[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4320 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4320
To enhance security at United States diplomatic facilities, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 26, 2022
Mr. Risch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To enhance security at United States diplomatic facilities, 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 ``Secure Embassy Construction and
Counterterrorism Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Secure Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism
Act of 1999 (title VI of division A of appendix G of Public Law
106-113) was a necessary response to bombings on August 7,
1998, at the United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and in
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania that were destroyed by simultaneously
exploding bombs. The resulting explosions killed 220 persons
and injured more than 4,000 others. Twelve Americans and 40
Kenyan and Tanzanian employees of the United States Foreign
Service were killed in the attacks.
(2) Those bombings, followed by the expeditionary
diplomatic efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, demonstrated the
need to prioritize the security of United States posts and
personnel abroad above other considerations.
(3) Between 1999 and 2022, the risk calculus of the
Department of State has swung too far toward the elimination of
risk, leading to a marked decrease in the ability of United
States diplomats around the world to advance the interests of
the United States through access to local populations, leaders,
and places.
(4) America's competitors and adversaries do not have the
same restrictions that United States diplomats have, especially
in critically important medium-threat and high-threat posts.
(5) The Department of State's 2021 Overseas Security Panel
report states that--
(A) the requirement for setback and collocation of
diplomatic posts under paragraphs (2) and (3) of
section 606(a) of the Secure Embassy Construction and
Counterterrorism Act of 1999 has led to sky-rocketing
costs of new embassies and consulates; and
(B) the locations of such posts have become less
desirable, creating an extremely suboptimal nexus that
further hinders United States diplomats who are willing
to accept more risk in order to advance United States
interests.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the setback and collocation requirements referred to in
section 2(5)(A), even with available waivers, no longer provide
the security such requirements used to provide because of
advancement in technologies, such as remote controlled drones,
that can evade walls and other such static barriers;
(2) the Department of State should focus on creating
performance security standards that--
(A) attempt to keep the setback requirements of
diplomatic posts as limited as possible; and
(B) provide diplomats access to local populations
as much as possible, while still providing a necessary
level of security;
(3) collocation of diplomatic facilities is often not
feasible or advisable, particularly for public diplomacy spaces
in countries with repressive governments, since such spaces are
required to permit the foreign public to enter and exit the
space easily and openly;
(4) the Bureau of Diplomatic Security should--
(A) fully utilize the waiver process provided under
paragraphs (2)(B) and (3)(B) of section 606(a) of the
Secure Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act of
1999; and
(B) appropriately exercise such waiver process as a
tool to right-size the appropriate security footing at
each diplomatic post rather than only approving waivers
in extreme circumstances;
(5) the return of great power competition requires--
(A) United States diplomats to do all they can to
outperform our adversaries; and
(B) the Department of State to better utilize
taxpayer funding to advance United States national
interests; and
(6) this Act will rebalance the Department of State's risk
and provide United States diplomats the tools they need to
compete in the 21st century, while saving United States
taxpayers potentially billions of dollars in reduced property
and maintenance costs at embassies and consulates abroad.
SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC FACILITY.
Section 603 of the Secure Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism
Act of 1999 (title VI of division A of appendix G of Public Law 106-
113) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 603. UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC FACILITY DEFINED.
``In this title, the terms `United States diplomatic facility' and
`diplomatic facility'--
``(1) mean any chancery, consulate, or other office
considered diplomatic or consular premises, consistent with the
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, done at Vienna April
18, 1961, and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, done
at Vienna April 24, 1963, or otherwise subject to a publicly
available bilateral agreement with the host government
(contained in the records of the United States Department of
State) that recognizes the official status of the United States
Government personnel present at the facility; and
``(2) do not include--
``(A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection
preclearance facilities, as established pursuant to
section 629 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1629)
and section 103(a)(7) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1103(a)(7)) and Open Source
Centers;
``(B) contractor-owned facilities; and
``(C) facilities at which United States Government
personnel will be present not more than 60 consecutive
days and where the Secretary determines that
operational conditions, security considerations, and
mission goals support exclusion.''.
SEC. 5. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC FACILITIES.
Section 606(a) of the Secure Embassy Construction and
Counterterrorism Act of 1999 (title VI of division A of appendix G of
Public Law 106-113) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``the threat'' and
inserting ``a range of threats, including that'';
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) by striking ``abroad'' and inserting
``in a high risk, high threat post''; and
(ii) by inserting ``and Voice of America
correspondents on official assignment'' after
``military commander''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) in clause (i), by inserting ``if
applicable,'' after ``at the site,'';
(ii) in clause (ii)--
(I) in subclause (I), by inserting
``at a post designated as high risk,
high threat under section 104 of the
Omnibus Diplomatic Security and
Antiterrorism Act of 1986 (22 U.S.C.
4803)'' before the period at the end;
and
(II) in subclause (II), by
inserting ``at a post designated as
high risk, high threat under such
section 104'' after ``consulate
building''; and
(iii) in clause (iii), by striking
``waivers'' and inserting ``instances of split
operations in which United States diplomatic
facilities are not colocated''; and
(3) in paragraph (3)--
(A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as
follows:
``(A) Requirement.--
``(i) In general.--Each newly acquired
United States diplomatic facility shall be
constructed or modified to meet the measured
building blast performance standard applicable
to a facility sited not less than 100 feet from
the perimeter.
``(ii) Leased facilities.--If the
Department of State is required to commence or
restart diplomatic operations in a country or
city without a previously constructed
diplomatic facility and there is insufficient
time to construct a facility before such
commencement, the Secretary of State--
``(I) shall make every effort to
lease an existing facility with the
maximum setback and security features
that can be reasonably expected; and
``(II) shall submit a setback
waiver, with a period of 1 year after
leased occupancy to process the setback
waiver.''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B)(ii)--
(i) in subclause (I), by inserting ``at a
post designated as high risk, high threat under
section 104 of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security
and Antiterrorism Act of 1986 (22 U.S.C.
4803)'' before the period at the end;
(ii) in subclause (II), by inserting ``at a
post designated as high risk, high threat under
such section 104'' after ``consulate
building''; and
(iii) in subclause (III), by striking ``an
annual'' and inserting ``a quarterly''.
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