I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3433 

To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to establish 

a United States Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2021 

Mr. PHILLIPS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 

1956 to establish a United States Ambassador at Large 

for Arctic Affairs, 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 ‘‘Arctic Diplomacy Act 

5 of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) the rapidly changing Arctic environment— 


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1 (A) creates new national and regional secu2 rity challenges due to increased military activity 

3 in the Arctic; 

4 (B) heightens the risk of the Arctic emerg5 ing as a major theater of conflict in ongoing 

6 strategic competition; 

7 (C) threatens maritime safety due to inad8 equate regional resource capacity to patrol the 

9 increase in vessel traffic this remote region is 

10 experiencing from the growing expanses of open 

11 Arctic water from diminished annual levels of 

12 sea ice; 

13 (D) impacts public safety due to increased 

14 human activity in the Arctic region where 

15 search and rescue capacity remains very lim16 ited; and 

17 (E) threatens the health of the Arctic’s 

18 fragile and historically pristine environment and 

19 the unique and highly sensitive species found in 

20 the Arctic’s marine and terrestrial ecosystems; 

21 and 

22 (2) the United States should reduce the con23 sequences outlined in paragraph (1) by— 


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1 (A) carefully evaluating a wide variety and 

2 dynamic set of security and safety risks unfold3 ing in the Arctic; 

4 (B) developing policies and making prep5 arations for mitigating and responding to 

6 threats and risks in the Arctic, including by 

7 continuing to work with allies and partners in 

8 the Arctic region to deter potential aggressive 

9 activities and build Arctic competencies; 

10 (C) adequately funding the National Earth 

11 System Prediction Capability to substantively 

12 improve weather, ocean, and ice predictions on 

13 time scales necessary for ensuring regional se14 curity and trans-Arctic shipping; 

15 (D) investing in resources, including a sig16 nificantly expanded icebreaker fleet, to ensure 

17 that the United States has adequate capacity to 

18 prevent and respond to security threats in the 

19 Arctic region; and 

20 (E) pursuing diplomatic engagements with 

21 all Arctic countries to reach an agreement for— 

22 (i) maintaining peace and stability in 

23 the Arctic region; 


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1 (ii) fostering cooperation on steward2 ship and safety initiatives in the Arctic re3 gion; 

4 (iii) promoting environmentally sus5 tainable natural resource management and 

6 economic development; 

7 (iv) ensuring safe and efficient man8 agement of commercial maritime traffic in 

9 the Arctic; 

10 (v) reducing black carbon and meth11 ane emissions in the Arctic region, includ12 ing by working with observers of the Arctic 

13 Council, including India and China, to 

14 adopt mitigation plans consistent with the 

15 findings and recommendations of the Arc16 tic Council’s Framework for Action on 

17 Black Carbon and Methane; and 

18 (vi) countering China’s Polar Silk 

19 Road initiative. 

20 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR ARC21 TIC AFFAIRS. 

22 Title I of the State Department Basic Authorities Act 

23 of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a et seq.) is amended by adding 

24 at the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 64. UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR 

2 ARCTIC AFFAIRS. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

4 the Department of State an Ambassador at Large for Arc5 tic Affairs (referred to in this section as the ‘Ambas6 sador’), appointed in accordance with subsection (b). 

7 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT.—The Ambassador shall be ap8 pointed by the President, by and with the advice and con9 sent of the Senate. 

10 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Ambassador shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) facilitate the development and coordination 

12 of United States foreign policy in the Arctic region 

13 relating to— 

14 ‘‘(A) meeting national security needs; 

15 ‘‘(B) protecting the Arctic environment 

16 and conserving its biological resources; 

17 ‘‘(C) promoting environmentally sustain18 able natural resource management and eco19 nomic development; 

20 ‘‘(D) strengthening institutions for co21 operation among Arctic countries; 

22 ‘‘(E) involving Arctic indigenous people in 

23 decisions that affect them; 

24 ‘‘(F) enhancing scientific monitoring and 

25 research on local, regional, and global environ26 mental issues; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) reducing black carbon and methane 

2 emissions in the Arctic region; 

3 ‘‘(2) coordinate the diplomatic objectives, and, 

4 as appropriate, represent the United States within 

5 multilateral fora that address international coopera6 tion and foreign policy matters in the Arctic region; 

7 ‘‘(3) help inform, in coordination with the Bu8 reau of Economic and Business Affairs, 

9 transnational commerce and commercial maritime 

10 transit in the Arctic region; 

11 ‘‘(4) coordinate the integration of scientific data 

12 on the current and projected effects of climate 

13 change in the Arctic region and ensure that such 

14 data is applied to the development of security strate15 gies for the Arctic region; 

16 ‘‘(5) make available the methods and ap17 proaches on the integration of climate science to 

18 other regional security planning programs in the De19 partment of State to better ensure that broader deci20 sion-making processes may more adequately account 

21 for the effects of climate change; 

22 ‘‘(6) serve as a key point of contact for other 

23 Federal agencies, including the Department of De24 fense, the Department of the Interior, the DepartVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3433.IH H3433

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1 ment of Homeland Security, and the intelligence 

2 community, on Arctic region security issues; 

3 ‘‘(7) serve as the Chair of the Arctic Council 

4 when the United States holds the Chairmanship of 

5 the Arctic Council; and 

6 ‘‘(8) perform such other duties and exercise 

7 such powers as the President and Secretary of State 

8 shall prescribe. 

9 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) ARCTIC COUNTRIES.—The term ‘Arctic 

11 countries’ means the eight countries with territory 

12 or exclusive economic zones that extend north of the 

13 66.56083 parallel latitude north of the equator. 

14 ‘‘(2) ARCTIC REGION.—The term ‘Arctic region’ 

15 means the geographic region north of the 66.56083 

16 parallel latitude north of the equator. 

17 ‘‘(3) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 

18 ‘intelligence community’ has the meaning given such 

19 term in section 3(4) of the National Security Act of 

20 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)).’’. 

21 SEC. 4. ARCTIC REGION SECURITY POLICY. 

22 The Secretary of State, acting through the Ambas23 sador at Large for Arctic Affairs of the Department of 

24 State under section 64 of the State Department Basic Au25 thorities Act of 1956 (established pursuant to section 3), 


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1 shall establish an Arctic Region Security Policy. Such pol2 icy shall assess, develop, budget for, and implement plans, 

3 policies, and actions relating to— 

4 (1) bolstering the diplomatic presence of the 

5 United States in Arctic countries, including through 

6 enhancements to diplomatic missions and facilities, 

7 participation in regional and bilateral dialogues re8 lated to Arctic security, and coordination of United 

9 States initiatives and assistance programs across 

10 agencies to protect the national security of the 

11 United States and its allies and partners; 

12 (2) enhancing the resilience capacities of Arctic 

13 countries to the effects of environmental change and 

14 increased civilian and military activity by Arctic 

15 countries and other countries that may result from 

16 increased accessibility of the Arctic region; 

17 (3) assessing specific added risks to the Arctic 

18 region and Arctic countries that— 

19 (A) are vulnerable to the changing Arctic 

20 environment; and 

21 (B) are strategically significant to the 

22 United States; 

23 (4) coordinating the integration of environ24 mental change and national security risk and vulnerVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3433.IH H3433

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1 ability assessments into the decision-making process 

2 on foreign assistance awards with Greenland; 

3 (5) advancing principles of good governance by 

4 encouraging and cooperating with Arctic states on 

5 collaborative approaches to— 

6 (A) responsibly manage natural resources 

7 in the Arctic region; 

8 (B) share the burden of ensuring maritime 

9 safety in the Arctic region; 

10 (C) prevent the escalation of security ten11 sions by mitigating against the militarization of 

12 the Arctic region; 

13 (D) develop mutually agreed upon multilat14 eral policies among Arctic countries on the 

15 management of maritime transit routes through 

16 the Arctic region and work cooperatively on the 

17 transit policies for access to and transit in the 

18 Arctic region by non-Arctic countries; and 

19 (E) facilitate the development of Arctic Re20 gion Security Action Plans to ensure stability 

21 and public safety in disaster situations in a hu22 mane and responsible fashion; 

23 (6) evaluating the vulnerability, security, surviv24 ability, and resiliency of United States interests and 

25 non-defense assets in the Arctic region; and 


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1 (7) reducing black carbon and methane emis2 sions in the Arctic region. 

3 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ARCTIC COUNTRIES.—The term ‘‘Arctic 

6 countries’’ means the eight countries with territory 

7 or exclusive economic zones that extend north of the 

8 66.56083 parallel latitude north of the equator. 

9 (2) ARCTIC REGION.—The term ‘‘Arctic region’’ 

10 means the geographic region north of the 66.56083 

11 parallel latitude north of the equator. 

Æ 


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