SEC. 2. AVOIDING DUPLICATION OF PROGRAMS AND EF-
FORTS. 
The Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Pub-
lic Affairs of the Department of State shall— 
(1) identify opportunities for greater efficiency 
of operations, including through improved coordina-
tion of efforts across public diplomacy bureaus and 
offices of the Department of State; and 
(2) maximize shared use of resources between, 
and within, such public diplomacy bureaus and of-
fices in cases in which programs, facilities, or admin-
istrative functions are duplicative or substantially 
overlapping. 
SEC. 3. IMPROVING RESEARCH AND EVALUATION OF PUB-
LIC DIPLOMACY. 
(a) RESEARCH AND EVALUATION ACTIVITIES.—The 
Secretary of State, acting through the Director of Re-
search and Evaluation established under subsection (b), 
shall— 
(1) conduct regular research and evaluation of 
public diplomacy programs and activities of the De-
partment of State, including through the routine use 
of audience research, digital analytics, and impact 
evaluations, to plan and execute such programs and 
activities; and 
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(2) make available to Congress the findings of 
the research and evaluations conducted under para-
graph (1). 
(b) DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND EVALUATION.— 
(1) APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of State shall appoint a Director of Research 
and Evaluation (referred to in this subsection as the 
‘‘Director’’) in the Office of Policy, Planning, and 
Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs 
of the Department of State. 
(2) LIMITATION
ON
APPOINTMENT.—The ap-
pointment of the Director pursuant to paragraph (1) 
shall not result in an increase in the overall full-time 
equivalent positions within the Department of State. 
(3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Director shall— 
(A) coordinate and oversee the research 
and evaluation of public diplomacy programs 
and activities of the Department of State to— 
(i) improve public diplomacy strate-
gies and tactics; and 
(ii) ensure that such programs and 
activities are increasing the knowledge, un-
derstanding, and trust of the United 
States by relevant target audiences; 
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(B) report to the Director of Policy Plan-
ning of the Office of Policy, Planning, and Re-
sources for Public Diplomacy and Public Af-
fairs; 
(C) routinely organize and oversee audi-
ence research, digital analytics, and impact 
evaluations across all public diplomacy bureaus 
and offices of the Department; 
(D) support embassy public affairs sec-
tions; 
(E) share appropriate public diplomacy re-
search and evaluation information within the 
Department and with other appropriate Federal 
departments and agencies; 
(F) regularly design and coordinate stand-
ardized research questions, methodologies, and 
procedures to ensure that public diplomacy pro-
grams and activities across all public diplomacy 
bureaus and offices are designed to meet appro-
priate foreign policy objectives; and 
(G) report biannually to the United States 
Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, 
through the Subcommittee on Research and 
Evaluation established pursuant to subsection 
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(f), regarding the research and evaluation of all 
public diplomacy bureaus and offices. 
(4) GUIDANCE AND TRAINING.—Not later than 
one year after the appointment of the Director pur-
suant to paragraph (1), the Director shall develop 
guidance and training, including curriculum for use 
by the Foreign Service Institute, for all public diplo-
macy officers regarding the reading and interpreta-
tion of public diplomacy program and activity eval-
uation findings to ensure that such findings and re-
lated lessons learned are implemented in the plan-
ning and evaluation of all public diplomacy programs 
and activities of the Department of State. 
(c) PRIORITIZING RESEARCH AND EVALUATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of Policy Plan-
ning of the Office of Policy, Planning, and Re-
sources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs 
shall ensure that research and evaluation of public 
diplomacy and activities of the Department of State, 
as coordinated and overseen by the Director of Re-
search and Evaluation pursuant to subsection (b), 
supports strategic planning and resource allocation 
across all public diplomacy bureaus and offices of 
the Department. 
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(2) ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES.—Amounts al-
located for the purposes of research and evaluation 
of public diplomacy programs and activities pursu-
ant to subsection (b) shall be made available to be 
disbursed at the direction of the Director of Re-
search and Evaluation among the research and eval-
uation staff across all public diplomacy bureaus and 
offices of the Department of State. 
(3) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that the Department of State should 
gradually increase its allocation of funds made avail-
able under the headings ‘‘EDUCATIONAL AND 
CULTURAL 
EXCHANGE 
PROGRAMS’’ 
and 
‘‘DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR PROGRAMS’’ 
for research and evaluation of public diplomacy pro-
grams and activities pursuant to subsection (b) to a 
percentage of program funds that is commensurate 
with Federal Government best practices. 
(d) LIMITED EXEMPTION RELATING TO THE PAPER-
WORK REDUCTION ACT.—Chapter 35 of title 44, United 
States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduc-
tion Act’’), shall not apply to the collection of information 
directed at any individuals conducted by, or on behalf of, 
the Department of State for the purpose of audience re-
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search, monitoring, and evaluations, and in connection 
with the Department’s activities conducted pursuant to— 
(1) the United States Information and Edu-
cational Exchange Act of 1948 (22 U.S.C. 1431 et 
seq.); 
(2) the Mutual Educational and Cultural Ex-
change Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.); 
(3) section 1287 of the National Defense Au-
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 
114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note); or 
(4) the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2151 et seq.). 
(e) LIMITED EXEMPTION RELATING TO THE PRI-
VACY ACT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Department of State 
shall maintain, collect, use, and disseminate records 
(as such term is defined in section 552a(a)(4) of 
title 5, United States Code) for audience research, 
digital analytics, and impact evaluation of commu-
nications related to public diplomacy efforts intended 
for foreign audiences. 
(2) CONDITIONS.—Audience research, digital 
analytics, and impact evaluations under paragraph 
(1) shall be— 
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SEC. 4. PERMANENT REAUTHORIZATION OF THE UNITED 
STATES ADVISORY COMMISSION ON PUBLIC 
DIPLOMACY. 
Section 1334 of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Re-
structuring Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6553) is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘SUN-
SET’’ and inserting ‘‘CONTINUATION’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘until October 1, 2020’’. 
SEC. 5. STREAMLINING OF SUPPORT FUNCTIONS. 
Section 1(b)(3) of the State Department Basic Au-
thorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(b)(3)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; 
(2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(F) consolidate all human resources, per-
sonnel, travel, purchasing, budgetary planning 
for public diplomacy funds, and other executive 
support functions for all bureaus that report to 
the Under Secretary.’’. 
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SEC. 6. GUIDANCE FOR CLOSURE OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 
FACILITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 
shall adopt, and include in the Foreign Affairs Manual, 
guidelines to collect and utilize information from each for-
eign post at which the construction of a new embassy com-
pound or new consulate compound would result in the clo-
sure or co-location of an American Space, American Cen-
ter, American Corner, or any other public diplomacy facil-
ity under the Secure Embassy Construction and Counter-
terrorism Act of 1999 (22 U.S.C. 4865 et seq.). 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The guidelines required by 
subsection (a) shall include— 
(1) standardized notification to each chief of 
mission describing the requirements of the Secure 
Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act of 
1999 and the impact on the mission footprint of 
such requirements; 
(2) an assessment and recommendations from 
each chief of mission of potential impacts to public 
diplomacy programming at such foreign post if any 
public diplomacy facility referred to in subsection (a) 
is closed or staff is co-located in accordance with 
such Act; 
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(3) a process by which assessments and rec-
ommendations under paragraph (2) are considered 
by the Secretary of State and the appropriate under 
secretaries and assistant secretaries at the Depart-
ment of State; and 
(4) notification to Congress, prior to the initi-
ation of new compound design, of the intent to close 
any such public diplomacy facility or co-locate public 
diplomacy staff in accordance with such Act. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re-
port containing the guidelines required under subsection 
(a) and any recommendations for any modifications to 
such guidelines. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AUDIENCE
RESEARCH.—The term ‘‘audi-
ence research’’ means research conducted at the out-
set of a public diplomacy program or the outset of 
campaign planning and design regarding specific au-
dience segments to understand the attitudes, inter-
ests, knowledge, and behaviors of such audience seg-
ments. 
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(2) DIGITAL
ANALYTICS.—The term ‘‘digital 
analytics’’ means the analysis of qualitative and 
quantitative data, accumulated in digital format, to 
indicate the outputs and outcomes of a public diplo-
macy program or campaign. 
(3) IMPACT EVALUATION.—The term ‘‘impact 
evaluation’’ means an assessment of the changes in 
the audience targeted by a public diplomacy program 
or campaign that can be attributed to such program 
or campaign. 
(4) PUBLIC
DIPLOMACY
BUREAUS
AND
OF-
FICES.—The term ‘‘public diplomacy bureaus and 
offices’’ means, with respect to the Department of 
State— 
(A) the Bureau of Educational and Cul-
tural Affairs; 
(B) the Bureau of Public Affairs; 
(C) the Bureau of International Informa-
tion Programs; 
(D) the Office of Policy, Planning, and Re-
sources for Public Diplomacy and Public Af-
fairs; 
(E) the Global Engagement Center; and 
(F) the public diplomacy functions within 
the regional and functional bureaus. 
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(5) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives; 
(B) the Committee on Appropriations of 
the House of Representatives; 
(C) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
the Senate; and 
(D) the Committee on Appropriations of 
the Senate. 
Æ 
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