§ 3944. — Chiefs of Mission.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 22USC3944]
TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
CHAPTER 52--FOREIGN SERVICE
SUBCHAPTER III--APPOINTMENTS
Sec. 3944. Chiefs of Mission
(a) Qualifications; preference for career members; political
contributions as factor in appointment; demonstrated competency
report
(1) An individual appointed or assigned to be a chief of mission
should possess clearly demonstrated competence to perform the duties of
a chief of mission, including, to the maximum extent practicable, a
useful knowledge of the principal language or dialect of the country in
which the individual is to serve, and knowledge and understanding of the
history, the culture, the economic and political institutions, and the
interests of that country and its people.
(2) Given the qualifications specified in paragraph (1), positions
as chief of mission should normally be accorded to career members of the
Service, though circumstances will warrant appointments from time to
time of qualified individuals who are not career members of the Service.
(3) Contributions to political campaigns should not be a factor in
the appointment of an individual as a chief of mission.
(4) The President shall provide the Committee on Foreign Relations
of the Senate, with each nomination for an appointment as a chief of
mission, a report on the demonstrated competence of that nominee to
perform the duties of the position in which he or she is to serve.
(b) Furnishing of information by Secretary; political campaign
contributions report
(1) In order to assist the President in selecting qualified
candidates for appointment or assignment as chiefs of mission, the
Secretary of State shall from time to time furnish the President with
the names of career members of the Service who are qualified to serve as
chiefs of mission, together with pertinent information about such
members.
(2) Each individual nominated by the President to be a chief of
mission, ambassador at large, or minister shall, at the time of
nomination, file with the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a report of
contributions made by such individual and by members of his or her
immediate family during the period beginning on the first day of the
fourth calendar year preceding the calendar year of the nomination and
ending on the date of the nomination. The report shall be verified by
the oath of the nominee, taken before any individual authorized to
administer oaths. The chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of
the Senate shall have each such report printed in the Congressional
Record. As used in this paragraph, the term ``contribution'' has the
same meaning given such term by section 431(8) of title 2, and the term
``immediate family'' means the spouse of the nominee, and any child,
parent, grandparent, brother, or sister of the nominee and the spouses
of any of them.
(Pub. L. 96-465, title I, Sec. 304, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2085; Pub.
L. 106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000(a)(7) [div. A, title II, Sec. 208(b)],
Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A-422.)
Amendments
1999--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106-113 struck out subsec. (c) which read
as follows: ``Within 6 months after assuming the position, the chief of
mission to a foreign country shall submit, to the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the
House of Representatives, a report describing his or her own foreign
language competence and the foreign language competence of the mission
staff in the principal language or other dialect of that country.''
