17 (3) Between 1999 and 2022, the risk calculus 

18 of the Department of State has swung too far to19 ward the elimination of risk, leading to a marked de20 crease in the ability of United States diplomats 

21 around the world to advance the interests of the 

22 United States through access to local populations, 

23 leaders, and places. 

24 (4) America’s competitors and adversaries do 

25 not have the same restrictions that United States 


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1 diplomats have, especially in critically important me2 dium-threat and high-threat posts. 

3 (5) The Department of State’s 2021 Overseas 

4 Security Panel report states that— 

5 (A) the requirement for setback and col6 location of diplomatic posts under paragraphs 

7 (2) and (3) of section 606(a) of the Secure Em8 bassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act of 

9 1999 has led to sky-rocketing costs of new em10 bassies and consulates; and 

11 (B) the locations of such posts have be12 come less desirable, creating an extremely sub13 optimal nexus that further hinders United 

14 States diplomats who are willing to accept more 

15 risk in order to advance United States inter16 ests. 

17 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

18 It is the sense of Congress that— 

19 (1) the setback and collocation requirements re20 ferred to in section 2(5)(A), even with available 

21 waivers, no longer provide the security such require22 ments used to provide because of advancement in 

23 technologies, such as remote controlled drones, that 

24 can evade walls and other such static barriers; 


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1 (2) the Department of State should focus on 

2 creating performance security standards that— 

3 (A) attempt to keep the setback require4 ments of diplomatic posts as limited as possible; 

5 and 

6 (B) provide diplomats access to local popu7 lations as much as possible, while still providing 

8 a necessary level of security; 

9 (3) collocation of diplomatic facilities is often 

10 not feasible or advisable, particularly for public di11 plomacy spaces in countries with repressive govern12 ments, since such spaces are required to permit the 

13 foreign public to enter and exit the space easily and 

14 openly; 

15 (4) the Bureau of Diplomatic Security should— 

16 (A) fully utilize the waiver process pro17 vided under paragraphs (2)(B) and (3)(B) of 

18 section 606(a) of the Secure Embassy Con19 struction and Counterterrorism Act of 1999; 

20 and 

21 (B) appropriately exercise such waiver 

22 process as a tool to right-size the appropriate 

23 security footing at each diplomatic post rather 

24 than only approving waivers in extreme cir25 cumstances; 


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1 (5) the return of great power competition re2 quires— 

3 (A) United States diplomats to do all they 

4 can to outperform our adversaries; and 

5 (B) the Department of State to better uti6 lize taxpayer funding to advance United States 

7 national interests; and 

8 (6) this Act will rebalance the Department of 

9 State’s risk and provide United States diplomats the 

10 tools they need to compete in the 21st century, while 

11 saving United States taxpayers potentially billions of 

12 dollars in reduced property and maintenance costs at 

13 embassies and consulates abroad. 

14 SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC FA15 CILITY. 

16 Section 603 of the Secure Embassy Construction and 

17 Counterterrorism Act of 1999 (title VI of division A of 

18 appendix G of Public Law 106–113) is amended to read 

19 as follows: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 603. UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC FACILITY DE21 FINED. 

22 ‘‘In this title, the terms ‘United States diplomatic fa23 cility’ and ‘diplomatic facility’— 

24 ‘‘(1) mean any chancery, consulate, or other of25 fice considered diplomatic or consular premises, conVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jul 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4320.RS S4320

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1 sistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic 

2 Relations, done at Vienna April 18, 1961, and the 

3 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, done at 

4 Vienna April 24, 1963, or otherwise subject to a 

5 publicly available bilateral agreement with the host 

6 government (contained in the records of the United 

7 States Department of State) that recognizes the offi8 cial status of the United States Government per9 sonnel present at the facility; and 

10 ‘‘(2) do not include— 

11 ‘‘(A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

12 preclearance facilities, as established pursuant 

13 to section 629 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

14 U.S.C. 1629) and section 103(a)(7) of the Im15 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

16 1103(a)(7)) and Open Source Centers; 

17 ‘‘(B) contractor-owned facilities; and 

18 ‘‘(C) facilities at which United States Gov19 ernment personnel will be present not more 

20 than 60 consecutive days and where the Sec21 retary determines that operational conditions, 

22 security considerations, and mission goals sup23 port exclusion.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR UNITED STATES 

2 DIPLOMATIC FACILITIES. 

3 Section 606(a) of the Secure Embassy Construction 

4 and Counterterrorism Act of 1999 (title VI of division A 

5 of appendix G of Public Law 106–113) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘the 

7 threat’’ and inserting ‘‘a range of threats, including 

8 that’’; 

9 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

10 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

11 (i) by striking ‘‘abroad’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘in a high risk, high threat post’’; and 

13 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and Voice of Amer14 ica correspondents on official assignment’’ 

15 after ‘‘military commander’’; and 

16 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

17 (i) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘if appli18 cable,’’ after ‘‘at the site,’’; 

19 (ii) in clause (ii)— 

20 (I) in subclause (I), by inserting 

21 ‘‘at a post designated as high risk, 

22 high threat under section 104 of the 

23 Omnibus Diplomatic Security and 

24 Antiterrorism Act of 1986 (22 U.S.C. 

25 4803)’’ before the period at the end; 

26 and 


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1 (II) in subclause (II), by insert2 ing ‘‘at a post designated as high risk, 

3 high threat under such section 104’’ 

4 after ‘‘consulate building’’; and 

5 (iii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘waiv6 ers’’ and inserting ‘‘instances of split oper7 ations in which United States diplomatic 

8 facilities are not colocated’’; and 

9 (3) in paragraph (3)— 

10 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 

11 as follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each newly ac14 quired United States diplomatic facility 

15 shall be constructed or modified to meet 

16 the measured building blast performance 

17 standard applicable to a facility sited not 

18 less than 100 feet from the perimeter. 

19 ‘‘(ii) LEASED FACILITIES.—If the De20 partment of State is required to commence 

21 or restart diplomatic operations in a coun22 try or city without a previously constructed 

23 diplomatic facility and there is insufficient 

24 time to construct a facility before such 

25 commencement, the Secretary of State— 


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1 ‘‘(I) shall make every effort to 

2 lease an existing facility with the max3 imum setback and security features 

4 that can be reasonably expected; and 

5 ‘‘(II) shall submit a setback waiv6 er, with a period of 1 year after leased 

7 occupancy to process the setback 

8 waiver.’’; and 

9 (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii)— 

10 (i) in subclause (I), by inserting ‘‘at a 

11 post designated as high risk, high threat 

12 under section 104 of the Omnibus Diplo13 matic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 

14 1986 (22 U.S.C. 4803)’’ before the period 

15 at the end; 

16 (ii) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘at 

17 a post designated as high risk, high threat 

18 under such section 104’’ after ‘‘consulate 

19 building’’; and 

20 (iii) in subclause (III), by striking ‘‘an 

21 annual’’ and inserting ‘‘a quarterly’’. 

22 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

23 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secure Embassy Con24 struction and Counterterrorism Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) The Secure Embassy Construction and 

4 Counterterrorism Act of 1999 (title VI of division A 

5 of appendix G of Public Law 106–113) was a nec6 essary response to bombings on August 7, 1998, at the 

7 United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and in 

8 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that were destroyed by si9 multaneously exploding bombs. The resulting explo10 sions killed 220 persons and injured more than 4,000 

11 others. Twelve Americans and 40 Kenyan and Tanza12 nian employees of the United States Foreign Service 

13 were killed in the attacks. 

14 (2) Those bombings, followed by the expedi15 tionary diplomatic efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, 

16 demonstrated the need to prioritize the security of 

17 United States posts and personnel abroad above other 

18 considerations. 

19 (3) Between 1999 and 2022, the risk calculus of 

20 the Department of State impacted the ability of 

21 United States diplomats around the world to advance 

22 the interests of the United States through access to 

23 local populations, leaders, and places. 

24 (4) America’s competitors and adversaries do not 

25 have the same restrictions that United States dipVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jul 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4320.RS S4320

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1 lomats have, especially in critically important me2 dium-threat and high-threat posts. 

3 (5) The Department of State’s 2021 Overseas Se4 curity Panel report states that— 

5 (A) the requirement for setback and colloca6 tion of diplomatic posts under paragraphs (2) 

7 and (3) of section 606(a) of the Secure Embassy 

8 Construction and Counterterrorism Act of 1999 

9 (22 U.S.C. 4865(a)) has led to sky-rocketing costs 

10 of new embassies and consulates; and 

11 (B) the locations of such posts have become 

12 less desirable, creating an extremely suboptimal 

13 nexus that further hinders United States dip14 lomats who are willing to accept more risk in 

15 order to advance United States’ interests. 

16 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

17 It is the sense of Congress that— 

18 (1) the setback and collocation requirements re19 ferred to in section 2(5)(A), even with available waiv20 ers, no longer provide the security such requirements 

21 used to provide because of advancement in tech22 nologies, such as remote controlled drones, that can 

23 evade walls and other such static barriers; 

24 (2) the Department of State should focus on cre25 ating performance security standards that— 


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1 (A) attempt to keep the setback requirements 

2 of diplomatic posts as limited as possible; and 

3 (B) provide diplomats access to local popu4 lations as much as possible, while still providing 

5 a necessary level of security; 

6 (3) collocation of diplomatic facilities is often 

7 not feasible or advisable, particularly for public di8 plomacy spaces whose mission is to reach and be ac9 cessible to wide sectors of the public, including in 

10 countries with repressive governments, since such 

11 spaces are required to permit the foreign public to 

12 enter and exit the space easily and openly; 

13 (4) the Bureau of Diplomatic Security should— 

14 (A) fully utilize the waiver process provided 

15 under paragraphs (2)(B) and (3)(B) of section 

16 606(a) of the Secure Embassy Construction and 

17 Counterterrorism Act of 1999 (22 U.S.C. 

18 4865(a)); and 

19 (B) appropriately exercise such waiver 

20 process as a tool to right-size the appropriate se21 curity footing at each diplomatic post rather 

22 than only approving waivers in extreme cir23 cumstances; 

24 (5) the return of great power competition re25 quires— 


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1 (A) United States diplomats to do all they 

2 can to outperform our adversaries; and 

3 (B) the Department of State to better opti4 mize use of taxpayer funding to advance United 

5 States national interests; and 

6 (6) this Act will better enable United States dip7 lomats to compete in the 21st century, while saving 

8 United States taxpayers millions in reduced property 

9 and maintenance costs at embassies and consulates 

10 abroad. 

11 SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC FA12 CILITY. 

13 Section 603 of the Secure Embassy Construction and 

14 Counterterrorism Act of 1999 (title VI of division A of ap15 pendix G of Public Law 106–113) is amended to read as 

16 follows: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 603. UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC FACILITY DEFINED. 

18 ‘‘In this title, the terms ‘United States diplomatic fa19 cility’ and ‘diplomatic facility’ mean any chancery, con20 sulate, or other office that— 

21 ‘‘(1) is considered by the Secretary of State to be 

22 diplomatic or consular premises, consistent with the 

23 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, done at 

24 Vienna April 18, 1961, and the Vienna Convention 

25 on Consular Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 


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1 1963, and was notified to the host government as 

2 such; or 

3 ‘‘(2) is otherwise subject to a publicly available 

4 bilateral agreement with the host government (con5 tained in the records of the United States Department 

6 of State) that recognizes the official status of the 

7 United States Government personnel present at the 

8 facility.’’. 

9 SEC. 5. GUIDANCE AND REQUIREMENTS FOR DIPLOMATIC 

10 FACILITIES. 

11 (a) GUIDANCE FOR CLOSURE OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

12 FACILITIES.—Section 5606 of the Public Diplomacy Mod13 ernization Act of 2021 (Public Law 117–81; 22 U.S.C. 

14 1475g note) is amended by striking subsection (a) and in15 serting the following new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to preserve public diplo17 macy facilities that are accessible to the publics of foreign 

18 countries, not later than 180 days after the date of the en19 actment of the Secure Embassy Construction and Counter20 terrorism Act of 2022, the Secretary of State shall adopt 

21 guidelines to collect and utilize information from each dip22 lomatic post at which the construction of a new embassy 

23 compound or new consulate compound could result in the 

24 closure or co-location of an American Space that is owned 

25 and operated by the United States Government, generally 


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1 known as an American Center, or any other public diplo2 macy facility under the Secure Embassy Construction and 

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

4 (b) SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR UNITED STATES

5 DIPLOMATIC FACILITIES.—Section 606(a) of the Secure 

6 Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act of 1999 

7 (22 U.S.C. 4865(a)) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘the threat’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘a range of threats, including that’’; 

10 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

12 (i) by inserting ‘‘in a location that has 

13 certain minimum ratings under the Secu14 rity Environment Threat List as deter15 mined by the Secretary in his or her discre16 tion’’ after ‘‘abroad’’; and 

17 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, personnel of the 

18 Peace Corps, and personnel of any other 

19 type or category of facility that the Sec20 retary may identify’’ after ‘‘military com21 mander’’; and 

22 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

23 (i) by amending clause (i) to read as 

24 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

2 (ii), the Secretary of State may waive sub3 paragraph (A) if the Secretary, in consulta4 tion with, as appropriate, the head of each 

5 agency employing personnel that would not 

6 be located at the site, if applicable, deter7 mines that it is in the national interest of 

8 the United States after taking account of 

9 any considerations the Secretary in his or 

10 her discretion considers relevant, which may 

11 include security conditions.’’; and 

12 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘(ii) 

13 CHANCERY OR CONSULATE BUILDING.—’’ 

14 and all that follows through ‘‘15 days 

15 prior’’ and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(ii) CHANCERY OR CONSULATE

17 BUILDING.—Prior’’; and 

18 (3) in paragraph (3)— 

19 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 

20 as follows: 

21 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each newly ac23 quired United States diplomatic facility in 

24 a location that has certain minimum rat25 ings under the Security Environment 


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1 Threat List as determined by the Secretary 

2 of State in his or her discretion shall— 

3 ‘‘(I) be constructed or modified to 

4 meet the measured building blast per5 formance standard applicable to a dip6 lomatic facility sited not less than 100 

7 feet from the perimeter of the property 

8 on which the facility is situated; or 

9 ‘‘(II) fulfill the criteria described 

10 in clause (ii). 

11 ‘‘(ii) ALTERNATIVE ENGINEERING

12 EQUIVALENCY STANDARD REQUIREMENT.— 

13 Each facility referred to in clause (i) may, 

14 instead of meeting the requirement under 

15 such clause, fulfill such other criteria as the 

16 Secretary is authorized to employ to achieve 

17 an equivalent engineering standard of secu18 rity and degree of protection as the numer19 ical perimeter distance setback described in 

20 such clause seeks to achieve.’’; and 

21 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

22 (i) in clause (i)— 

23 (I) by striking ‘‘security consider24 ations permit and’’; and 


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1 (II) by inserting ‘‘after taking ac2 count of any considerations the Sec3 retary in his or her discretion con4 siders relevant, which may include se5 curity conditions’’ after ‘‘national in6 terest of the United States’’; 

7 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘(ii) 

8 CHANCERY OR CONSULATE BUILDING.—’’ 

9 and all that follows through ‘‘15 days 

10 prior’’ and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(ii) CHANCERY OR CONSULATE

12 BUILDING.—Prior’’; and 

13 (iii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘an 

14 annual’’ and inserting ‘‘a quarterly’’. 


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Calendar No. 458 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4320 

A BILL 

To enhance security at United States diplomatic 

facilities, and for other purposes. 

JULY 21, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


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