Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1988

Summary

Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1988 - Title I: The Department of State - Part A: Authorization of Appropriations; Allocations of Funds; Restrictions - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 for the Department of State for: (1) administration of foreign affairs; (2) contributions to international organizations, conferences, and peacekeeping activities; (3) international commissions; (4) migration and refugee assistance; (5) the Asia Foundation; (6) bilateral science and technology agreements; and (7) Soviet-East European research and training. Amends the Diplomatic Security Act to authorize appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990 for diplomatic security construction, acquisition, and operations pursuant to the Department of State's Supplemental Diplomatic Security program. Prohibits the use of authorized funds to pay for the closing of any U.S. consulate or mission aboard. Directs the Secretary of State to make a contribution to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Limits the amount which may be contributed to the amount contributed in FY 1987 until Israel's Red Shield of David has been granted a status of recognition identical to that of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent. Restricts the use of authorized funds for specified "public diplomacy" efforts, including providing points of contact for public interest groups seeking to interview refugees or accompanying media visits to any region of the world. Part B: Administrative and Personnel Provisions - Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to limit the supervisory authority of the Chief of Mission to a foreign country to employees of the executive branch. Reduces the salary of future Ambassadors at Large from executive level II to level IV. Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act to establish the pay level for the Coordinator of International Communications and Information Policy and for the Director of the Office of Foreign Missions at the executive IV level. Authorizes the extension of non-career candidate appointments to: (1) consular agents; (2) family members; (3) career employees of other agencies serving abroad on reimbursable details in Foreign Service positions; and (4) career candidates if their continued service is determined appropriate in order to remedy a problem cognizable under the Foreign Service grievance system. Amends the Diplomatic Security Act to repeal provisions establishing the Office of Policy and Program Review. Allows the carry-over of Senior Foreign Service performance pay. Provides for survivor benefits, health insurance benefits, and retirement benefits for former spouses of Foreign Service officers who were divorced prior to the effective date of the Foreign Service Act of 1980. Eliminates certain reporting requirements concerning personnel actions in the Foreign Service and the use of Foreign Service personnel by Federal agencies. Specifies that any recommendation of the Foreign Service Grievance Board which is not rejected by the Secretary on the basis that it would adversely affect U.S. foreign policy or national security shall be considered to be a final action for the purpose of judicial review. Requires the Secretary to take all appropriate steps to assure that the burden of budget cuts for the Department of State is not imposed disproportionately or inequitably upon its Civil Service employees. Establishes within the Office of the Secretary of State the position of Ombudsman for Civil Service Employees. Specifies that Fascell Fellows shall be deemed to be Federal employees for purposes of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 and all other laws governing Federal employment, except for compensation purposes. Provides that Fascell Fellows may be compensated through contractual agreement under the State Department Basic Authorization Act of 1956. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the United States should have as a fundamental national goal the strengthening of competence and professionalism in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy; and (2) the Secretary of State should proceed with plans for the national training center in foreign affairs. Part C: Buildings and Facilities - Directs the Secretary to administer and regulate the museum areas of the Department of State building by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the museum areas. Authorizes the Secretary, with the advice and concurrence of the Director of the National Gallery of Art, to sell items which are not needed and to trade or purchase articles for such museum areas. Authorizes the Secretary to obtain insurance for the furnishings of the Department of State diplomatic Reception Rooms. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress concerning the extent to which the costs of operating U.S. diplomatic consular posts in the Soviet Union and in Warsaw Pact countries do not bear a reasonable relationship to the cost of establishing and operating institutional activities by other entities in that country or to the free market value of currency. Prohibits the Soviet Union from occupying the new chancery building at the Mount Alto site, or any other new facility in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, until the Secretary and Director of Central Intelligence certify to the Congress that there is a new U.S. chancery building in Moscow which is secure and suitable for U.S. embassy operations, including operations involving classified information. Requires the Secretary to submit a report to the Congress concerning the disposition of the partially constructed U.S. chancery building in Moscow. Establishes a Task Force on Management of Security and Foreign Buildings by the Department of State. Requires such Task Force to submit a report to the Congress setting forth a program to improve the management of the security function and the Foreign Buildings Office. Requires the Secretary to submit a report to the Congress concerning the status of the Soviet diplomatic enclave on Mount Alto in Washington, D.C., including an assessment as to whether it would be in the U.S. national interest to vitiate the agreement by which the Soviets will occupy such enclave. Requires the Secretary to establish an Accountability Review Board (as described by the Diplomatic Security Act) to review all government actions, procedures, and policies relating to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and the Soviet Embassy in Washington. Prohibits the use of funds for the construction or major renovation of any diplomatic facility that is intended to be secure for the purpose of transmitting, storing, or receiving classified information unless the Secretary, with the concurrence of the Director of Central Intelligence, certifies to the Congress that the proposed project includes adequate safeguards for classified information and for the conduct of sensitive government activity. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the security of all diplomatic facilities and personnel would be significantly enhanced by periodic unannounced security inspections conducted by an appropriate agency of the U.S. Government. Requires the Secretary and the Director of Central Intelligence to certify to the Congress that all U.S. foreign missions in the Soviet Union and all Eastern European countries provide: (1) adequate protection for classified information and national security-related activities; and (2) adequate protection for the personnel working in the diplomatic facility. Requires a similar certification for all U.S. foreign missions in countries designated as "high threat" posts, including terrorist and intelligence threats. Authorizes the Department of State to acquire, by purchase or gift, a suitable permanent residence within the District of Columbia for the Secretary of State. Prohibits the use of authorized funds for site acquisition, development, or construction of any facility in Israel, Jerusalem, or the West Bank. Part D: International Organizations - States that the President should continue vigorous efforts to secure implementation by the United Nations of decisionmaking procedures on budgetary matters which assure that sufficient attention is paid to the views of the United States and other major member states who are major financial contributors to such assessed budgets. Limits the amount of authorized funds which may be used to make financial contributions to the United Nations based on whether such budget decisionmaking procedures are being implemented by the United Nations. Amends the International Organizations Immunities Act to provide that the International Committee of the Red Cross shall be considered a public international organization for purposes of the diplomatic privileges and immunities provided by such Act. Prohibits U.S. participation in the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations until Israel is permitted to participate in such Council. Requires the appointment of a Secretary to both the House of Representatives and the Senate's delegation to the North Atlantic Assembly. Directs the Secretary to request the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Security Council to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon to include protection of the archaeological site of the ancient city of Tyre. Title II: The United States Information Agency - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 for salaries and expenses of the U.S. Information Agency (USIA). Specifies a limit for the funds made available for the Television and Film Service and for exhibits. Authorizes appropriations for the Voice of America (VOA) for FY 1988. Allocates a specific amount of funds for the Voice of America: Cuba Service. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 for the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. Earmarks specified amounts of such funds for specific programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 for the National Endowment for Democracy. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 to carry out the provisions of the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West Act of 1960. Prohibits the use of appropriated funds for the payment of expenses for the closing of any diplomatic post abroad. Prohibits the USIA from reducing overseas American positions until the percentage of American employees stationed in the United States has been reduced to the 1981 level. Transfers the USIA's Arts America Program into the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Amends the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 to extend the congressional grant notification requirements for two years. Authorizes VOA to enter into 40-year leases for real property. (Present law limits such authority to 25-year leases.) Authorizes the USIA to retain receipts from the rental of English teaching tapes and programs, library services, television programs, and motion pictures. Directs the President to support, under provisions of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, a professorship on the subject of constitutional democracy at the Santo Tomas University in the Philippines. Amends the United States-India Fund for Cultural, Educational, and Scientific Cooperation Act to allow the principal set aside for the United States-India Fund and the interest earnings to be used in accordance with the Education and Scientific Cooperation Agreement between the United States and India. Authorizes the Director of the USIA to enter into an agreement with the Government of Pakistan for the establishment of the United States-Pakistan Fund for Cultural, Educational, and Scientific Cooperation (Fund) for which the United States will provide a one time only grant for English language training or other cultural, educational, and scientific programs of mutual interest. Authorizes the use of a specified amount of foreign currencies to finance such Fund. Requires the Director of the USIA to implement a formal, comprehensive country plan on Afghanistan based on guidelines set forth in the USIA country plan instructions for FY 1988. Revises the authority and the membership of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. Names the USIA Library in Jakarta, Indonesia, as the Edward Zorinsky Memorial Library. Requires that preference be given to U.S. contractors for any bids on projects of the facilities modernization program of VOA. Allows certain exceptions to such requirement. Title III: The Board for International Broadcasting - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 for the Board for International Broadcasting. Allocates a certain amount of authorized funds for radio transmitter construction and modernization. Requires that any gains realized by the Board resulting from upward fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates be certified to the Congress and placed in reserve for the exclusive purpose of offsetting future downward fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Specifies that the Board for International Broadcasting does not have to certify employee service records where it does not have access to such records. Title IV: The Global Climate Protection Act of 1987 - Global Climate Protection Act of 1987 - Requires the President to establish a Task Force on Global Climate to determine and supervise the research necessary for a coordinated national strategy on the global climate, to develop such a strategy, and to initiate implementation of such strategy domestically and in the international arena. Requires the President to appoint an Ambassador-at-Large to coordinate and lead the U.S. participation in planning for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program. Directs the Secretary to undertake all necessary steps to promote, within the United Nations system, the early designation of an International Year of Global Climate Protection. Urges the President to accord the problem of climate protection a high priority on the agenda of United States-Soviet relations. Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions - Specifies that no authorized funds may be used to implement any international agreement until the text of such agreement is submitted to the Congress within a required 60-day period. Allows Federal jurisdiction over direct actions against insurers of diplomatic agents who had diplomatic immunity at the time of an alleged tortious act. (Present law limits such jurisdiction to diplomatic agents who have diplomatic immunity at the time of the filing of a lawsuit.) Prohibits the use of authorized funds for publicity purposes designed to support or defeat legislation pending before Congress or to influence in any way the outcome of a political election. Prohibits the exclusion of aliens from admission into the United States because of political beliefs. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to invest funds paid by foreign governments in claims settlement cases pending disbursal to U.S. citizens. Requires a five-percent deduction from the amount of an international claims settlement to cover the costs of obtaining the settlement and processing claims. Authorizes the payment of a claim to a named private individual from the Czechoslovakian claims fund. Prohibits the use of authorized funds for international first class air travel by congressional staff. Expresses the sense of the Congress that U.S. policy should be to support access by interested individuals and organizations to the files of the United Nations War Crimes Commission. Declares it to be the policy of the United States to: (1) provide assistance to the Afghan people to help resist the invasion by the Soviet Union; (2) support a negotiated settlement to the Afghanistan war; and (3) communicate to the Soviet Union the necessity of a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan as a condition for better relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. Declares it to be the policy of the United States to: (1) support the total, unconditional withdrawal of both Iran and Iraq to internationally recognized boundaries; (2) support an immediate cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq War; and (3) endorse a peaceful resolution of the Iran-Iraq War. Expresses the sense of the Congress concerning the persecution of the Baha'i community in Iran. Expresses the sense of the Congress concerning Cambodian refugees in Thailand, the Orderly Departure Program from Vietnam, and the processing of Amerasians from Vietnam. Expresses the sense of the Congress concerning the current political situation and the electoral process in South Korea. Expresses the sense of the Congress that North Korea should: (1) take steps to end its denial of human rights; (2) end its support for international terrorism; (3) accept South Korea's call for negotiations aimed at easing tensions on the Korean peninsula; and (4) consider other steps to ease tensions and reduce North Korea's international isolation. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should continue to express to the Government of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries the deep concern and U.S. opposition with respect to the harassment of Christians in those countries; (2) those Governments should comply with human rights agreements; and (3) those Governments should cease persecuting individuals on the basis of their adherence to their Christian faiths and should afford them their fundamental human rights of religious expression. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Government of Romania should end the denial of the rights of the Hungarians and the people of other nationalities in Transylvania. Title VI: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of the provisions of this Act.

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2 official files

• Indefinitely postponed in Senate

  summary · EN · 8 October 1987

  Open at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 18 June 1987

  Open at official source

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