Sec. 197. Public diplomacy training

337 words·~2 min read·/bill/118/s/5491/is/section-197

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

It is the sense of Congress that— the PRC has invested heavily in public diplomacy efforts that promote positive narratives of the PRC while obfuscating the nefarious actions of the government against its own people, its use of threats and coercive diplomacy to demand deference from other countries, its use of United Front Work Department, affiliated organizations, and other tools and tactics to conduct malign influence operations and undermine democratic values in other countries, and its anti-competitive economic practices; these include huge state-sponsored investments into media outlets throughout the world, advancement of censorship, and the establishment of cultural centers; and the United States must respond with investment, training, and personnel to effectively counter these public diplomacy efforts.

The Secretary of State should prioritize increasing recruitment, hiring of, and the placement of public diplomacy officers for the purposes of strategic competition. The Secretary of State shall require all Foreign Service Officers to regularly complete public diplomacy training courses through the Foreign Service Institute or other Department-approved professional development training in public diplomacy, including preparing them to— counter foreign malign influence, especially the effective use by the PRC, Russia, and other relevant countries of tools to influence and manipulate foreign audiences, present narratives favorable to their regimes, undermine democratic values and fundamental freedoms, and obfuscate harmful or coercive policies and practices; understand foreign media landscapes to understand how United States public diplomacy efforts can be most effective; and partner with local organizations focused on countering malign foreign influence, including through disinformation, public influence campaigns, and other means.

The Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy shall, in consultation with United States missions abroad, develop Department-wide guidance for public diplomacy officers and senior officers at posts to enable them to better counter foreign malign influence, as described in subsection (c). The guidance required under subsection

(d)may take the form of— regularly updated cables; a handbook for the development of public diplomacy efforts at post to counter foreign malign influence; and other forms of guidance as determined appropriate by the Under Secretary.