Findings; sense of Congress; statement of policy

(a) Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) On December 7, 1979, President Carter issued Executive Order 12175 (44 Fed. Reg. 70703; relating to Reorganization of functions relating to international trade) which implemented Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1979, initiating the move of the Foreign Commercial Service from the Department of State to the Department of Commerce. (2) There are an estimated 207 Foreign Commercial Service officers currently employed by the Department of Commerce. These personnel are deployed across 80 United States diplomatic and consular posts, roughly one-third of all such posts. (3) Where the Foreign Commercial Service is not present, the role and function of commercial diplomacy officer is performed by Economic Foreign Service Officers employed by the Department of State. (4) The transfer of the Foreign Commercial Service to the Department of Commerce removed important trade related functions which had been central to the mission of the Department of State since 1789, creating a counterproductive division between foreign policy and commercial diplomacy. (5) The fiscal year 2026 Congressional Budget Justification of the Department of Commerce proposed a staff reduction of 39 percent for the Global Markets business unit, which includes the Foreign Commercial Service. At this requested level, the size of the Global Markets business unit would be its smallest in more than two decades. (6) The fiscal year 2026 Congressional Budget Justification of the Department of Commerce proposed a funding reduction for the International Trade Agency, which also includes the Foreign Commercial Service, of approximately 31 percent from the fiscal year 2025 enacted level, which was the lowest request for such agency since 2009. (7) The fiscal year 2027 Congressional Budget Justification of the Department of Commerce proposes a funding reduction of approximately 51 percent from the fiscal year 2026 estimated level for the Global Markets business unit. (8) Cuts to the Foreign Commercial Service are inconsistent with the priorities articulated by President Trump and contrary to the commercial diplomacy goals and objectives of the United States. (9) The National Security Strategy of the United States published in November 2025 states, economic security is fundamental to national security and the United States will prioritize rebalancing our trade relations, reducing trade deficits, opposing barriers to our exports, and ending dumping and other anti-competitive practices that hurt American industries and workers. (10) On February 12, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14211 (90 Fed. Reg. 9831; relating to One Voice for America's Foreign Relations) which directs the Secretary of State to reform the foreign service in areas such as recruiting, performance, evaluation, and retention standards to ensure only the most qualified and committed individuals represent American interests abroad. (11) On March 19, 2026, in testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Under Secretary of State for Management testified that our Econ officers in the past have been trained to do economic reporting … now we are shifting to a situation where commercial diplomacy is our policy. So we’re working very closely with our Econ officers to make sure they have the skill sets to go out there and do that commercial diplomacy. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the Commercial Diplomatic Service, as established by this Act, should be composed of 750 officers by 2028 and the Commercial Diplomatic Service should continue to expand as necessary to ensure the Department of States deploys a highly effective and efficient commercial diplomacy enterprise; (2) individuals charged with leading commercial diplomatic efforts on behalf of the United States require specialized skillsets that are sufficiently different from other career tracks in the Foreign Service to warrant distinctive hiring practices and rotational deployment cycles; and (3) that commercial diplomacy posting both within the United States and at United States diplomatic and consular posts should only be filled by qualified personnel. (c) Statement of policy It is the policy of the United States to provide United States businesses with effective support in their attempts to access and remain competitive in international markets, including by prioritizing commercial diplomacy efforts within United States foreign policy and consolidating disparate international commercial diplomacy enterprises under the direction of the Secretary of State, consistent with the responsibility of the Secretary of State in the management of foreign affairs.