Title: United States Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs Act of 2017
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
United States Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs Act of 2017
Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to establish within the Department of State an Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1559 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1559

    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

                             March 16, 2017

 Mr. Sensenbrenner (for himself, Mr. Young of Alaska, Ms. Pingree, and 
Mr. Garamendi) 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``United States Ambassador at Large 
for Arctic Affairs Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR ARCTIC 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:

``SEC. 63. UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR ARCTIC AFFAIRS.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is established within the Department of 
State an Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs (referred to in this 
section as the `Ambassador'), appointed in accordance with subsection 
(b).
    ``(b) Appointment.--The Ambassador shall be appointed by the 
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
    ``(c) Duties.--
            ``(1) Diplomatic representation.--Subject to the direction 
        of the President and the Secretary of State, the Ambassador is 
        authorized to represent the United States in matters and cases 
        relevant to Arctic affairs in--
                    ``(A) contacts with foreign governments, 
                intergovernmental organizations, and specialized 
                agencies of the United Nations, the Arctic Council, and 
                other international organizations of which the United 
                States is a member; and
                    ``(B) multilateral conferences and meetings 
                relating to Arctic affairs.
            ``(2) Chair of the arctic council.--The Ambassador shall 
        serve as the Chair of the Arctic Council when the United States 
        holds the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council.
            ``(3) Policies and procedures.--The Ambassador shall 
        coordinate United States Arctic policies.''.
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