22 U.S.C. § 2655b — Diplomatic presence overseas

Page 1074 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE § 2655b 1 See Change of Name note below. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1994 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 103–236 applicable with re- spect to officials, offices, and bureaus of Department of State when executive orders, regulations, or depart- mental directives implementing the amendments by sections 161 and 162 of Pub. L. 103–236 become effective, or 90 days after Apr. 30, 1994, whichever comes earlier, see section 161(b) of Pub. L. 103–236, as amended, set out as a note under section 2651a of this title. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF STATE Except as otherwise provided, Secretary of State to have and exercise any authority vested by law in any official or office of Department of State and references to such officials or offices deemed to refer to Secretary of State or Department of State, as appropriate, see section 2651a of this title and section 161(d) of Pub. L. 103–236, set out as a note under section 2651a of this title. § 2655b. Diplomatic presence overseas (a) Purpose The purpose of this section is to— (1) elevate the stature given United States diplomatic initiatives relating to non- proliferation and political-military issues; and (2) develop a group of highly specialized, technical experts with country expertise capa- ble of administering the nonproliferation and political-military affairs functions of the De- partment. (b) Authority To carry out the purposes of subsection (a), the Secretary is authorized to establish the po- sition of Counselor for Nonproliferation and Po- litical Military Affairs in United States diplo- matic missions overseas, to be filled by individ- uals who are career Civil Service officers or For- eign Service officers committed to follow-on as- signments in the Nonproliferation Bureau or the Political Military Affairs Bureau of the Depart- ment. (c) Training After being selected to serve as Counselor, any person so selected shall spend not less than 10 months in language training courses at the For- eign Service Institute,1 or in technical courses administered by the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, or other appropriate de- partments and agencies of the United States, ex- cept that such requirement for training may be waived by the Secretary. (Pub. L. 107–228, div. B, title XVI, § 1604, Sept. 30, 2002, 116 Stat. 1460.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME References to Foreign Service Institute considered to refer to George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center, see section 1(b) of Pub. L. 107–132, set out as a note under section 4021 of this title. DEFINITIONS For definitions of ‘‘Department’’ and ‘‘Secretary’’ as used in this section, see section 3 of Pub. L. 107–228, set out as a note under section 2651 of this title. § 2656. Management of foreign affairs The Secretary of State shall perform such du- ties as shall from time to time be enjoined on or intrusted to him by the President relative to correspondences, commissions, or instructions to or with public ministers or consuls from the United States, or to negotiations with public ministers from foreign states or princes, or to memorials or other applications from foreign public ministers or other foreigners, or to such other matters respecting foreign affairs as the President of the United States shall assign to the Department, and he shall conduct the busi- ness of the Department in such manner as the President shall direct. (R.S. § 202.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION R.S. § 202 derived from acts July 27, 1789, ch. 4, § 1, 1 Stat. 28; Sept. 15, 1789, ch. 14, § 1, 1 Stat. 68. Section was formerly classified to section 156 of Title 5 prior to the general revision and enactment of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, by Pub. L. 89–554, § 1, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 378. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CONSTRUCTION Pub. L. 115–409, § 412, Dec. 31, 2018, 132 Stat. 5411, pro- vided that: ‘‘Nothing in this Act [see Short Title of 2018 Amendment note set out under section 2651 of this title] may be construed as authorizing the use of mili- tary force.’’ EXPEDITED OPENING OF DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS Pub. L. 118–159, div. G, title LXXII, § 7210, Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 2533, provided that: ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- ings: ‘‘(1) Increasing the United States’ global diplomatic footprint is imperative to advance United States’ na- tional security interests, particularly in the face of a massive diplomatic expansion of our strategic com- petitors. ‘‘(2) Opening or re-opening diplomatic missions, often in small island nations where there is no United States Government presence, but one is needed to ad- vance United States strategic objectives. ‘‘(3) Diplomatic missions should be resourced and equipped for success upon opening to allow diplomats to focus on advancing United States national inter- ests in-country. ‘‘(4) The United States can and should move more swiftly to open new diplomatic missions and provide United States diplomats and locally employed staff with a workplace that meets locally appropriate quality, safety, and security standards. ‘‘(5) To do this, the Department [of State] must streamline and support the process of opening new posts to identify efficiencies and remove obstacles that are unduly complicating the opening of new dip- lomatic missions, particularly in small island states and similarly situated locations. ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 23, 2024], the Secretary [of State] shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees [Committee on Foreign Re- lations of the Senate and Committee on Foreign Af- fairs of the House of Representatives] and the Com- mittee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Com- mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representa- tives a report on how the Department is creating a