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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arctic Diplomacy Act 
of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the rapidly changing Arctic environment— 
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(A) creates new national and regional secu-
rity challenges due to increased military activity 
in the Arctic; 
(B) heightens the risk of the Arctic emerg-
ing as a major theater of conflict in ongoing 
strategic competition; 
(C) threatens maritime safety due to inad-
equate regional resource capacity to patrol the 
increase in vessel traffic this remote region is 
experiencing from the growing expanses of open 
Arctic water from diminished annual levels of 
sea ice; 
(D) impacts public safety due to increased 
human activity in the Arctic region where 
search and rescue capacity remains very lim-
ited; and 
(E) threatens the health of the Arctic’s 
fragile and historically pristine environment and 
the unique and highly sensitive species found in 
the Arctic’s marine and terrestrial ecosystems; 
and 
(2) the United States should reduce the con-
sequences outlined in paragraph (1) by— 
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(A) carefully evaluating a wide variety and 
dynamic set of security and safety risks unfold-
ing in the Arctic; 
(B) developing policies and making prep-
arations for mitigating and responding to 
threats and risks in the Arctic, including by 
continuing to work with allies and partners in 
the Arctic region to deter potential aggressive 
activities and build Arctic competencies; 
(C) adequately funding the National Earth 
System Prediction Capability to substantively 
improve weather, ocean, and ice predictions on 
time scales necessary for ensuring regional se-
curity and trans-Arctic shipping; 
(D) investing in resources, including a sig-
nificantly expanded icebreaker fleet, to ensure 
that the United States has adequate capacity to 
prevent and respond to security threats in the 
Arctic region; and 
(E) pursuing diplomatic engagements with 
all Arctic countries to reach an agreement for— 
(i) maintaining peace and stability in 
the Arctic region; 
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(ii) fostering cooperation on steward-
ship and safety initiatives in the Arctic re-
gion; 
(iii) promoting environmentally sus-
tainable natural resource management and 
economic development; 
(iv) ensuring safe and efficient man-
agement of commercial maritime traffic in 
the Arctic; 
(v) reducing black carbon and meth-
ane emissions in the Arctic region, includ-
ing by working with observers of the Arctic 
Council, including India and China, to 
adopt mitigation plans consistent with the 
findings and recommendations of the Arc-
tic Council’s Framework for Action on 
Black Carbon and Methane; and 
(vi) countering China’s Polar Silk 
Road initiative. 
SEC. 3. UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR ARC-
TIC AFFAIRS. 
Title I of the State Department Basic Authorities Act 
of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new section: 
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‘‘SEC. 64. UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR 
ARCTIC AFFAIRS. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 
the Department of State an Ambassador at Large for Arc-
tic Affairs (referred to in this section as the ‘Ambas-
sador’), appointed in accordance with subsection (b). 
‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT.—The Ambassador shall be ap-
pointed by the President, by and with the advice and con-
sent of the Senate. 
‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Ambassador shall— 
‘‘(1) facilitate the development and coordination 
of United States foreign policy in the Arctic region 
relating to— 
‘‘(A) meeting national security needs; 
‘‘(B) protecting the Arctic environment 
and conserving its biological resources; 
‘‘(C) promoting environmentally sustain-
able natural resource management and eco-
nomic development; 
‘‘(D) strengthening institutions for co-
operation among Arctic countries; 
‘‘(E) involving Arctic indigenous people in 
decisions that affect them; 
‘‘(F) enhancing scientific monitoring and 
research on local, regional, and global environ-
mental issues; and 
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‘‘(G) reducing black carbon and methane 
emissions in the Arctic region; 
‘‘(2) coordinate the diplomatic objectives, and, 
as appropriate, represent the United States within 
multilateral fora that address international coopera-
tion and foreign policy matters in the Arctic region; 
‘‘(3) help inform, in coordination with the Bu-
reau 
of 
Economic 
and 
Business 
Affairs, 
transnational commerce and commercial maritime 
transit in the Arctic region; 
‘‘(4) coordinate the integration of scientific data 
on the current and projected effects of climate 
change in the Arctic region and ensure that such 
data is applied to the development of security strate-
gies for the Arctic region; 
‘‘(5) make available the methods and ap-
proaches on the integration of climate science to 
other regional security planning programs in the De-
partment of State to better ensure that broader deci-
sion-making processes may more adequately account 
for the effects of climate change; 
‘‘(6) serve as a key point of contact for other 
Federal agencies, including the Department of De-
fense, the Department of the Interior, the Depart-
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ment of Homeland Security, and the intelligence 
community, on Arctic region security issues; 
‘‘(7) serve as the Chair of the Arctic Council 
when the United States holds the Chairmanship of 
the Arctic Council; and 
‘‘(8) perform such other duties and exercise 
such powers as the President and Secretary of State 
shall prescribe. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ARCTIC
COUNTRIES.—The term ‘Arctic 
countries’ means the eight countries with territory 
or exclusive economic zones that extend north of the 
66.56083 parallel latitude north of the equator. 
‘‘(2) ARCTIC REGION.—The term ‘Arctic region’ 
means the geographic region north of the 66.56083 
parallel latitude north of the equator. 
‘‘(3) INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY.—The term 
‘intelligence community’ has the meaning given such 
term in section 3(4) of the National Security Act of 
1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)).’’. 
SEC. 4. ARCTIC REGION SECURITY POLICY. 
The Secretary of State, acting through the Ambas-
sador at Large for Arctic Affairs of the Department of 
State under section 64 of the State Department Basic Au-
thorities Act of 1956 (established pursuant to section 3), 
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shall establish an Arctic Region Security Policy. Such pol-
icy shall assess, develop, budget for, and implement plans, 
policies, and actions relating to— 
(1) bolstering the diplomatic presence of the 
United States in Arctic countries, including through 
enhancements to diplomatic missions and facilities, 
participation in regional and bilateral dialogues re-
lated to Arctic security, and coordination of United 
States initiatives and assistance programs across 
agencies to protect the national security of the 
United States and its allies and partners; 
(2) enhancing the resilience capacities of Arctic 
countries to the effects of environmental change and 
increased civilian and military activity by Arctic 
countries and other countries that may result from 
increased accessibility of the Arctic region; 
(3) assessing specific added risks to the Arctic 
region and Arctic countries that— 
(A) are vulnerable to the changing Arctic 
environment; and 
(B) are strategically significant to the 
United States; 
(4) coordinating the integration of environ-
mental change and national security risk and vulner-
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ability assessments into the decision-making process 
on foreign assistance awards with Greenland; 
(5) advancing principles of good governance by 
encouraging and cooperating with Arctic states on 
collaborative approaches to— 
(A) responsibly manage natural resources 
in the Arctic region; 
(B) share the burden of ensuring maritime 
safety in the Arctic region; 
(C) prevent the escalation of security ten-
sions by mitigating against the militarization of 
the Arctic region; 
(D) develop mutually agreed upon multilat-
eral policies among Arctic countries on the 
management of maritime transit routes through 
the Arctic region and work cooperatively on the 
transit policies for access to and transit in the 
Arctic region by non-Arctic countries; and 
(E) facilitate the development of Arctic Re-
gion Security Action Plans to ensure stability 
and public safety in disaster situations in a hu-
mane and responsible fashion; 
(6) evaluating the vulnerability, security, surviv-
ability, and resiliency of United States interests and 
non-defense assets in the Arctic region; and 
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(7) reducing black carbon and methane emis-
sions in the Arctic region. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ARCTIC
COUNTRIES.—The term ‘‘Arctic 
countries’’ means the eight countries with territory 
or exclusive economic zones that extend north of the 
66.56083 parallel latitude north of the equator. 
(2) ARCTIC REGION.—The term ‘‘Arctic region’’ 
means the geographic region north of the 66.56083 
parallel latitude north of the equator. 
Æ 
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