[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 909 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 909

To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to provide 
    for the establishment and maintenance of existing libraries and 
 resource centers at United States diplomatic and consular missions to 
provide information about United States culture, society, and history, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 2009

Ms. Watson (for herself, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Nadler of New York, Ms. Eddie 
 Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms. Slaughter, Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan, 
 Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. Hare, Mr. Michaud, Mr. Kucinich, Ms. Matsui, Ms. 
Edwards of Maryland, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Ms. Clarke, Mr. Towns, Ms. 
   Woolsey, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Davis of 
  Illinois, Mr. Rush, and Ms. Kaptur) 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 provide 
    for the establishment and maintenance of existing libraries and 
 resource centers at United States diplomatic and consular missions to 
provide information about United States culture, society, and history, 
                        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 ``Public Diplomacy Resource Centers 
Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY.

    (a) Establishment and Maintenance of Libraries.--Section 1(b)(3) of 
the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 
2651a(b)(3)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(F) provide for the establishment of new and the 
                maintenance of existing libraries and resource centers 
                at or in connection with United States diplomatic and 
                consular missions.''.
    (b) Operation of Libraries.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of State shall ensure that 
        libraries and resource centers established and maintained in 
        accordance with subparagraph (F) of section 1(b)(3) of the 
        State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (as added by 
        section 2(a)(3) of this Act) are open to the general public to 
        the greatest extent practicable, subject to policies and 
        procedures established by the Secretary to ensure the safety 
        and security of United States diplomatic and consular missions 
        and of United States officers, employees, and personnel posted 
        at such missions at which such libraries are located.
            (2) Showings of united states films.--To the extent 
        practicable, the Secretary of State shall ensure that such 
        libraries and resource centers schedule public showings of 
        United States films that showcase United States culture, 
        society, values, and history.
    (c) Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.--Not later than one 
year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Advisory 
Commission on Public Diplomacy (authorized under section 1334 of the 
Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6553)) 
shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a 
report containing an evaluation of the functions and effectiveness of 
the libraries and resource centers that are authorized under this Act.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to amounts that 
are otherwise authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State 
to carry out purposes similar to those required under this Act, there 
are authorized to the Secretary of State such sums as may be necessary 
to carry out this Act.
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