[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3433 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3433
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
May 20, 2021
Mr. Phillips 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 ``Arctic Diplomacy Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the rapidly changing Arctic environment--
(A) creates new national and regional security
challenges due to increased military activity in the
Arctic;
(B) heightens the risk of the Arctic emerging as a
major theater of conflict in ongoing strategic
competition;
(C) threatens maritime safety due to inadequate
regional resource capacity to patrol the increase in
vessel traffic this remote region is experiencing from
the growing expanses of open Arctic water from
diminished annual levels of sea ice;
(D) impacts public safety due to increased human
activity in the Arctic region where search and rescue
capacity remains very limited; and
(E) threatens the health of the Arctic's fragile
and historically pristine environment and the unique
and highly sensitive species found in the Arctic's
marine and terrestrial ecosystems; and
(2) the United States should reduce the consequences
outlined in paragraph (1) by--
(A) carefully evaluating a wide variety and dynamic
set of security and safety risks unfolding in the
Arctic;
(B) developing policies and making preparations for
mitigating and responding to threats and risks in the
Arctic, including by continuing to work with allies and
partners in the Arctic region to deter potential
aggressive activities and build Arctic competencies;
(C) adequately funding the National Earth System
Prediction Capability to substantively improve weather,
ocean, and ice predictions on time scales necessary for
ensuring regional security and trans-Arctic shipping;
(D) investing in resources, including a
significantly expanded icebreaker fleet, to ensure that
the United States has adequate capacity to prevent and
respond to security threats in the Arctic region; and
(E) pursuing diplomatic engagements with all Arctic
countries to reach an agreement for--
(i) maintaining peace and stability in the
Arctic region;
(ii) fostering cooperation on stewardship
and safety initiatives in the Arctic region;
(iii) promoting environmentally sustainable
natural resource management and economic
development;
(iv) ensuring safe and efficient management
of commercial maritime traffic in the Arctic;
(v) reducing black carbon and methane
emissions in the Arctic region, including by
working with observers of the Arctic Council,
including India and China, to adopt mitigation
plans consistent with the findings and
recommendations of the Arctic Council's
Framework for Action on Black Carbon and
Methane; and
(vi) countering China's Polar Silk Road
initiative.
SEC. 3. 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. 64. 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.--The Ambassador shall--
``(1) facilitate the development and coordination of United
States foreign policy in the Arctic region relating to--
``(A) meeting national security needs;
``(B) protecting the Arctic environment and
conserving its biological resources;
``(C) promoting environmentally sustainable natural
resource management and economic development;
``(D) strengthening institutions for cooperation
among Arctic countries;
``(E) involving Arctic indigenous people in
decisions that affect them;
``(F) enhancing scientific monitoring and research
on local, regional, and global environmental issues;
and
``(G) reducing black carbon and methane emissions
in the Arctic region;
``(2) coordinate the diplomatic objectives, and, as
appropriate, represent the United States within multilateral
fora that address international cooperation and foreign policy
matters in the Arctic region;
``(3) help inform, in coordination with the Bureau of
Economic and Business Affairs, transnational commerce and
commercial maritime transit in the Arctic region;
``(4) coordinate the integration of scientific data on the
current and projected effects of climate change in the Arctic
region and ensure that such data is applied to the development
of security strategies for the Arctic region;
``(5) make available the methods and approaches on the
integration of climate science to other regional security
planning programs in the Department of State to better ensure
that broader decision-making processes may more adequately
account for the effects of climate change;
``(6) serve as a key point of contact for other Federal
agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department
of the Interior, the Department of Homeland Security, and the
intelligence community, on Arctic region security issues;
``(7) serve as the Chair of the Arctic Council when the
United States holds the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council; and
``(8) perform such other duties and exercise such powers as
the President and Secretary of State shall prescribe.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Arctic countries.--The term `Arctic countries' means
the eight countries with territory or exclusive economic zones
that extend north of the 66.56083 parallel latitude north of
the equator.
``(2) Arctic region.--The term `Arctic region' means the
geographic region north of the 66.56083 parallel latitude north
of the equator.
``(3) Intelligence community.--The term `intelligence
community' has the meaning given such term in section 3(4) of
the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)).''.
SEC. 4. ARCTIC REGION SECURITY POLICY.
The Secretary of State, acting through the Ambassador at Large for
Arctic Affairs of the Department of State under section 64 of the State
Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (established pursuant to
section 3), shall establish an Arctic Region Security Policy. Such
policy shall assess, develop, budget for, and implement plans,
policies, and actions relating to--
(1) bolstering the diplomatic presence of the United States
in Arctic countries, including through enhancements to
diplomatic missions and facilities, participation in regional
and bilateral dialogues related to Arctic security, and
coordination of United States initiatives and assistance
programs across agencies to protect the national security of
the United States and its allies and partners;
(2) enhancing the resilience capacities of Arctic countries
to the effects of environmental change and increased civilian
and military activity by Arctic countries and other countries
that may result from increased accessibility of the Arctic
region;
(3) assessing specific added risks to the Arctic region and
Arctic countries that--
(A) are vulnerable to the changing Arctic
environment; and
(B) are strategically significant to the United
States;
(4) coordinating the integration of environmental change
and national security risk and vulnerability assessments into
the decision-making process on foreign assistance awards with
Greenland;
(5) advancing principles of good governance by encouraging
and cooperating with Arctic states on collaborative approaches
to--
(A) responsibly manage natural resources in the
Arctic region;
(B) share the burden of ensuring maritime safety in
the Arctic region;
(C) prevent the escalation of security tensions by
mitigating against the militarization of the Arctic
region;
(D) develop mutually agreed upon multilateral
policies among Arctic countries on the management of
maritime transit routes through the Arctic region and
work cooperatively on the transit policies for access
to and transit in the Arctic region by non-Arctic
countries; and
(E) facilitate the development of Arctic Region
Security Action Plans to ensure stability and public
safety in disaster situations in a humane and
responsible fashion;
(6) evaluating the vulnerability, security, survivability,
and resiliency of United States interests and non-defense
assets in the Arctic region; and
(7) reducing black carbon and methane emissions in the
Arctic region.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Arctic countries.--The term ``Arctic countries'' means
the eight countries with territory or exclusive economic zones
that extend north of the 66.56083 parallel latitude north of
the equator.
(2) Arctic region.--The term ``Arctic region'' means the
geographic region north of the 66.56083 parallel latitude north
of the equator.
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