I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2412
To establish an Office for Indigenous Affairs, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH27, 2025
Mr. C
ASE(for himself and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition
to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish an Office for Indigenous Affairs, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Indigenous Diplomacy 4
and Engagement Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds the following: 7
(1) There are an estimated 476,000,000 Indige-8
nous Peoples worldwide who share a common herit-9
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age of collective ancestral ties to the lands and nat-1
ural resources where they and their ancestors live or 2
have lived together with their own unique cultures, 3
languages and traditions. 4
(2) The Indigenous Peoples of the world also 5
share a common challenge and goal of preserving 6
and protecting their ancestral lands and natural re-7
sources and unique cultures, languages and tradi-8
tions. 9
(3) The status, rights, challenges and goals of 10
Indigenous Peoples worldwide have been recognized 11
by various international organizations, including by 12
the United Nations in its September 13, 2007, Dec-13
laration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 14
(4) The United States should expand its direct 15
engagement with Indigenous Peoples worldwide in 16
order to better assist Indigenous Peoples to achieve 17
their goals and focus on common challenges and op-18
portunities. 19
SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR 20
PROMOTING DIPLOMACY AND ENGAGEMENT 21
WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. 22
(a) D
EVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF 23
S
TRATEGY.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 24
enactment of this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, the 25
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President, acting through the Coordinator for Indigenous 1
Affairs appointed pursuant to section 4(b), shall— 2
(1) develop and implement a comprehensive, 5- 3
year international strategy for promoting diplomacy 4
and engagements with international Indigenous peo-5
ples; and 6
(2) submit to the appropriate congressional 7
committees such strategy. 8
(b) E
LEMENTS.—The strategy required by subsection 9
(a) shall include the following elements: 10
(1) An identification, for purposes of the strat-11
egy, of at least 10 and not more than 20 countries 12
that— 13
(A) are geographically, ethnically, and cul-14
turally diverse; and 15
(B) have significant populations of Indige-16
nous peoples. 17
(2) An assessment of the following with respect 18
to each country identified pursuant to paragraph 19
(1): 20
(A) The nature and extent of United 21
States diplomacy and engagement with inter-22
national Indigenous peoples in the country. 23
(B) The efforts of the government of the 24
country to promote and facilitate people-to-peo-25
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ple engagements involving international Indige-1
nous peoples and domestic Indigenous peoples. 2
(C) Opportunities for the United States to 3
establish or enhance diplomacy and engagement 4
with international Indigenous peoples in the 5
country and how such establishment or en-6
hancement would support the broader foreign 7
policy goals of the United States. 8
(D) Metrics by which to evaluate the over-9
all progress of United States efforts to promote 10
and facilitate diplomacy and engagements with 11
international Indigenous peoples in the country. 12
(3) A plan (developed taking into consideration 13
the results of the assessment under paragraph (2)), 14
including an outline of specific programs, activities, 15
or other efforts that may be conducted, to— 16
(A) promote and facilitate, in cooperation 17
with the government of each country identified 18
pursuant to paragraph (1), activities that en-19
hance diplomacy and engagement with the In-20
digenous peoples of that country; and 21
(B) coordinate regarding such promotion 22
and facilitation with existing programs and ini-23
tiatives involving Indigenous peoples, including 24
coordination with the heads of nongovernmental 25
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organizations, civil society, and Indigenous 1
groups. 2
(4) An identification of the general levels of re-3
sources necessary on an annual basis to implement 4
the plan under paragraph (3) in each country identi-5
fied pursuant to paragraph (1), taking into account 6
activities and funding provided by the country and 7
multilateral institutions and leveraging private sector 8
resources. 9
(5) An identification of the relevant Federal de-10
partments and agencies conducting the programs, 11
activities, and other efforts described with respect to 12
the plan required by paragraph (3). 13
(6) For each such Federal department or agen-14
cy, an assessment of the anticipated contributions of 15
that department or agency (including technical, fi-16
nancial, and in-kind contributions) to implement 17
such plan. 18
(c) C
OLLABORATION.—In developing the strategy 19
under subsection (a), the President, acting through the 20
Coordinator, shall consult with— 21
(1) the Secretary of State; 22
(2) the Secretary of the Interior; 23
(3) the Administrator of the United States 24
Agency for International Development; 25
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(4) the Chief Executive Officer of the Millen-1
nium Challenge Corporation; 2
(5) the Chief Executive Officer of the Develop-3
ment Finance Corporation; 4
(6) the Advisory Commission on Indigenous 5
Peoples established under section 6; and 6
(7) nongovernmental organizations that dem-7
onstrate sufficient background, knowledge, and ex-8
pertise— 9
(A) working on the issues of Indigenous 10
rights or resources; or 11
(B) engaging with international Indigenous 12
peoples. 13
(d) S
USTAINABILITY AND IMPACTCONSIDER-14
ATIONS.—In implementing the strategy under subsection 15
(a) and the plan required by subsection (b)(3), the Presi-16
dent shall ensure that the policies and initiatives carried 17
out pursuant to such strategy are designed to achieve 18
maximum impact and long-term sustainability. 19
SEC. 4. OFFICE FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS. 20
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—There is established an Office 21
for Indigenous Affairs (in this section referred to as the 22
‘‘Office’’) for the purpose of coordinating all efforts of the 23
Federal Government regarding diplomacy and engage-24
ments with international Indigenous peoples. 25
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(b) COORDINATOR.—The Office shall be headed by 1
the Coordinator for Indigenous Affairs (in this section re-2
ferred to as the ‘‘Coordinator’’), who shall— 3
(1) be appointed by the President, by and with 4
the advice and consent of the Senate; 5
(2) report directly to the Secretary of State; 6
and 7
(3) have the rank and status of Ambassador at 8
Large. 9
(c) D
UTIES.—The Coordinator shall have the fol-10
lowing responsibilities: 11
(1) To design, oversee, and coordinate activities 12
and programs of the Federal Government relating to 13
diplomacy and engagement with international Indig-14
enous peoples. 15
(2) To direct United States resources to— 16
(A) increase and enhance diplomatic ex-17
change and engagements with international In-18
digenous peoples; and 19
(B) assist in the development of the com-20
prehensive international strategy under section 21
3 to promote diplomacy and engagements with 22
international Indigenous peoples and domestic 23
Indigenous peoples. 24
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(3) To coordinate all policies, programs, and 1
funding relating to diplomacy and engagements with 2
international Indigenous peoples of relevant United 3
States Government agencies, including— 4
(A) the Department of State; 5
(B) the United States Agency for Inter-6
national Development; 7
(C) the Department of the Interior; 8
(D) the Millennium Challenge Corporation; 9
and 10
(E) the Development Finance Corporation. 11
(4) To design, integrate, and, as appropriate, 12
implement policies, programs, and activities related 13
to Indigenous health, education, economic develop-14
ment, international Indigenous human rights, and 15
protection of international Indigenous peoples in hu-16
manitarian crises. 17
(5) To encourage the Secretary of the Interior 18
and the Administrator of the United States Agency 19
for International Development to establish 20
department- or agency-specific (as the case may be) 21
programmatic guidelines regarding diplomacy and 22
engagements between international Indigenous peo-23
ples and domestic Indigenous peoples and to monitor 24
the implementation of those guidelines. 25
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(d) PRINCIPALADVISOR.—In addition to the duties 1
under subsection (c), the Coordinator shall serve as the 2
principal advisor to the Secretary of State regarding mat-3
ters relating to international Indigenous peoples. 4
(e) D
IPLOMATICREPRESENTATION.—Subject to the 5
direction of the President and the Secretary of State, the 6
Coordinator may represent the United States in matters 7
relevant to diplomacy and engagements with international 8
Indigenous peoples in— 9
(1) contacts with Tribal representatives in other 10
countries, foreign governments, nongovernmental or-11
ganizations, the United Nations and its specialized 12
agencies, and other international organizations of 13
which the United States is a member; and 14
(2) multilateral conferences and meetings rel-15
evant to diplomacy and engagements with inter-16
national Indigenous peoples. 17
(f) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 18
authorized to be appropriated to the Coordinator such 19
sums as may be necessary to carry out the duties and re-20
sponsibilities of the Office for Indigenous Affairs as estab-21
lished by this section. Amount appropriated pursuant to 22
this authorization are authorized to remain available until 23
expended and shall supplement, not supplant, amounts 24
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otherwise authorized to be appropriated to carry out the 1
purposes described in this section. 2
SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT ON PROMOTING INTERNATIONAL 3
DIPLOMACY AND ENGAGEMENT WITH INDIG-4
ENOUS PEOPLE. 5
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after date 6
of the submission of the comprehensive international strat-7
egy developed under section 3, and every 4 years there-8
after, the Secretary of State, acting through the Coordi-9
nator for Indigenous Affairs appointed pursuant to section 10
4(b), shall submit to the appropriate congressional com-11
mittees a report to be titled the ‘‘Report on International 12
Indigenous Diplomacy and Engagement’’. 13
(b) M
ATTERS.—Each report under subsection (a) 14
shall include the following: 15
(1) The goals and objectives of the comprehen-16
sive international strategy developed under section 3. 17
(2) The assessment of the Coordinator of the 18
effectiveness to date of the strategy, including the 19
specific criteria used in such assessment. 20
(3) A description of the coordination of all Fed-21
eral Government resources and international activi-22
ties to engage with and support international Indige-23
nous peoples that includes— 24
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(A) an identification of the Federal depart-1
ments or agencies involved; 2
(B) a description of the coordination be-3
tween the heads of such Federal departments 4
and agencies; and 5
(C) a description of the coordination with 6
non-Federal Government entities, including for-7
eign governments, multilateral organizations 8
and institutions, and nongovernmental organi-9
zations. 10
(4) A description of the relationship between— 11
(A) efforts to support international Indige-12
nous peoples; 13
(B) other United States assistance strate-14
gies in developing countries; and 15
(C) diplomatic relationships with such 16
countries. 17
(5) A description of efforts to design, support, 18
and implement activities in response to the needs of 19
international Indigenous peoples and in furtherance 20
of United States diplomatic and peacemaking initia-21
tives. 22
(6) A description of data collection efforts con-23
ducted under programs authorized by this Act or the 24
amendments made by this Act. 25
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(7) A description of any significant efforts by 1
bilateral or multilateral donors in support of inter-2
national Indigenous peoples. 3
(8) An identification of all contractors, sub-4
contractors, grantees, and subgrantees receiving 5
United States funds for programs supporting inter-6
national Indigenous peoples. 7
(9) Recommendations related to best practices, 8
effective strategies, and suggested improvements to 9
enhance the impact of efforts to support inter-10
national Indigenous peoples. 11
(10) A description of United States resources 12
that are being used— 13
(A) to implement the strategy developed 14
under section 3; 15
(B) to respond to needs of international 16
Indigenous people; 17
(C) to promote equity and advance the sta-18
tus of international Indigenous people; and 19
(D) to encourage all parties to engage with 20
and support the participation of international 21
Indigenous peoples in decisions affecting their 22
lands, cultures, and traditions, the allocation of 23
natural resources, and the protection of the civil 24
and political rights of such peoples. 25
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SEC. 6. ADVISORY COMMISSION ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. 1
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—There is established within 2
the Department of State an Advisory Commission on In-3
digenous Peoples (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Advi-4
sory Commission’’). 5
(b) M
EMBERSHIP.— 6
(1) A
PPOINTMENT.—The Advisory Commission 7
shall be composed of— 8
(A) the Coordinator for Indigenous Affairs 9
appointed pursuant to section 4(b), who shall 10
serve as chair; 11
(B) 8 members appointed by the Secretary 12
of State, from among individuals who are not 13
officers or employees of the Federal Govern-14
ment; 15
(C) 3 members appointed by the President 16
pro tempore of the Senate on the joint rec-17
ommendation of the Majority and Minority 18
Leaders of the Senate; 19
(D) 3 members appointed by the Speaker 20
of the House of Representatives on the joint 21
recommendation of the Majority and Minority 22
Leaders of the House of Representatives; and 23
(E) 1 representative from each of— 24
(i) the National Congress of American 25
Indians; 26
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(ii) the Alaska Federation of Natives; 1
and 2
(iii) the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. 3
(2) S
ELECTION.—The members of the Advisory 4
Commission described in subparagraphs (B) through 5
(D) of paragraph (1) shall be selected from among— 6
(A) academics representative of the various 7
scholarly approaches to the history of the rights 8
and resources of international Indigenous peo-9
ples; 10
(B) representatives of nongovernmental or-11
ganizations and other institutions having the 12
background, knowledge, and expertise related to 13
diplomacy and engagements with international 14
Indigenous peoples and domestic Indigenous 15
peoples; and 16
(C) other distinguished individuals noted 17
for their diverse background, knowledge, and 18
expertise in the fields relevant to international 19
Indigenous peoples, including foreign affairs, 20
human rights, and international law. 21
(3) T
IME OF APPOINTMENT .—The appoint-22
ments of the members described in subparagraphs 23
(B) through (D) of paragraph (1) should be made 24
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not later than 120 days after the date of the enact-1
ment of this Act. 2
(4) T
ERMS.—The term of each member ap-3
pointed in accordance with paragraph (3) to the Ad-4
visory Commission shall be 3 years. Members shall 5
be eligible for reappointment to a second term. 6
(c) D
UTIES.—The Advisory Commission shall— 7
(1) annually make recommendations to the Sec-8
retary of State regarding best practices to promote 9
diplomacy and engagements with international In-10
digenous peoples and the effective integration of 11
such practices into the foreign policy of the United 12
States, including assistance programming; and 13
(2) consult with members of the Federal Gov-14
ernment, domestic and international Indigenous 15
leaders, and with private groups and individuals with 16
expertise on the promotion of diplomacy and engage-17
ments with international Indigenous peoples. 18
(d) H
EARINGS.—In carrying out this section, the Ad-19
visory Commission may conduct such hearings, sit and at 20
such times and places, take such testimony, and receive 21
such evidence, as the Advisory Commission considers ap-22
propriate. 23
(e) F
UNDING.—Members of the Advisory Commission 24
shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu 25
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of subsistence at rates authorized for employees of agen-1
cies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United 2
States Code, while away from their homes or regular 3
places of business in the performance of duties for the Ad-4
visory Commission. 5
(f) R
EPORT OF THE ADVISORYCOMMISSION.—Not 6
later than April 1 of each year, the Advisory Commission 7
shall submit to the President, the Secretary of State, and 8
the appropriate congressional committees a report that 9
sets forth its findings and recommendations for United 10
States policy and programs. 11
SEC. 7. TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS ON 12
INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS DIPLOMACY 13
AND ENGAGEMENT. 14
Section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 15
U.S.C. 4028) is amended by adding at the end the fol-16
lowing: 17
‘‘(e) I
NDIGENOUSCOMMUNITIES.—The Secretary of 18
State, acting through the Coordinator for Indigenous Af-19
fairs, shall establish, as part of the standard training pro-20
vided for chiefs of mission, deputy chiefs of mission, and 21
other officers of the Service prior to departure for posting 22
outside the United States, training on the history and cul-23
ture of the Indigenous communities that reside near the 24
applicable posts of assignment, along with guidance on 25
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ways to engage with and provide direct support to individ-1
uals from those communities.’’. 2
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 3
In this Act: 4
(1) A
PPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT -5
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-6
mittees’’ means— 7
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 8
the Committee on Natural Resources of the 9
House of Representatives; and 10
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 11
and the Committee on Indian Affairs of the 12
Senate. 13
(2) C
OORDINATOR.—The term ‘‘Coordinator’’ 14
means the Coordinator for Indigenous Affairs ap-15
pointed pursuant to section 4(b). 16
(3) D
OMESTIC INDIGENOUS PEOPLES .—The 17
term ‘‘domestic Indigenous peoples’’ means— 18
(A) Indians, as that term is defined in sec-19
tion 4(d) of the Indian Self-Determination and 20
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(d)); 21
(B) Native Hawaiians, as that term is de-22
fined in section 6207 of the Native Hawaiian 23
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 7517); 24
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(C) Alaska Natives, within the meaning 1
provided for the term ‘‘Native’’ in section 3(b) 2
of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 3
U.S.C. 1602(b)); and 4
(D) Pacific Islanders, as such term is de-5
fined in section 815 of the Native American 6
Programs Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 2992c). 7
(4) I
NDIGENOUS PEOPLES .—The term ‘‘Indige-8
nous peoples’’— 9
(A) means distinct social and cultural 10
groups that the Coordinator for Indigenous Af-11
fairs designates as such, taking into account 12
relevant factors such as internationally recog-13
nized definitions of Indigenous Peoples, histor-14
ical context, and sociological circumstances; and 15
(B) includes domestic Indigenous peoples 16
and international Indigenous peoples. 17
(5) I
NTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES .— 18
The term ‘‘international Indigenous peoples’’ means 19
the peoples indigenous to foreign countries or for-20
eign territories. 21
Æ
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