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Reorganization Plan and Report (revised March 1999)
Submitted Pursuant to Section 1601 of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, as Contained in Public Law 105-277
Re-posted from the USIA web site April 14, 1999
Foreword
The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 provides the authority to implement the Administration's plan to reorganize and strengthen the foreign affairs agencies. This initiative, which the President announced on April 18, 1997, emerged from productive consultations with the Congress and enjoys bipartisan support. Under the leadership of Vice President Gore, the Reorganization Plan and Report being submitted today were designed with careful attention to preserve the unparalleled capabilities and skills of the foreign affairs agencies and their personnel. Reorganization enhances the ability of the United States to meet the international challenges of the next century by placing arms control and nonproliferation, public diplomacy, and sustainable development at the heart of our foreign policy. The Administration will work closely and cooperatively with the Congress to implement this integration.
This Reorganization Plan and Report, developed through the cooperative efforts of the Department of State, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, the United States Information Agency, and the United States Agency for International Development, describe how reorganization will be implemented. As a result, U.S. foreign policy will benefit in a number of important ways:
· Integrating ACDA into State will better combine its unique negotiating, verification, and technical expertise with State's broad diplomatic expertise and regional experience so as to strengthen policies on arms control, nonproliferation, and other political-military affairs. Integration will also establish a structure within State that will preserve unique arms control and nonproliferation perspectives.
· Integrating USIA and bringing public diplomacy insights into play sooner will result in more effective policies that are persuasive to foreign audiences. The infusion of USIA's strategic approach to public diplomacy, open style, close ties with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), technology for open communications, and skillful Internet use will make U.S. foreign policy more agile.
· The strengthened State-USAID tie will enhance the cohesiveness of our foreign policy and sustainable development and humanitarian programs, which promote reform and conflict resolution and help vulnerable people in many areas of the world.
· The integration of policy support and management functions will create possible streamlining opportunities.
The human dimension of reorganization is vital. Specific positions are being identified for every employee who will be transferred. There are no plans for a reduction-in-force, although over time integration will yield efficiencies as well as improve effectiveness. The Act gives the Secretary of State the flexibility needed to align people and positions most effectively.
As integration advances, State will continue intensive efforts to reinvent itself. Integration offers more scope for this and widens the circle of opportunity to restructure and adopt best practices. State has already taken some important steps. The Under Secretaries have assumed responsibility as State's Corporate Board, chaired by the Deputy Secretary. Performance Planning has been redesigned greatly to enhance the alignment of strategy and resources.
Finally, increased efficiency is very important, but is not, by itself, enough to assure U.S. leadership in the world. For this, the foreign affairs agencies must have the wherewithal to meet growing responsibilities and take full advantage of new opportunities. American strength today results from our predecessors' bold decisions and timely investments, beginning with Lend Lease and the Marshall Plan. The Administration's plan does not propose anything this expensive, but we have to do better in order to seize the initiative. Embassy bombings in East Africa, the international financial crisis, instability in the Middle East, Kosovo, and Russia, and risks that nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons will proliferate show how the world remains dangerous and uncertain. Therefore, it is vital that our country has the resources it needs for a strong foreign policy that serves America's interests.
Reorganization Plan
Section 1. Status of Agencies.
(a) Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Effective April 1, 1999, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency shall be abolished in accordance with the Foreign Affairs Agencies Consolidation Act of 1998 (the "Act"), Subdivision A, Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, as contained in Division G of Pub. Law 105-277.
(b) International Development and Cooperation Agency. Effective April 1, 1999, the International Development and Cooperation Agency shall be abolished in accordance with the Act.
(c) United States Information Agency. Effective October 1, 1999, the United States Information Agency shall be abolished in accordance with the Act.
(d) United States Agency for International Development. Effective April 1, 1999, the United States Agency for International Development shall continue as an independent establishment in the Executive Branch.
Section 2. Transfer of Functions.
(a) Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Effective April 1, 1999, all functions and authorities of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency shall be transferred to the Secretary of State in accordance with title XII of the Act.
(b) International Development and Cooperation Agency. Effective April 1, 1999, functions and authorities of the International Development and Cooperation Agency shall be transferred to the Secretary of State in accordance with title XIV of the Act.
(c) United States Agency for International Development. Effective no later than April 1, 1999, the following functions of the United States Agency for International Development shall be transferred to the Secretary of State in accordance with title XV of the Act:
(1) functions related to the Press Office; and
(2) functions related to retirement counseling and processing, location of headquarters mainframe computer operations, storage of employees' household goods and other transportation and storage services, and such other functions as the United States Agency for International Development and the Department of State may agree.
The transfer of functions provided for in paragraph (2) shall be through memoranda of understanding between the United States Agency for International Development and the Department of State.
(d) United States Information Agency. Effective October 1, 1999, all functions of the United States Information Agency, except those transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors under subsection (e) of this section, shall be transferred to the Secretary of State in accordance with title XIII of the Act, including functions associated with the Bureau of Information, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Office of Research and Media Reaction, and Worldnet interactive dialogues and other similar overseas public diplomacy programs.
(e) Broadcasting Board of Governors. Effective October 1, 1999, functions of the United States Information Agency related to international broadcasting shall be transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors in accordance with title XIII of the Act, including functions associated with the International Broadcasting Bureau, the Voice of America, Radio and TV Marti, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Radio Free Asia, but excluding Worldnet interactive dialogues and similar overseas public diplomacy programs.
Section 3. Transfer of Personnel.
Personnel of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, the United States Agency for International Development, and the United States Information Agency shall be transferred to the Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors in accordance with the Act and this Plan.
Section 4. Transfer and Allocation of Funds.
(a) Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Effective April 1, 1999, the current and expired accounts of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency shall become separate accounts of the Department of State. Funds currently available in the current year account shall be available for obligation and expenditure for purposes authorized by law. Funds in expired accounts shall continue to be available for adjustment and liquidation of obligations until such accounts are closed as required by law, at which time any remaining funds shall be returned to the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury.
(b) United States Agency for International Development. Effective no later than April 1, 1999, unobligated current year funds associated with the functions described in section 2(c)(1) of this Plan shall be transferred to the Secretary of State for appropriate allocation. Unliquidated obligations and related budget authority associated with such functions shall not be transferred. Funds associated with the functions described in section 2(c)(2) shall be transferred to the Department of State in accordance with memoranda of understanding between the United States Agency for International Development and the Department of State.
(c) United States Information Agency. Effective October 1, 1999, funds appropriated to the United States Information Agency shall be transferred and allocated as follows:
(1) International Information Programs Accounts. Expired International Information Program Accounts shall become separate accounts of the Department of State. Funds in expired accounts shall continue to be available for adjustment and liquidation of obligations until such accounts are closed as required by law, at which time any remaining funds shall be returned to the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury. Funds that remain available for obligation and expenditure in an International Information Programs account shall be transferred to the Secretary of State for appropriate allocation, except that such amounts as are associated with international broadcasting functions described in section 2(e) of this Plan shall be transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors for appropriate allocation. Funds that are deobligated and remain available for obligation and expenditure shall likewise be transferred to the Secretary of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors for appropriate allocation.
(2) Technology Fund. Funds that remain available for obligation and expenditure in the Technology Fund shall be transferred to the Secretary of State as a separate account for appropriate allocation, except that such funds associated with international broadcasting functions described in section 2(e) of this Plan shall be transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors for appropriate allocation. Unliquidated obligations and related budget authority shall be transferred to the same account and shall continue to be available for adjustment and liquidation. Funds that are deobligated and remain available for obligation and expenditure shall be transferred to the Secretary of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors for appropriate allocation.
(3) Foreign Service National Separation Liability Trust Fund. Funds that remain available for obligation and expenditure in the United States Information Agency Foreign Service National Separation Liability Trust Fund shall be transferred to the Department of State's Foreign Service National Separation Liability Trust Fund, except that such funds associated with international broadcasting functions described in section 2(e) of this Plan shall be transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors Foreign Service National Separation Liability Trust Fund. Unliquidated obligations and related budget authority shall continue to be available for adjustment and liquidation in a separate account of the Department of State, except that unliquidated obligations and related budget authority associated with international broadcasting functions described in section 2(e) of this Plan shall be transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors Foreign Service National Separation Liability Trust Fund.
(4) Buying Power Maintenance Account. All amounts in the United States Information Agency Buying Power Maintenance Account shall be transferred to the Department of State's Buying Power Maintenance Account, except for amounts associated with international broadcasting functions described in section 2(e) of this Plan, which shall be transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors Buying Power Maintenance Account.
(5) Suspense Deposits Abroad. The United States Information Agency Suspense Deposits Abroad account shall become a separate account of the Department of State. All amounts identified and validated shall be transferred to the Department of State's Suspense Deposit Abroad account, except for amounts associated with international broadcasting functions described in section 2(e) of this Plan, which shall be transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors Suspense Deposit Abroad Account.
(6) United States Information Agency Trust Funds Account. The United States Information Agency Trust Funds Account shall become a separate account of the Department of State. Funds currently available in this account shall be available for obligation and expenditure for purposes authorized by law, except that funds associated with international broadcasting functions described in section 2(e) of this Plan shall be transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors Trust Funds Account. Unliquidated obligations and related budget authority shall continue to be available for adjustment and liquidation, except that unliquidated obligations and related budget authority associated with international broadcasting functions described in section 2(e) of this Plan shall be transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors Trust Funds Account.
(7) Other Active Accounts. The following accounts shall become separate accounts of the Department of State: East-West Center, North/South Center, Educational and Cultural Exchange, National Endowment for Democracy, American Studies Endowment Fund, Israeli Arab Scholarship Fund, Eastern Europe Student Exchange, Russian Far East Technical Assistance, and United States Information Agency Office of the Inspector General. Funds currently available in these accounts shall be available for obligation and expenditure for purposes authorized by law. Funds in expired accounts shall continue to be available for adjustment and liquidation of obligations until such accounts are closed as required by law, at which time any remaining funds shall be returned to the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury.
(8) Transfer to the Broadcasting Board of Governors. In addition to the accounts otherwise referred to in this subsection, the following accounts shall be transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors: Radio Construction, International Broadcasting Operation, Broadcasting to Cuba, Radio Free Asia, Israel Radio Relay Station, and certain Grants and Expenses accounts. Funds currently available in these accounts shall be available for obligation and expenditure for purposes authorized by law. Funds in expired accounts shall continue to be available for adjustment and liquidation of obligations until such accounts are closed as required by law, at which time any remaining funds shall returned to the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury.
(9) Inactive Accounts. Upon the request of the United States Information Agency, the Department of Treasury shall close all inactive accounts associated with the United States Information Agency. Such closure shall occur on or before September 30, 1999.
(d) Authority to Reallocate. Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting the Secretary of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors from reallocating funds allocated under this section, as appropriate, in accordance with law.
Section 5. Disposition of Property, Facilities, Contracts, Records, and Other Assets and Liabilities
(a) Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. All property, facilities, contracts, records and other assets and liabilities of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency shall be transferred to the Secretary of State for appropriate allocation.
(b) Certain Functions of the United States Agency for International Development. All property, facilities, contracts and other assets and liabilities related to the functions transferred pursuant to section 2(c) of this Plan shall be transferred to the Secretary of State for appropriate allocation.
(c) United States Information Agency. All property, facilities, contracts and other assets and liabilities related to the functions transferred pursuant to section (2)(d) of this Plan shall be transferred to the Secretary of State for appropriate allocation.
(d) Broadcasting Board of Governors. All property, facilities, contracts and other assets and liabilities related to the functions transferred pursuant to section (2)(e) of this Plan shall be transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors for appropriate allocation.
Section 6. Reorganization of the Department of State.
(a) Under Secretaries of State. There shall be within the Department of State an Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security and an Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
(b) Senior Adviser for Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament. Effective April 1, 1999, the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security shall also serve as the Senior Adviser to the President and the Secretary of State on Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament. Subject to the direction of the President, the Under Secretary may attend and participate in meetings of the National Security Council in his role as Senior Adviser.
(c) Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Verification. Effective April 1, 1999, there shall be within the Department of State a Bureau of Arms Control and a Bureau of Nonproliferation, each of which shall be headed by an Assistant Secretary of State. The position of a Special Adviser for Verification and Compliance shall also be established, who shall report directly to the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. Presidential Special Representatives shall report to the Secretary through the appropriate Assistant Secretary, who will provide support for such Special Representatives, and the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. A scientific and policy Advisory Board on arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament shall report to the Secretary through the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs shall continue as a bureau within the Department of State. The Secretary of State shall allocate personnel and currently available funds allotted to the Department of State's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs to the Bureau of Arms Control and the Bureau of Nonproliferation in an amount appropriate to the transfer of activities to such bureaus.
(d) Public Diplomacy. Effective October 1, 1999, there shall be within the Department of State a Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which shall be headed by an Assistant Secretary of State. In addition, there shall be an Office of International Information Programs, which shall be headed by a Coordinator for International Information Programs, who shall report directly to the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
(e) Support functions. Budget, administrative, personnel, information technology, security, legislative, legal and other support activities of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the United States Information Agency transferred to the Department of State by the Act shall be consolidated, as appropriate, with the Department of State's Bureau of Financial Management and Policy, Bureau of Administration, Bureau of Personnel, Bureau of Information Resource Management, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Bureau of Legislative Affairs, Office of the Legal Adviser and other Department offices.
Section 7. Additional Transitional Matters.
(a) To the Secretary of State. Any functions, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, facilities and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations or other funds, transferred under the Act to the Secretary of State or the Department of State but not otherwise provided for in this Plan shall be transferred to the Secretary of State for appropriate allocation.
(b) To the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Any functions, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, facilities and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations or other funds, transferred under the Act to the Broadcasting Board of Governors or its Chairman but not otherwise provided for in this Plan shall be transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors for appropriate allocation.
Section 8. Construction and Relationship with Other Laws.
(a) Construction. Nothing in this Plan or its accompanying Report shall be construed as derogating from or limiting any authority conferred by the Act on any Department or agency or on the President, the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Broadcasting Board of Governors or its Chairman, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget or any other official, including the authority to request and make incidental dispositions of personnel, assets, liabilities, grants, contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations and other funds held, used, arising from, available to, or to be made available in connection with functions transferred by the Act.
(b) Relationship with Other Laws. Nothing in this Plan or its accompanying Report shall be construed as derogating from or limiting any authority conferred by any other law on any Department or agency or on the President, the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Broadcasting Board of Governors or its Chairman, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget or any other official, to take appropriate measures, including the authority further to reorganize or to reallocate positions or funds, consistent with any applicable provision of law, including those governing reprogramming and transfer of funds.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary............................................................................1
I. The Department of State.......................................................6
II. The Arms Control, Nonproliferation,
and International Security Mission.........................12
III. The Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Missions.......19IV. Broadcasting........................................................................25
V. The Development Assistance Mission................................29
VI. Policy Support Functions
A. Under Secretarial Staffs.............................................35
B. Executive Secretariat................................................39
C. Congressional Relations.............................................44
D. Legal Affairs...............................................................47
E. Press and Constituent Relations..............................51
VII. Management Functions
Overview...............................................................................55
A. Budget and Finance.....................................................57
B. Domestic Facilities....................................................60
C. EEO.................................................................................62
D. Grants............................................................................64
E. Human Resources...........................................................66
F. Information Technology...............................................69
G. Logistics......................................................................72
H. Overseas Facilities....................................................74
I. Overseas Operations....................................................76
J. Records and Publishing Services..............................79
K. Security........................................................................82
L. Statutory Procurement Functions..............................84
M. Training........................................................................86
VIII. Reinvention.........................................................................88
IX. Implementation....................................................................95
X. Other Reporting Requirements .........................................98
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The reorganization of the foreign affairs agencies will preserve and improve U.S. leadership for a new century that will pose new threats and opportunities. The risks posed by chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons may grow as numerous new state and non-state actors, some with interests inimical to our own, try to obtain those weapons. Democracies, citizen organizations, and market structures will become more prominent around the world, and Americans will feel the effects of decisions they make, outside traditional government-to-government channels. As developing countries add to the international economy, environmental and demographic pressures can challenge American prosperity and security, as well as our humanitarian instincts. By integrating our national arms control, nonproliferation, public diplomacy, and sustainable development efforts into a single foreign affairs structure, we will be better able to prepare, prevent, and when necessary respond.
The Administration will work closely and cooperatively with the Congress to implement this historic reorganization. The plan is designed around our greatest strengths -- the abilities and expertise of our dedicated public servants in the foreign affairs agencies and the message America brings to the world. Reorganization will make clear that we are creating an international affairs structure that serves the times by functioning better, faster, more flexibly, and efficiently.
The United States Information Agency (USIA) and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) will be abolished and integrated into State, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) will become an independent executive branch entity, and the International Development Cooperation Agency will be eliminated. The Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will be under the direct authority and foreign policy guidance of the Secretary of State, and USAID's press office and certain administrative functions will move to State. About seven thousand USIA personnel -- Foreign Service, Civil Service, and Foreign Service Nationals -- are involved. Nearly three thousand will go to the BBG and the remainder will join State, as will about 250 ACDA and a few USAID employees. Under the provisions of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, all personnel and positions shall be transferred to State at the same grade or class, with the same rate of basic pay or basic salary, and with the same tenure held immediately preceding transfer.
Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and International SecurityACDA will be abolished on April 1, 1999. The integrated foreign policy missions of ACDA and State's Political-Military Affairs Bureau (PM) will be under the policy oversight of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security. The Under Secretary will also be Senior Adviser to the President and the Secretary of State on Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament. Five current bureaus (four in ACDA and PM) will be reduced to three in State, all under the policy oversight of the Under Secretary. An office reporting directly to the Under Secretary will advise on verification and compliance issues. During the transition period, the Director of ACDA has been "double-hatted" as Acting Under Secretary. Under the Act, a scientific and policy Advisory Board will be established to advise and make recommendations to the Secretary of State on U.S. arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament policy and activities.
Public Diplomacy and Public AffairsUSIA will be abolished on October 1, 1999. Public diplomacy programs -- designed to understand, inform, and influence foreign audiences -- will be under the direction of a new Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs who will provide policy oversight over two bureaus and one office.
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will be responsible for educational and cultural programs. The current commitment to academic and professional exchange programs will continue unabated. A separate Office of International Information Programs will produce information programs and products tailored for foreign opinion-makers. Its information efforts will focus on foreign audiences in recognition of the intent of Congress to separate overseas public diplomacy efforts from information efforts which inform the press and the American public about foreign policy. The Bureau of Public Affairs will be expanded by incorporating press relations offices of all four foreign affairs agencies and the Foreign Press Centers now operated by USIA. Public diplomacy staffs will be added to State's regional and functional staffs and bureaus.
Consistent with the Act, international broadcasting will remain an essential instrument of U.S. foreign policy. The BBG will be under the foreign policy guidance of the Secretary of State, who will have a seat on the BBG replacing the USIA Director. The Secretary and the Board will, however, respect the professional independence and integrity of the BBG's International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) and its Voice of America, surrogate broadcasting services, and grantees. In cooperation with USIA and the BBG and IBB, State is developing mechanisms to transfer to the BBG and IBB those funds, resources, and personnel commensurate with administrative and other support they now receive from USIA.
International DevelopmentIDCA will be abolished on April 1, 1999. USAID will be a separate agency, and its Administrator will be under the direct authority and foreign policy guidance of the Secretary of State. To maximize consistency with overall U.S. international affairs priorities, the Secretary will ensure coordination among agencies of the United States Government in carrying out the policies contained in relevant foreign assistance legislation. The Secretary will coordinate development and other economic assistance, and review USAID's strategic plan and annual performance plan, annual budget submission and appeals, and allocations and significant (in terms of policy or money) reprogrammings of development and other economic assistance. In this context, the Secretary will delegate or re-delegate to USAID the functions and authorities that USAID needs to carry out its mission. Under the direct authority and foreign policy guidance of the Secretary, the Administrator will create development policy, implement development and other economic assistance programs, and manage and administer assistance programs. State and USAID will establish more mechanisms for consultation and coordination. The International Cooperative Administrative Support Services (ICASS) system will be the basis for shared administrative services for USAID missions overseas.
Policy Support and Management Functions· Legal Affairs -- ACDA's and much of USIA's legal staffs will join State's Legal Adviser's Office. The Legal Adviser will be assisted by a new Associate Legal Adviser, whose portfolio will be devoted primarily to arms control and nonproliferation issues, and an Assistant Legal Adviser for Public Diplomacy.
· Congressional Liaison -- Units of ACDA and USIA will join State's Bureau of Legislative Affairs, providing new senior policy advisers.
· Press and Public Affairs -- Press relations staffs from all four agencies will be drawn together under the Bureau of Public Affairs, which will be responsible for issuing all press statements and press releases for State and USAID.
· Management -ACDA's and USIA's central management functions will be integrated in units under the oversight of the Under Secretary of State for Management. These functions include information resource management, overseas facilities and operations, domestic facilities, logistics, diplomatic security, financial management, grants, human resources, and training.
· Executive Offices -- At the bureau level the new administrative units will be similar to current State models.
State ReinventionReinvention of State will be accelerated and bolstered by new talents, strengths, and assets acquired through enhanced integration of foreign affairs agencies. State has already taken significant reinvention steps:
· The Under Secretaries have assumed responsibility as the Corporate Board, meeting weekly under the chair of the Deputy Secretary to address major cross-cutting issues and conduct strategic planning.
· Performance Planning has been redesigned to align strategy and resources better under the International Affairs and State Strategic Plans.
· State's Overseas Staffing Model is helping prioritize and define staffing levels for the next century at our missions in the field.
· State has revitalized capital planning for facilities and investment in information systems, two critical but high-cost areas.
· State has consolidated its information technology (IT) professionals into a new Bureau of Information Resource Management under the leadership of the Chief Information Officer, creating a strong focus on IT issues and modernization.
· State has developed and implemented the International Cooperative Administrative Support Service (ICASS), a transparent system which maximizes shared administrative services for agencies abroad. ICASS uses the concept of best practices and considers the cost and quality of services.
· State has reengineered its logistics system and built a nimble structure which delivers improved responsiveness and customer service, incorporates electronic commerce and features an Internet acquisition website, with information on procurement opportunities at State's installations worldwide.
· State has created a new Bureau of Western Hemispheric Affairs, by moving Canada into the former Bureau of Inter-American Affairs. This change emphasizes the importance of NAFTA and is an example of our strengthened policy focus on economics and global issues.
But this is only the beginning. Bringing together the talented professionals of State, USIA, and ACDA in a single organization will afford opportunities for further reinvention. The Administration will be examining steps to better integrate related activities now conducted in several places in State and USAID, and to otherwise improve our ability to deal with both traditional and new problems.
I. The Department of State
The plan to reorganize the foreign affairs agencies called for a foreign policy apparatus to meet the demands of a new era in international relations. The structure proposed for State reflects this mandate. It was designed with careful attention to the Vice President's anticipation that reorganization preserve the unique skills and capabilities of all foreign affairs agencies and their personnel. The design strengthens the arms control, nonproliferation, and political-military missions, and more closely integrates public diplomacy and assistance activities into overall U.S. foreign policy and the conduct of diplomatic relations. It puts missions and resources into a more unified structure.
How Reorganization Makes U.S. Foreign Policy Stronger
Reorganization of the foreign affairs agencies will strengthen our ability to achieve U.S. international affairs goals. Integrating the mission, programs, and personnel of USIA will bring public diplomacy to the core of foreign policy, yielding a stronger capability to understand, inform, and influence foreign publics and policy-makers. USIA's public diplomacy and communications professionals will infuse State with their own sophisticated information management skills and media tools. When public diplomacy perspectives come into play from the outset as policy is formulated, U.S. policy articulation will be clearer and more persuasive to foreign publics and governments.
Integration of arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament functions with international security assistance activities will complement the activities of each and strengthen the effectiveness of the whole. Consistent with our objective to ensure a strengthened role for arms control and nonproliferation at State, the lead for all new negotiations on these issues and related policy development and backstopping will reside in the functional bureaus. The Secretary of State will be better able to assess treaty verification and compliance, lead the interagency nonproliferation process, and play an enhanced role in the arms control interagency process. State will also be better able to contribute to the coordination of foreign and defense policy and deploy more effectively the broad tools of diplomacy to promote arms control and nonproliferation. The new structure will bring greater focus to priority defense policy issues -- preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and overseeing the transfer and control of conventional arms and technologies.
What State Will Look Like
The movement of boxes on organization charts is less important than the impact on mission, but State will look different. The incorporation of USIA and ACDA functions will add one new Under Secretary and greatly expand the portfolio and reporting structure of another. It will consolidate six bureaus from two agencies into three State bureaus and one major office. Integration will join more than 4,000 skilled American and Foreign Service National personnel, including public diplomacy experts, communications and media specialists, treaty negotiators, nonproliferation experts, and verification analysts, with colleagues at State. All full-time permanent positions from ACDA and USIA (except for those associated with the Broadcasting Board of Governors) and eight USAID positions will be transferred to State. Also to be transferred are all part-time, intermittent, and temporary positions and the full range of program and support funding.
A new Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs will exercise policy oversight for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Office of International Information Programs, and the Bureau of Public Affairs.
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will be responsible for exchange and academic programs. The Office of International Information Programs will produce information programs and products tailored to influence foreign opinion makers. This Office will focus on programs and products for foreign audiences in recognition of the intent of Congress to separate overseas public diplomacy efforts from information efforts which inform the press and the American public about foreign policy. State's Bureau of Public Affairs will be expanded by incorporating the press relations offices of all four foreign affairs agencies and the Foreign Press Centers now operated by USIA. USAID will retain its non-press public affairs functions. The Bureau will continue to inform domestic audiences and the press about U.S. foreign affairs activities. It will also continue to sponsor outreach and domestic speakers programs to engage the American public on foreign policy issues. State's regional and functional staffs and bureaus will acquire public diplomacy staffs. Regional bureaus will assume oversight responsibility for field public diplomacy operations.
The addition of ACDA's arms control, nonproliferation, disarmament, and verification functions will strengthen the role of the transformed Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, enhancing State's capabilities in international security matters. The Under Secretary will also serve as Senior Adviser to the President and the Secretary of State on Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament. State will integrate the operations of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM) with those of ACDA. The Under Secretary will provide policy oversight for three bureaus.
· The Bureau of Arms Control will be responsible for international agreements on conventional, chemical/biological, and strategic forces, treaty verification and compliance, and supporting ongoing negotiations, policy-making, and interagency implementation efforts. The Bureau will have an enhanced role in the NSC-chaired arms control interagency policy process.
· The Bureau of Nonproliferation will lead efforts to halt the spread of nuclear, chemical, biological, and conventional weapons and missiles capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction, secure nuclear materials in the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union, and promote protection of nuclear materials worldwide. The Bureau will have primary responsibility for leadership in the interagency policy process for nonproliferation issues.
· The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs will retain most of its current international security policy and operational functions. It will be responsible for issues relating to security assistance, arms transfers, defense trade controls, and political-military and defense cooperation in critical infrastructure protection, contingency planning, crisis management, and peacekeeping. The Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs will contribute significantly to stronger State efforts on regional security issues and better articulation of State's views on defense policies with foreign policy implications.
· A Special Adviser reporting directly to the Under Secretary will advise on verification and compliance issues and prepare compliance reports to Congress.
After two years, all regional and functional staff and bureau configurations will be reviewed to determine whether the present structure remains the best one.
What will not change in State as it incorporates elements of USIA and ACDA into Congressional, legal, press, and management operations is the quality of these critical functions. The Secretary of State will continue to receive top-notch legal advice, but this advice will support a broader programmatic mandate. She will still be supported on Capitol Hill by legislative experts, but they will represent an expanded portfolio of policy interests. The spectrum of management support operations will continue, but with newly integrated resources, facilities, and efficiencies.
State will have a closer relationship to USAID. The International Development Cooperation Agency will be abolished, and the USAID Administrator will be under the direct authority and foreign policy guidance of the Secretary of State. In this context, the Secretary will review USAID's strategic plan and annual performance plan, annual budget submission and appeals, and allocations and significant reprogrammings of development and other economic assistance. The two agencies will expand shared administrative functions.
Our posts and missions abroad will be even more integrated than now. Public Affairs Officers will become embassy and mission section heads. ACDA overseas administrative units will be integrated with embassy and mission administrative sections. USAID budgeting and planning at overseas missions will be consistent with overall Mission Performance Plans, and the Chief of Mission will approve the USAID mission's country assistance strategy and assessment of program performance and request for resources. State and USAID will utilize the International Cooperative Administrative Support Service (ICASS) system to maximize shared administrative services consistent with its goals of quality and cost-effectiveness.
People - Our Greatest Asset
State will offer more career opportunities to both the Civil Service and the Foreign Service. Civil Service employees will be able to compete for positions among a wider field of career possibilities, the breadth of which will particularly benefit former ACDA and USIA employees. In keeping with the changing requirements of international affairs in the 21st century, State will offer more opportunities for retraining and upgrading skills.
USIA brings to State an innovative system for career development and training for Civil Service employees. For State to reach its potential, greater personnel flexibility and opportunities for overseas tours for Civil Service employees will be essential. State Foreign Service personnel will benefit from the opportunity to bid on and serve in new positions in arms control, nonproliferation, and public diplomacy -- acquiring needed skills in these fields, which are so essential to modern diplomacy. The merger of USIA into State will bring about a fifth Foreign Service career cone - public diplomacy. Public diplomacy officers will be able to bid on Washington assignments which include public diplomacy and public affairs positions in the regional and functional bureaus, as well as assignments in other cones. USIA executive officers will become administrative officers in State and be able to bid on all administrative assignments as well as on assignments in other cones. New access to multi-functional assignments will give these officers opportunities for advancement to a wider range of senior positions, and give officers in other cones more exposure to public diplomacy and communications skills needed in the age of information.
Collectively, all State elements must focus more on training our foreign national colleagues, who make such important contributions to our overall efforts abroad.
Reorganization and Reinvention
Reorganization will streamline administrative and management operations and lead to greater efficiencies while building on the diverse strengths of the merging organizations and their employees. Prior to ICASS, independent agencies operating at the same posts overseas inevitably brought a degree of redundancy to their administrative functions. Important operating efficiencies have been achieved through ICASS. At home, State will achieve efficiencies by merging State and USIA administrative systems in such areas as payroll and accounting. Over time, other systems and especially communications technology will be merged. For example, USIA will bring to State a strong technical capacity for open communications, greater Internet access, and other communications tools that will complement State's extensive secure communications network.
Reinvention at State will be accelerated and bolstered by integration as new talents, strengths and assets are brought in, affording more opportunities for reinvention. State will also initiate new reinvention efforts building on the strengths which come from integration. State has already
taken a number of steps which reflect its strong emphasis on improving effectiveness and building a firmer foundation for effective integration; these are detailed in Chapter VIII.
II. The Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and
International Security Mission
What Will Happen to the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA)
Current Responsibilities
ACDA's mission is to strengthen national security by formulating, advocating, negotiating, implementing, and verifying effective arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament policies, strategies, and agreements. ACDA also ensures that arms control concerns are fully integrated into the development and conduct of U.S. national security policy. In addition, ACDA's Director functions as the principal adviser to the President, the National Security Adviser, and the Secretary of State on arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament matters.
ACDA's four bureaus have specialized expertise and responsibility in the following areas:
· Intelligence, Verification, and Information Management -- Covers the full panoply of arms control intelligence, verification, compliance, and technology issues.
· Multilateral Affairs -- Develops U.S. policy, strategy, and tactics for multilateral negotiations and implementation, including the Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty; staffs and backstops these efforts, and leads ACDA efforts on conventional arms control in Europe.
· Nonproliferation and Regional Arms Control -- Develops and implements policies for nonproliferation of nuclear, chemical, biological, and conventional weapons and missile delivery systems, export controls for related U.S. products, and regional arms control measures.
· Strategic and Eurasian Affairs -- Leads U.S. efforts in nuclear arms control with the New Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union and China, including the Strategic Arms Reduction (START) I and II, and negotiations on future reductions, Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF), and Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaties.
The Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs (T) provides policy oversight of and coordinates arms control, nonproliferation, and security assistance policy for State. The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM) is responsible for formulating and implementing policies on such national security issues as nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missile technology, nuclear and conventional arms control, arms export controls, and regional security assistance programs and initiatives. PM also acts as State's primary liaison with the Department of Defense on security assistance issues and on the implications of U.S. foreign policy.
Personnel
ACDA currently has 245 full-time permanent positions, 48 reimbursable positions, and three non-reimbursable ones.
Within State, PM has 262 full-time permanent positions and 29 non-reimbursable ones. The Under Secretary's office has a staff of nine full-time permanent positions.
Key Issues Considered
The security issues facing America today are quite different from those of 10 years ago. The macro issues include:
· Nonproliferation -- Nonproliferation of dangerous weapons and technologies, encompassing weapons of mass destruction and advanced conventional weapons and delivery systems, has high priority. Decades of work have put norms and regimes in place, but much work with problem states lies ahead. Integrating the assets of ACDA and State will help implement international structures already in place and address current proliferation challenges.
· Critical Infrastructure Protection -- Safeguarding the nation's critical infrastructure from a new category of threats to national security posed by and to interconnected information systems is emerging as a key issue. Along with countering the smuggling of nuclear materials, critical infrastructure protection (CIP) involves coordination with domestic as well as defense agencies and other countries. Under the new structure, we will be equipped to address this growing security problem by increasing and consolidating our resources devoted to it.
· Force Reduction -- Reducing forces is also a priority. Major negotiations are anticipated on START III and are underway on the adaptation of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty. A large number of existing agreements need to be implemented.
· Defense Policy -- When military force is used in support of diplomacy, State plays a major role in shaping defense policies that have major foreign policy implications. The new structure reallocates resources for this function and makes it a primary role of PM.
· Monetary Incentives -- These have become increasingly important in today's diplomacy. Nunn-Lugar assistance, which helps the NIS countries decommission weapons and convert from military to peacetime industries, is a creative way to advance foreign policy goals, in this case with Department of Defense funds. State should have the capability to participate actively in long-term planning and current programming to support optimum use of funds to promote arms control objectives.
Proposed Integration into State
Under the guidelines set out in the Vice President's plan, integrating ACDA into State will preserve and strengthen the effectiveness of the arms control, nonproliferation, disarmament, and security assistance functions. After considering a wide range of possible groupings, a streamlined structure was chosen that will reduce the number of bureaus in the two agencies from five to three and cut the number of executive-level Presidential appointees from eight to four. To increase efficiency and facilitate allocation of resources, a single administrative office will be established to support the three bureaus. The role of each new unit will be as follows.
Under SecretaryOn April 18, 1997, the President announced that the ACDA Director would be double-hatted as the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security and then the two positions will be merged as Under Secretary/Senior Adviser to the President and Secretary of State, who will be able to communicate with the President through the Secretary of State. In the capacity of Senior Adviser, the Under Secretary will attend and participate, at the direction of the President, in NSC and its subordinate meetings (Presidential Decision Directive 65). The office will have 13 full-time permanent positions (four from ACDA and nine from State). The Under Secretary will exercise policy oversight for three bureaus: Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Political-Military Affairs.
Special representatives and envoys now reporting to the ACDA Director will be supported by the relevant Assistant Secretary and report to this Assistant Secretary and the Under Secretary.
A new scientific and policy Advisory Board on arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament, authorized by the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, will report to the Secretary through the Under Secretary, who will maintain operational authority over the Board, including designation of members and staff (two full-time permanent positions from ACDA).
The verification and compliance function will be managed through both an oversight unit and a staff support unit. A Special Adviser for Verification and Compliance, with a staff of six full-time permanent positions and one reimbursable position, all from ACDA, will report directly to the Under Secretary on critical verification and compliance issues and prepare compliance reports to Congress. Thus the Under Secretary will receive verification and compliance assessments independent of the bureaus responsible for negotiating and implementing agreements. In addition, a larger group of verification and compliance specialists in the Bureau of Arms Control will provide policy, technical, and analytical support.
Additionally, four positions (two full-time permanent, one reimbursable, and one non-reimbursable - all from ACDA) will move to the Bureau of Intelligence and Research to provide direct intelligence support as well as a robust interface with the Intelligence Community.
Political-Military Affairs BureauThe Political-Military Affairs Bureau will support the Secretary and the Under Secretary in playing a larger role in security and defense policy. It will provide analytical support for the Secretary and the Under Secretary on defense-related foreign policy issues, contribute to the coordination of peacekeeping and other military operations, and assume greater responsibilities with regard to crisis management. The Bureau will be responsible for a cluster of issues involving arms transfers and defense trade controls, and political-military and defense cooperation in critical infrastructure protection, and will support the Under Secretary in coordinating security assistance. The Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs will contribute to a stronger State effort on regional security issues and give State a more informed voice on defense policies with major foreign policy implications.
The Bureau will have 142 full-time permanent positions (nine from ACDA and 133 from PM), one reimbursable position (from ACDA), and 23 non-reimbursable ones (all from PM).
Arms Control BureauThe Arms Control Bureau will support the Secretary and the Under Secretary in leading efforts to negotiate new agreements, primarily START III and other future strategic arms control agreements, and negotiating efforts in the Conference on Disarmament (CD), e.g., fissile material cutoff treaty, ban on the transfer of antipersonnel landmines. It will have the equally important task of implementing a large number of existing agreements, including ABM, INF, START I, START II, CWC, and BWC, and of preparing to implement CTBT. The Bureau will assume the U.S. lead for negotiations and policy development related to Confidence and Security-Building Measures (CSBMs), Open Skies, Dayton Article V negotiations, verification and information for European arms control, have responsibilities with respect to CFE Treaty issues, and participate fully in the Task Force on CFE under the Under Secretary.
The Verification and Compliance staff will contribute primarily to ongoing negotiations, technology policy coordination, policy analysis, information management, arms control efforts relative to critical infrastructure protection, and interagency implementation efforts.
Consistent with our objective to ensure a strengthened role for arms control and nonproliferation in State, the lead for all negotiations on these issues and related policy development and backstopping will reside in the new functional bureaus. But, because of the sensitive stage of current negotiations on CFE and directly related CSBMs, these negotiations will temporarily continue to be handled under existing arrangements with the regional bureaus, under the direction of the Under Secretary, along with a Special Representative and Task Force under the Under Secretary's leadership, established for policy direction and coordination with all relevant bureaus and offices. This arrangement will be reviewed in 1999 with a view to consolidating the lead in the Arms Control Bureau at the earliest practicable date.
The Bureau will have 144 full-time permanent positions (109 from ACDA and 35 from PM), 37 reimbursable positions (all from ACDA), and four non-reimbursable ones (two from PM and two from ACDA).
Nonproliferation BureauOne goal of integrating ACDA and State is to give new emphasis to a broad range of efforts to curb proliferation of dangerous weapons and delivery systems. The Nonproliferation Bureau's role is to do this, including by supporting the Secretary and the Under Secretary in leading the nonproliferation interagency policy process.
The Bureau will be responsible for nuclear nonproliferation, e.g., supporting the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), implementing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), securing nuclear materials in the NIS, disposing of stockpiles of fissile materials, advancing civil nuclear cooperation under safe and sound conditions, and promoting effective protection, control, and accounting of nuclear material worldwide. It will press for nonproliferation of chemical and biological weapons and missiles, and promote restraint in transfers of conventional arms. The Bureau will also pursue regional and bilateral initiatives designed to reduce proliferation pressures and destabilizing arms acquisitions.
As part of the consolidation of activities in ACDA and State, some staff will be shifted in order to expand critical nonproliferation efforts and enhance State's security assistance capabilities.
The Bureau will have 130 full-time permanent positions (48 from ACDA and 82 from PM), six reimbursable positions (all from ACDA), and four non-reimbursable ones (all from PM).
Executive OfficeA single Executive Office, reporting to the Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation, will provide the full range of administrative support services to all three bureaus. It will have 38 full-time permanent positions (26 from ACDA and 12 from PM).
Positive Outcomes
The three-bureau structure will put the Secretary and State in a strong position to:
· Bring foreign policy considerations to bear on defense issues;
· Negotiate, implement, and verify arms control agreements; and
· Pursue effective policies for nonproliferation of dangerous weapons.
This structure will also provide the Under Secretary with effective tools to carry out other elements of the President's decision, including advising the Secretary and the President on arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament, assessing verification and compliance, leading the nonproliferation interagency process, and playing a stronger role in the interagency arms control process.
The integrated structure is designed to focus more effort on the priority issues of defense-related foreign policy, security assistance, and the transfer and control of conventional arms and technologies.
III. The Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Missions
We place very high priority on public diplomacy with foreign audiences, and are firmly committed to integrating public diplomacy more fully into foreign policy. Our goal is to strengthen public diplomacy through its integration into the policy process. Negotiations on such issues as NATO enlargement, Iraqi sanctions, and global climate change show the value of being proactive in informing and influencing foreign publics, NGOs, and others. These audiences are playing greater roles on international issues as communications improve and pluralism expands. When public diplomacy strategies are applied from the outset as policy is formulated, policy and its articulation will improve and be more persuasive to foreign publics and policy-makers.
What Will Happen to the U.S. Information Agency (USIA)
Current Responsibilities
Public diplomacy promotes U.S. national security and other interests by seeking to understand, inform, and influence foreign publics and policy-makers, and by broadening the dialogue between American citizens and institutions and their counterparts abroad. In comparison, public affairs is the provision of information to the press, the American people, and others about the policies and activities of the U.S. government.
Different aspects of the public diplomacy mission roughly correspond to the role of each of the Agency's current major programmatic elements (current USIA broadcasting functions are enumerated in Chapter IV on International Broadcasting):
· Bureau of Information (I), Area Offices, and USIS Posts Abroad -- Inform and seek to influence foreign opinion-makers by presenting U.S. positions on policy issues through a variety of products, including the daily Washington File, expert speakers (in person and in digital video or telepress conferences), Information Resource Centers overseas, electronic journals and Web sites, and print publications.
· Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (E), Area Offices, and USIS Posts Abroad -- Broaden long-term dialogue with foreign publics through a variety of person-to-person exchanges, including the Fulbright Program for scholars, teachers, and students; the International Visitors program to bring foreign leaders to the U.S.; Citizen Exchanges efforts to develop international exchange programs through nonprofit American institutions; and programs to affiliate U.S. and foreign academic institutions, advise foreign students about American colleges and universities, foster the teaching abroad of U.S. studies and the English language, and strengthen educational institutions abroad.
· Office of Research and Media Reaction (R) -- Seeks to understand foreign publics through opinion polling abroad and, utilizing reporting from USIS posts abroad and other media, to analyze attitudes toward U.S. policies and activities in the foreign media.
Personnel
USIA currently has 6,715 full-time permanent positions, of which 2,689 are engaged in broadcasting activities. The remaining 4,026 consist of 652 Americans and 2,080 Foreign Service Nationals (FSN) overseas, and 1,294 positions in the U.S.
Key Issues Considered
Budget Structure -- Funding for public diplomacy (excluding exchange and academic programs, which have and will continue to have their own appropriations) will be incorporated through increases to existing Congressional appropriations to State for Diplomatic and Consular Programs Abroad, the Security and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad, Representation Allowances, Emergencies in the Diplomatic and Consular Service, and the Capital Investment Fund. In the appropriation for Diplomatic and Consular Programs Abroad, State will separately plan for, identify, and account for public diplomacy resources for programs and products aimed at foreign audiences, and foreign national personnel and other programmatic expenses of public diplomacy sections of embassies and missions abroad and in appropriate offices in State.
Organizational Structures -- We examined ways to promote maximum appropriate synergy of public diplomacy and public affairs activities under the oversight of the new Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
Smith-Mundt and Zorinsky Amendments -- In legislation over the years, Congress has restricted USIA's public diplomacy apparatus from being used to influence U.S. public opinion. The Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1972 amended the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 to include a ban on disseminating within the United States any "information about the United States, its people, and its policies" prepared for dissemination abroad. The Zorinsky Amendment added a new prohibition: "no funds authorized to be appropriated to the United States Information Agency shall be used to influence public opinion in the United States, and no program material prepared by the United States Information Agency shall be distributed within the United States." The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (the Act) addresses the application of these restrictions to State, giving it the flexibility to allocate personnel and other resources effectively and efficiently. In integrating USIA, State will observe all applicable legal restrictions.
Consistent with Congressional intent, public diplomacy information efforts will focus on programs and products for foreign audiences. Exchange programs will continue to engage American and foreign participants and organizations under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (Fulbright-Hays).
Public diplomacy has diplomatic aspects. As an example public diplomacy officers engage foreign audiences with techniques, language skills, and area knowledge not duplicated in domestic public affairs activities. At the same time, much policy content in public diplomacy and public affairs is the same for foreign and domestic audiences, e.g., State's daily press briefings and fact sheets on policy issues. These messages are delivered both to domestic and foreign audiences by many of the same media, e.g., CNN, the World Wide Web, and international wire services. More than half of the journalists whom State serves on a daily basis work for foreign media, and State and USIA web pages can be accessed from anywhere.
Proposed Integration into State
Under Secretary
The Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs will advise the Secretary on public diplomacy and public affairs and provide policy oversight for the Bureau of Public Affairs; the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which will be responsible for exchange and academic programs; and the Office of International Information Programs, which will produce public diplomacy programs and products tailored to influence foreign opinion-makers. The Under Secretary or his or her designee will also chair the interagency Core Group on international public information (IPI), which will develop and coordinate U.S. public information strategies and activities to address regional and transnational threats and crises. The office will have nine full-time permanent positions, all from USIA.
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
The bureau will be formed from the staff of USIA's current Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Additionally, a
staff of twelve full-time permanent positions, formerly in the USIA General Counsel's office, will report to the Assistant Secretary and be responsible for exchange visitor program designations; one additional full-time permanent position, responsible for film attestations under the Beirut Convention, will also transfer to the Assistant Secretary's office; as will nine positions involved in grants management that were originally in the USIA central contracts office.
The Assistant Secretary will also be supported by the continuing efforts of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee and the Fulbright Scholarship Board (three full-time permanent positions).
It will have 286 full-time permanent American positions domestically, plus 11 overseas.
Office of International Information Programs
International information activities will continue to emphasize rapid response, cross-functional teamwork, and field orientation. Thus, the achievements of USIA's innovative Bureau of Information, launched four years ago as a Reinvention Laboratory based on Vice President Gore's National Performance Review and the best practices of private industry, will be maintained and strengthened under the leadership of the Coordinator for International Information Programs.
These public diplomacy products will be available to all bureaus and overseas posts, to provide them with the assistance they need to advance U.S. interests abroad. Public diplomacy programs will be prepared in response both to Washington initiatives and to post needs. Guided by country information, including polling data, and other available information, the assistance provided in these programmatic packages, will enable the field to aggressively promote our foreign policy goals through world-class information services.
There will be a total of 219 full-time permanent American domestic positions plus 16 overseas American and one FSN, including the former Office of Strategic Communications (six full-time permanent positions and one non-reimbursable position).
Bureau of Public Affairs
The three USIA foreign press center operations and its offices in Washington, New York, and Los Angeles (24 full-time permanent positions) will be transferred to the Bureau of Public Affairs. One position from ACDA's Bureau of Public Affairs will transfer to State's Office of the Historian, located in PA.
BBG personnel who carry out Worldnet TV interactives (12 full-time permanent positions) will be transferred to State's Bureau of Public Affairs, as will the BBG's Foreign Broadcast Support Unit (eight full-time permanent positions). Worldnet TV interactives will continue to promote dialogues with foreign audiences via international satellite programs.
Public Diplomacy in Regional and Functional Staffs and Bureaus
USIA's area offices will integrate where practical and efficient into State's regional bureaus (123 full-time permanent positions), building on the successful European Bureau/Office of West European Affairs model. These will coordinate public diplomacy activities of their respective embassies and missions abroad. Overseas 445 full-time permanent American positions and 1,720 FSN positions will engage in public diplomacy work.
Public diplomacy personnel (initially 25 full-time permanent positions, drawn from USIA's staff, area, and support offices) will be added to State's functional staffs and bureaus. These units will advise on policies from a public diplomacy perspective, and help develop public diplomacy strategies on regional and thematic basis to promote such U.S. national goals in areas such as counter terrorism, narcotics, arms control, and nonproliferation.
Other Public Diplomacy Integration
State's International Affairs Strategic Plan will encompass public diplomacy goals, and respective Bureau and Mission Performance Plans will reflect targets and projects for each region, country, and functional area.
USIA's Office of Research and Media Reaction will be merged with into the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. We will look to even more sophisticated ways to understand and evaluate trends in foreign opinion. The Office has a public opinion research function (35 full-time permanent positions) and a media reaction division (six full-time permanent positions).
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Office of International Information Programs will be supported by a single administrative office drawn from existing support positions, plus the transfer of 32 full-time permanent positions from USIA's current Management Bureau, which has been providing support services.
Similar State and USIA information-related support functions will be combined into existing State structures. USIA's print operations and associated support (22 American and 91 foreign national full-time permanent positions) will join State's. Domestic library activities will be combined (two full-time permanent positions.) Efforts to promote U.S. foreign policy on the Internet will be combined and coordinated.
Positive Outcomes
This structure will bring together all elements charged with presenting and interpreting U.S. foreign policy to public audiences. It will give public diplomacy practitioners greater access to the foreign policy formulation process. The new structure will ensure that the policy content of State's domestic and international outreach programs is consistent and coordinated, yet tailored for specific target audiences. It will ensure that all applicable legal requirements are adhered to. And it will strengthen State's Bureau of Public Affairs by increasing its press expertise.
By placing public diplomacy staffs in State's regional and functional staffs and bureaus, the new structure will offer a better integrated mechanism for identifying and acting on priority public diplomacy issues, and coordinating Washington resources with the needs of the field. International broadcasting will preserve its editorial integrity while adding new services and maintaining close ties with State, complementing other U.S. public diplomacy efforts in support of U.S. foreign policy interests.
IV. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING
Open communication of ideas and information to the people of the world is a critical element of U.S. foreign policy. The mission of conveying news and information is carried out, in substantial part, by the Voice of America and other U.S. Government-funded international broadcasters.
What Will Happen to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)
Current Responsibilities
All nonmilitary U.S. Government-funded international broadcasting, including the Voice of America and surrogate broadcasting, is administered through the BBG. It has nine presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed members, including the USIA Director. The BBG is a self-governing element within USIA, and receives administrative, technical, and management support from other elements of USIA.
Broadcasting seeks to inform and influence foreign publics. The key elements are:
· International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) -- The Voice of America, the Worldnet Television and Film Service, and Radio and TV Marti broadcast international news, commentaries, editorials, roundtable discussions, features and programming about the United States, its people, and its foreign policies. VOA broadcasts more than 900 hours of programming per week in 53 languages, and reaches an estimated 86 million people each week from IBB transmitter stations worldwide and through leased satellite links.
· BBG Grantees -- The BBG grantees, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (which incorporates Radio Free Iraq and the Farsi language service) and Radio Free Asia, broadcast local, regional, and international news and seek to inform and influence foreign publics. The grantees are private, non-profit organizations which receive all of their funding from the BBG.
Personnel
At present, 2,689 full-time permanent employees of USIA are employed directly in broadcasting activities. Additional USIA employees, both domestically and internationally, provide support services to the BBG and its elements. The BBG grantees separately employ broadcast staffs that are not employees of USIA.
Future International Broadcasting
Under the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, the BBG will become an independent federal entity by October 1, 1999. Consistent with the Act, international broadcasting will remain an essential instrument of U.S. foreign policy. The Board (including the Secretary of State, who will be a statutory member of the Board) and State will respect the professional independence and integrity of U.S. international broadcasting.
The Director of the IBB, as mandated by the Act, will organize a coordinating committee to examine and make recommendations to the Board on long-term broadcasting strategies.
Key Issues Considered
The principal issue considered in connection with the pending independence of the BBG was the identification of the support resources of USIA currently used by the BBG and its elements. Under the Act, those activities now in USIA which are dedicated to carrying out the broadcasting function will be located in the BBG when it becomes a separate entity. In addition, the Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the BBG, will transfer to the BBG funds, resources and personnel commensurate with the administrative, management and other support they currently receive from USIA.
Personnel, salaries, operating funds, and equipment commensurate with the support currently provided by USIA to the BBG and the IBB will be transferred in support areas such as administration, technology, legal, marketing, EEO, management, personnel, payroll, accounting, security, and contracting. The transfer will be made on a pro-rata basis using current (FY-99) assets as the baseline. In some cases, the services necessary to support a new, stand-alone agency (including start-up costs) are higher than the services currently provided to the BBG. In these cases, the additional resource requirements will be filled by State's adjusting the transfer or a reallocation of resources within the BBG. Sixty-six USIA full-time permanent positions, including three from USIA's special complements, will be transferred to the BBG to provide administrative support (48), legal support (seven), program direction (three), FOIA (two), and equal opportunity activities (six). The 48 administrative support positions consist of: four management positions, four budget positions, three personnel positions, two training positions, seven contracting positions, two contracting policy positions, 13 security positions, six information technology positions, 1 general administrative position, two travel and transportation positions, three mail and messenger positions, and one printing position. Twenty-three additional full time permanent positions will shift to State to provide reimbursable support in financial services (20) and declassification (three).
Additionally, five full-time permanent American positions and 30 foreign national ones will be transferred to the BBG to direct and provide placement services for radio and TV material to foreign broadcasters. These American positions will be drawn from USIA's special complements. The foreign national positions will be derived from overseas support positions as they become vacant during integration, and not later than the end of FY-00 (nine have already been identified). Additional placement support will continue to be available for a transition period on a non-reimbursable basis for at least two years.
With respect to transfers from the BBG to State, the BBG will transfer twelve full-time permanent positions directly responsible for producing interactives and providing technical support and the funds associated with the function. The BBG will also transfer the eight full-time permanent positions of the Foreign Broadcast Support Unit (FBSU) to the Foreign Press Centers. The FBSU facilitates the visits of foreign broadcasters to the United States, and this mission is more consistent with State's public affairs mission than with the journalistic mission of the BBG and the IBB.
The Secretary of State will have access to the facilities and services of the BBG television studios and the BBG worldwide satellite capabilities for interactive dialogues as has been past practice. State will be able to use the technical facilities of the BBG on a non-reimbursable basis to broadcast interactive dialogues worldwide. Policy interactive dialogues will become the responsibility of State and continue to be produced from the BBG studios. Some of these interactive dialogues will allow for the appearance of individuals located at Main State and the Foreign Press Center. The cooperative professionalism that has marked past working relationships will continue in the future.
Positive Outcomes
Pursuant to the Act, the BBG will become an independent federal entity. This provides a "firewall" between State and the broadcasters to ensure the integrity of journalism.
The Act thus ensures that the credibility and journalistic integrity of broadcasting will be preserved and enhanced. International broadcasting is, and should remain, an essential important instrument of U.S. foreign policy, by telling America's story and otherwise serving broad American foreign policy objectives. The Secretary of State will provide foreign policy guidance to the BBG.
V. The Development Assistance Mission
What Will Happen to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Consistent with the President's decision in April 1997 and the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (the Act), USAID will remain a distinct agency with a separate appropriation. The USAID Administrator will be under the direct authority and foreign policy guidance of the Secretary of State. Under the direction of the President, the Secretary will coordinate all U.S. development and other economic assistance except activities related to export promotion and to international financial institutions and certain other financial assistance. The Act abolishes the International Development Cooperation Agency (IDCA). It requires that USAID integrate its press office and certain administrative functions with State.
Abolition of IDCA and Delegation of Authorities
Several steps will be taken to implement the Act and the President's decision so as to provide for the "direct authority" relationship. In essence, the "dotted" organizational line between USAID and State will be filled in, with the Administrator having most authorities derived by redelegation from the Secretary of State. Under the direct authority and foreign policy guidance of the Secretary, the Administrator will carry out the approved overall assistance and economic cooperation strategy.
In accordance with the Act, Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1979 -- which established IDCA, with USAID as a component, and granted it primary responsibility for establishing overall development assistance policy and coordinating international development activities supported by the United States -- will cease to be effective as of April 1, 1999. The effective repeal of this Plan and the enactment of conforming amendments contained in the Act returns those functions now vested in IDCA or its director back to USAID or the Secretary of State, as was the case by statute prior to 1979 Plan.
Executive Order 12163, which delegated most Foreign Assistance Act development and other economic assistance-related authorities to IDCA, will be amended to delegate assistance functions vested by law in the President to the Secretary of State, except for those reserved to the President or specifically delegated to another agency. This will be the same framework that existed prior to the establishment of IDCA. The Act also establishes USAID as a U.S. government agency.
To maximize consistency with overall U.S. international affairs priorities, the Secretary of State will coordinate development and other economic assistance. The Secretary will ensure coordination among agencies of the United States Government in carrying out the policies contained in relevant foreign assistance legislation. In keeping with USAID's status as a distinct agency and recognizing that the USAID Administrator is under the Secretary's direct authority and foreign policy guidance, the Secretary will review USAID's strategic plan and annual performance plan, annual budget submission and appeals, and allocations and significant (in terms of policy or money) reprogrammings of development and other economic assistance.
In this context, the Secretary of State will delegate or redelegate to USAID the functions and authorities needed to carry out its mission. These include authorities to:
· Receive apportionments for development and other economic assistance appropriations;
· Create policies for development and other economic assistance programs;
· Implement development and other economic assistance programs; and
· Manage and administer assistance programs, including the requisite personnel authorities.
In carrying out its functions and authorities under the direct authority and foreign policy guidance of the Secretary, USAID will consult as appropriate with State.
State-USAID Policy and Resource Coordination
The leadership of both State and USAID recognize the need for effective coordination consistent with strong accountability and a clear division of responsibility. The promotion of the sustainable development mission will remain a priority objective of the closer State-USAID relationship at all levels. Broad foreign policy coherence is best assured through strategic planning and resource allocation processes as described in this chapter, which align USAID resources in support of foreign policy priorities and allow the sustainable development mission to be carried out effectively. Under the direct authority and foreign policy guidance of the Secretary, the Administrator will create development policy, implement development and other economic assistance programs, and manage and administer these programs. State and USAID will establish a number of regular mechanisms to enhance consultation and coordination, including in the field, in Washington at the bureau level, and in the relationship of USAID and State activities on global issues. These mechanisms will include:
· Coordination in Strategic Planning -- Both State and USAID develop strategic plans in the context of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). State coordinates with USAID in developing the "International Affairs Strategic Plan," and USAID's "Strategic Framework" is coordinated with this Plan.
· Coordination in Washington -- Preparation of Bureau Performance Plans at State will involve full consultation with USAID, which will participate in the Secretary's reviews of such Plans and in reviews of Mission Performance Plans (MPPs). Under the direction of the Secretary, other specific coordination mechanisms will be established, including a more structured system for coordination among State and USAID bureaus.
· Coordination in the Field -- Close coordination in the field is at the heart of an effective State-USAID relationship. USAID overseas missions will participate actively in the MPP process, and their budgeting and planning will be consistent with MPPs. Chiefs of Mission will approve USAID missions' multi-year country assistance strategies and annual assessments of program performance and requests for resources (R-4), both of which will be consistent with USAID's GPRA-mandated Strategic Plan. The principal USAID official at post is a member of the country team. Unless otherwise provided, the Chief of Mission will have primary responsibility for the annual performance rating of this official, and Chief of Missions and appropriate USAID Assistant Administrators will agree on a specific work plan for the official.
· Informal and Other Coordination -- Both agencies' officials will participate in a range of staff meetings, interagency groups, task forces, bi-national commissions, and other international meetings where they will coordinate their activities. Day-to-day exchanges of information and clearance of messages will constitute an important form of coordination. Informal coordination, including frequent telephone calls and "dropping by," will be valuable. These relationships are less visible than formal arrangements, but they play an essential role in identifying early on issues of importance to both institutions.
Coordination of U.S. Assistance
Consistent with the Act, the Secretary of State will exercise new authorities in the coordination of U.S. development and other economic assistance. Coordination activities of the Secretary, under the direction of the President, will include: (1) approving an overall assistance and economic cooperation strategy; (2) ensuring program and policy coordination among USG agencies in carrying out the policies set forth in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Arms Export Control Act, and other relevant assistance acts; (3) pursuing coordination with other countries and international organizations; and (4) resolving policy, program, and funding disputes among U.S. government agencies. Coordination of activities relating to promotion of exports of U.S. goods and services, however, will continue to be primarily the responsibility of the Secretary of Commerce, and coordination of activities relating to U.S. participation in international financial institutions and organization of multilateral efforts aimed at currency stabilization, currency convertibility, debt reduction, and comprehensive economic reform programs will continue to be primarily the responsibility of the Secretary of the Treasury.
The Secretary of State will establish effective mechanisms to seek to resolve disputes among U.S. government agencies whose activities are covered by the Act. These mechanisms will build on field coordination, including cooperative efforts of all agencies at post to prepare MPPs and align plans of agencies in the field to MPP goals and strategies. In Washington, the Secretary will oversee the coordination of assistance, supported by State-chaired mechanisms at various levels which will involve U.S. government agencies that fund and deliver U.S. assistance.
Due to the need for high-profile interagency coordination at the startup of assistance to Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union, the Congress mandated establishment of special Coordinators at State to oversee all development and other economic assistance to these areas. There are close professional relationships and interactions between USAID offices and the offices of the Coordinators. This process has contributed to achieving our objectives in these regions, where U.S. assistance is a critical part of U.S. foreign policy.
USAID already carries out highly effective donor coordination in the field, through international organizations and in contacts with donor governments and NGOs. State, in consultation with USAID, will continue to represent the United States in treaty negotiations on development-related issues. The Administrator, in appropriate coordination with the relevant State bureaus, will continue to be the principal U.S. government contact with development ministers from other donor nations and represent the United States at OECD Development Assistance Committee meetings, development activities of international financial institutions (e.g., World Bank Consultative Group meetings), and United Nations development agencies. State will use its diplomatic mandate in support of development policy to advance U.S. foreign policy interests.
Integration of Press Office and Certain Administrative Functions
On April 1, 1999, USAID's press office will be merged with State's Bureau of Public Affairs, which will be responsible for issuing all USAID press statements and press releases. The eight USAID full-time permanent press relations officers will become State public affairs officers. They will provide full, coordinated media support services to USAID's Administrator, Deputy Administrator, Assistant Administrators, and regional and functional bureaus.
Reorganization will include the consolidation of certain USAID administrative functions with those of State. Three years ago, State and USAID began to consolidate overlapping administrative support functions. A memorandum of understanding between the two agencies specifies four areas for shared services that provide logical, efficient, and effective operations. These services are:
· Support -- State will process the retirement of USAID Foreign Service Officers and provide retirement counseling. USAID now uses the same travel contract as State and has co-located its headquarters mainframe computer operations with State's. The two agencies will implement a number of other small agreements for joint headquarters services.
· ICASS -- State and USAID have implemented International Cooperative Administrative Support Service (ICASS) to maximize shared administrative services, using the concept of best practices and considering the cost and quality of services. Requests for exceptions to the use of ICASS as the service provider will be referred to Washington.
· Training -- USAID will expand its use of State training services, e.g., foreign language training. State and USAID will also develop professional and technical training programs together to the maximum extent possible.
· Storage -- State will accommodate USAID's needs for storage of employees' household goods. The two agencies already share other transportation and storage services.
Additionally:
· Housing -- At all overseas locations the two agencies will operate under a unified Housing Board and joint State/USAID regulations will be issued on utilizing a single housing pool for short-term leased units.
· Security -- State and USAID will review their security services to determine what further coordination can be achieved.
· Other Functions -- State and USAID will continue to explore other efficient ways to coordinate or consolidate as many administrative functions as possible.
VI. Policy Support Functions
A. Under Secretarial Staffs
Current Responsibilities
State's five Under Secretaries (for Political Affairs, Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs, Arms Control and International Security Affairs, Management, and Global Affairs) and its Counselor are both advisers to the Secretary and policy makers in their own right on selected issues. They do not have "action" responsibility for policy and program implementation -- this belongs to the Assistant Secretaries who report to them. The Under Secretaries have personal staffs of about a dozen.
ACDA's Office of the Director consists of a Director and Deputy Director; a military liaison officer; a Special Representative who performs Ambassador-at-Large like responsibilities; a Special Representative who serves as the Chief Science Adviser; a Counselor; an advance planning director who also serves as the Executive Director of the Director's Advisory Committee; the agency's EEO supervisory official; and staff support.
USIA's Office of the Director consists of the Offices of the Director, Deputy Director, Counselor, Strategic Communications, and Research and Media Reaction.
Personnel
For the purpose of comparison, the office of State's Under Secretary for Political Affairs consists of 12 full-time permanent positions.
ACDA's Office of the Director has 12 full-time permanent positions and a reimbursable one, not including positions in its Executive Secretariat.
USIA's Office of the Director has 14 full-time permanent positions, not including positions in its Executive Secretariat.
Key Issues Considered
The new Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security and the new Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs will advise the Secretary on policy issues that are similar to those they managed as agency heads. However, a number of structural issues require changes in transforming both current Directors' offices into Under Secretarial offices:
· Size/Structure of Staffs: ACDA and USIA agency chiefs have larger and more functionally diversified staffs than State's Under Secretaries.
· Deputies: ACDA's and USIA's Deputy Directors have no counterparts in an Under Secretary's office.
· Adjunct Offices: ACDA's and USIA's adjunct offices were functionally analyzed to determine if they should be located in the new Under Secretaries' offices, established elsewhere in State, or abolished and their functions transferred to other offices in the newly consolidated State.
· Special Representatives: A number of arms control special representatives report to the ACDA Director; while in State, special envoys typically report to either the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary.
Proposed Integration into State
ACDA
The office of the new Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security/Senior Adviser to the President and the Secretary of State for Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament will be structured along the lines of the current Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs with thirteen full-time permanent positions, drawn from the ACDA Director's office (two) and ACDA's Executive Secretariat (two) and the former State Under Secretary's office (nine). Other positions in the Director's office will move elsewhere in the new structure.
The office will take on the new functions of advising the Under Secretary in the role of Senior Adviser to the President and the Secretary of State. The staff will assist the Under Secretary in communicating with the President through the Secretary of State, developing and maintaining senior-level contacts and procedures for rapid interface with other U.S. government agencies, and coordinating the Under Secretary's participation in senior-level interagency meetings, including NSC and its subordinate meetings (Presidential Decision Directive 65). Because of the unique defense liaison role that the Under Secretary plays, the State senior military advisor will also report to the Under Secretary. Positions from the ACDA Director's immediate office will transfer to the Nonproliferation Bureau (two), the Arms Control Bureau (two), the Political-Military Affairs Bureau (one), the Congressionally authorized Advisory Board (one), the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Civil Rights (one), and the Legal Advisor's Office (one).
The Special Adviser for Verification and Compliance will report directly to the Under Secretary on critical verification and compliance issues. Special representatives and envoys reporting to the ACDA Director will report to the appropriate Assistant Secretary and the Under Secretary. The scientific and policy Advisory Board on arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament will report to the Secretary through the Under Secretary, who will maintain operational authority over the Board, including designating its members and staff.
USIA
The office of the new Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs will be structured similarly to the other Under Secretaries. The Under Secretary will have a staff of nine. Four other positions in the Director's office will move to public diplomacy support units in the functional bureaus, and one position will move to the Office of the Under Secretary for Management. Six of the Office of Strategic Communications full-time permanent positions plus a reimbursable one will move to the Office of International Information Programs to provide analysis and program support; the seventh will transfer to State's Policy Planning Staff. The positions in the Office of Research and Media Reaction will be shifted to the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (41 full-time permanent positions).
Positive Outcomes
· Establishment of new Under Secretaries in State with unique roles reflecting authorities transferred from the ACDA and USIA Directors, thereby strengthening State's policy and programmatic capabilities and their coherence.
· Establishment of a structure within State to ensure that unique arms control and nonproliferation perspectives will continue to be available at the highest levels of the U.S. government, including the President.
· Establishment of an entity which provides independent arms control and nonproliferation verification and compliance assessments.
· Provide oversight for State's new interagency leadership role on nonproliferation.
· Ensure better integration of public diplomacy in international affairs strategic planning, including through the presence of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs on the Corporate Board.
VI. Policy Support Functions
B. Executive Secretariat
Current Responsibilities
State's Executive Secretariat is a distinct organizational entity. The Executive Secretariat equivalents at USIA and ACDA are both situated within their Directors' offices.
State's Executive Secretariat (S/S) manages, coordinates, tracks and records the information and work flows among the Secretary of State, other State principals, and bureaus within State; and between State and the interagency community. It is State's principal tasking organization, particularly in overseeing the preparation of briefing materials for State principals and assigning actions. It takes the lead in coordinating crisis management. It also provides administrative support for the Offices of the Secretary, other State principals, and special envoys. Its subordinate components include the:
· Executive Office (S/S-EX), which provides centralized administrative support and information management functions for State principals, offices reporting directly to the Secretary, and the Bureaus of Public Affairs and Legislative Affairs.
· Operations Center (S/S-O), which handles crisis management, briefs/alerts State officials, distribution of sensitive information, and supports principals' communications needs around-the-clock.
· Secretariat Staff (S/S-S), which oversees the preparation and clearance of briefing material for the Secretary and other principals, coordinates the Secretary's travel, and manages interagency communications.
· Record Management (S/S-RMD), which indexes, records, distributes, and archives the Secretary's and other principals' decisions, and documents and tracks Presidential and State principals' correspondence.
ACDA's Office of the Executive Secretary (ACDA/D/EX) manages, coordinates, tracks, and records the information and work flows among the Director, Deputy Director, other ACDA principals and the Agency's bureaus and offices; and between the ACDA and the interagency community. It is ACDA's principal tasking organization for overseeing the preparation of briefing and action materials for ACDA principals. It communicates formally ACDA's views and is the formal recipient of other Executive branch views. It monitors ACDA's representation in interagency meetings and represents the Director and the Deputy Director in planning for diplomatic events. It has the lead responsibility for assigning and maintaining records and for assigning access to limited distribution, highly sensitive documents. It maintains ACDA's deadlines, both internal and external. It has no round-the-clock facility.
USIA's Secretariat tasks, tracks, reviews and records the flow of information, briefing materials and correspondence to and from USIA's Director and Deputy Director, both within the agency and between it and the interagency community. Its Operations Center, distinct from the Secretariat, provides round-the-clock digests of print and electronic media (domestic and foreign), transcripts of public events, other public documents, briefing material and the latest press guidance for Washington agencies and overseas posts. It also monitors key media round-the-clock, and provides emergency support to official international exchange visitors. It takes the lead in coordinating the clearance process for VOA editorials.
Personnel
There are 142 full-time permanent positions in State's Executive Secretariat.
ACDA's Executive Secretariat consists of seven full-time permanent positions.
USIA's Secretariat and Operations Center consist of 23 full-time permanent positions.
Key Issues Considered
The Executive Secretariats of all three agencies perform essentially the same functions for their principals. Their consolidation raises a number of issues:
· Functions: While functions are largely the same for all three secretariats, they are distributed differently among each secretariat's component parts.
· Systems: Document archiving, tracking and retrieval systems must be consolidated and harmonized.
· Operations Centers: The functions of the USIA Operations Center, which were different, were analyzed and allocated.
Proposed Integration into State
State
State's Executive Secretariat will be reorganized to prepare for the influx of new functions. A Correspondence and Records division (S/S-CR) will be established on the foundation of the existing Record Management division
(S/S-RMD). It will have units responsible for records management and research, tracking and tasking correspondence for the Secretary and other principals, and managing the interagency calendar and associated functions. The Secretariat Staff division (S/S-S) will have oversight of the tasking and tracking of memoranda for the Secretary and other State principals and for coordinating the Secretary's overseas travel. The Operations Center (S/S-O) will integrate additional personnel from the USIA Operations Center to expand core responsibilities, including enhanced press/public affairs activities and expanded crisis management support operations. The Executive Office
(S/S-EX) will continue to provide centralized administrative and information management support.
ACDA
The functions of ACDA's Executive Secretariat will be reallocated to:· Under Secretary's Staff: To provide programmatic support for the Under Secretary, who also serves as Senior Adviser to the President and the Secretary of State for Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament.
· S/S-CR and the Bureau of Legislative Affairs: Task and track general and Congressional correspondence addressed to the Under Secretary.
· S/S and S/S-CR: Serve as the Under Secretary's coordinator of interagency communications.
· S/S-CR and S/S-O: Distribute and store classified and highly sensitive material.
· S/E-EX: Provide administrative and information management support for the Under Secretary's office.
· Under Secretary's Staff and S/S-CR: Maintain a formal record of the Under Secretary's decisions and actions.
· The Bureau of Administration: Process Congressional, FOIA, Privacy Act, and document subpoena requests.
· S/S-O: Provide 24-hour alert, briefing, crisis coordination, and principal locator services.
ACDA's Executive Secretariat's seven full-time permanent positions will move to the staff of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security (two), to the Under Secretary's subordinate bureaus (two to PM and two to AC), and to State's Executive Secretariat systems staff (one).
USIA
The functions of USIA's Executive Secretariat will be reallocated to:· Under Secretary's Staff: Provide programmatic support for the Under Secretary to carry out his duties.
· S/S-CR and the Bureau of Legislative Affairs: Task and track general and Congressional correspondence addressed to the Under Secretary.
· S/S and S/S-CR: Serve as the Under Secretary's coordinator of interagency communications.
· S/S-CR and S/S-O: Distribute and store classified and highly sensitive material.
· S/S-EX: Provide administrative and information management support for the Under Secretary's office.
· Under Secretary's staff and S/S-CR: Maintain formal record of the Under Secretary's decisions and actions.
· The Bureau of Administration: Process Congressional, FOIA, Privacy Act, and document subpoena requests.
· S/S-O: Provide 24 hour alert, briefing, crisis coordination and principal locator services, and rapid response to urgent public affairs needs for overseas posts, including transcripts, press guidance and media summaries.
· S/S-O and the Office of International Information Programs: Conduct 24-hour global media monitoring and provide information and s
