Sec. 6. Research and evaluation

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The Secretary of State, acting through the Director of Research and Evaluation appointed pursuant to subsection (b), shall— conduct regular research and evaluation of public diplomacy programs and activities of the Department of State, including through the routine use of audience research, digital analytics, and impact evaluations, to plan and execute such programs and activities; and make available to Congress the findings of such research and evaluations. Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall appoint a Director of Research and Evaluation (referred to in this subsection as the Director ) in the Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs of the Department of State.

The appointment of the Director pursuant to paragraph

(1)shall not result in an increase in the overall full-time equivalent positions within the Department of State. The Director shall— report to the Director of Policy Planning of the Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs of the Department of State; coordinate and oversee the research and evaluation of public diplomacy programs and activities of the Department to— improve public diplomacy strategies and tactics; and ensure that such programs and activities are increasing the knowledge, understanding, and trust of the United States by relevant target audiences; routinely organize and oversee audience research, digital analytics, and impact evaluations across all public diplomacy bureaus and offices of the Department; support the public affairs sections of United States diplomatic and consular posts; share appropriate public diplomacy research and evaluation information within the Department and with other appropriate Federal departments and agencies; regularly design and coordinate standardized research questions, methodologies, and procedures to ensure that public diplomacy programs and activities across all public diplomacy bureaus and offices of the Department are designed to meet appropriate foreign policy objectives; and report biannually to the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy of the Department of State, through the Subcommittee on Research and Evaluation established pursuant to subsection (f), regarding the research and evaluation of all public diplomacy bureaus and offices of the Department. Not later than one year after the appointment of the Director pursuant to paragraph (1), the Director shall develop guidance and training, including curriculum for use by the Foreign Service Institute, for all public diplomacy officers of the Department of State regarding the reading and interpretation of public diplomacy program and activity evaluation findings to ensure that such findings and related lessons learned are implemented in the planning and evaluation of all public diplomacy programs and activities of the Department. The Director of Policy Planning of the Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs of the Department of State shall ensure that research and evaluation of public diplomacy programs and activities of the Department, as coordinated and overseen by the Director pursuant to subsection (b), support strategic planning and resource allocation across all public diplomacy bureaus and offices of the Department. Amounts allocated for the purpose of research and evaluation of public diplomacy programs and activities of the Department of State pursuant to subsection

(b)shall be made available to be disbursed at the direction of the Director referred to in paragraph

(1)among the research and evaluation staff across all public diplomacy bureaus and offices of the Department. It is the sense of Congress that the Department of State should gradually increase to a percentage of program funds that is commensurate with Federal Government best practices its allocation of funds made available under the headings Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs and Diplomatic Programs for research and evaluation of public diplomacy programs and activities of the Department pursuant to subsection (b). Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly known as the Paperwork Reduction Act ) shall not apply to the collection of information directed at any individuals conducted by, or on behalf of, the Department of State for the purpose of audience research, monitoring, and evaluations, and in connection with the Department’s activities, including interagency activities, conducted pursuant to this Act or to any of the following: The United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 ( 22 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.). The Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.). Section 1287 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 ( Public Law 114–328 ; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note). The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.). The Department of State shall maintain, collect, use, and disseminate records (as such term is defined in section 552a(a)(4) of title 5, United States Code) for audience research, digital analytics, and impact evaluations of communications related to public diplomacy programs and activities of the Department, including interagency efforts, intended for foreign audiences. Audience research, digital analytics, and impact evaluations under paragraph

(1)shall be— reasonably tailored to meet the purposes of the public diplomacy programs and activities of the Department of State, including related interagency activities; and carried out with due regard for privacy and civil liberties guidance and oversight. Section 1334 of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 ( 22 U.S.C. 6553 ) is amended— in the section heading, by striking and inserting Sunset ; and Continuation by striking until October 1, 2020 . Subparagraph

(B)of section 604(d)(1) of the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 ( 22 U.S.C. 1469(d)(1) ) is amended to read as follows: In evaluating the public diplomacy and international broadcasting activities described in subparagraph (A), the Commission shall conduct an assessment that considers the relation to the United States national interest, the public diplomacy target impact, the achieved impact, and the cost of public diplomacy activities and international broadcasting. The assessment shall include, if practicable, an appropriate metric such as cost-per-audience or cost-per-student for each such activity. Upon the completion of the assessment, the Commission shall assign a rating of— effective for activities that— set appropriate goals and achieve all or most of the desired results; are well-managed; are cost efficient; and quantifiably advance the priorities of the most recent National Security Strategy and related national strategies for defense and foreign policy; moderately effective for activities that— set appropriate goals and achieve some desired results; are generally well-managed; may need to improve their cost efficiency, including reducing overhead; and have a substantive rationale for advancing the priorities of the most recent National Security Strategy and related national strategies for defense and foreign policy, but have not demonstrated quantifiable results; ineffective for activities that— lack appropriate goals or fail to achieve stated goals or desired results; are not well-managed; are not cost efficient, such as through insufficient use of available resources to achieve stated goals or desired results, or have excessive overhead; or do not have a substantive rationale for advancing the priorities of the most recent National Security Strategy and related national strategies for defense and foreign policy; or results not demonstrated for activities that— do not have acceptable performance public diplomacy metrics for measuring results; or are unable or failed to collect data to determine if such activities are effective. . The United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy shall establish a Subcommittee on Research and Evaluation to monitor and advise regarding audience research, digital analytics, and impact evaluations carried out by the Department of State and the United States Agency for Global Media. The Subcommittee on Research and Evaluation established pursuant to paragraph

(3)shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an annual report, in conjunction with the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy’s Comprehensive Annual Report on the performance of the Department of State and the United States Agency for Global Media, describing all actions taken by the Subcommittee pursuant to such paragraph and any findings made as a result of such actions.

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