One step taken, more to come

The two pieces of legislation I wrote about earlier have passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee--an important step but the legislation has more hurdles to jump so let's continue to be supportive of this important public diplomacy legislation. Senator Lugar's May 5, 2009 release on the passage is reprinted below.

As yet to be introduced is the kind of legislation that will mark a major change in American Public Diplomacy. This would be a agency for Public Diplomacy within the State Department which could centralize authority over personnel and financial resources in a single place. I've written about this in earlier posts and I was delighted to see Tom Pickering support this concept at a recent CSIS symposium. [ Ambassador Thomas Pickering argued persuasively for a “stand alone agency within the State Department” for public diplomacy. He said that such a structure would keep public diplomacy closely engaged with policymakers and allow the United States to develop and maintain a corps of experienced public diplomacy professionals. "Smart Power in the Obama Administration: The Role of International Education and Exchange", May 6, 2009 ].

Science Envoy, Public Diplomacy Bills Clear Committee

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee today unanimously passed S.838, U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar’s bill establishing “United States Science Envoys.” The bill would highlight our nation’s commitment to scientific research and education, as well as our willingness to collaborate with other countries to promote advancements in these fields throughout the world. Science Envoys will serve not only as good-will ambassadors, but help reinforce links between U.S. academic and scientific institutions and their international counterparts.

The United States has produced more Nobel Laureates than any other nation in Chemistry, Physics, Medicine and Economics. Recognition of U.S. expertise in these fields is reflected in consistent international opinion polls that show even those nations that disagree with the United States on certain foreign policy issues, admire the United States for our leadership in education, science and technology.

Scientific cooperation served as a means to engage with the Soviet Union throughout the 1970s and 80s and with the People’s Republic of China before official diplomatic ties were fully established.

Lugar’s legislation establishes the Science Envoy program and directs that it be run by the Department of State through its Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Envoys will be selected by the Secretary of State.

Lugar’s S. Res. 49, a resolution to express the sense of the Senate regarding the importance of public diplomacy, also passed the Committee. It calls for the Secretary of State to initiate a reexamination of the public diplomacy platform strategy of the United States with a goal of reestablishing publicly accessible American Centers, and consider placing United States public diplomacy facilities at locations conducive to maximizing their use, consistent with the authority given to the Secretary in the Secure Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act.

For more information on S. Res. 49, visit http://lugar.senate.gov/sfrc/diplomacy.html.