Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-110

§300 Dispositions of Property; Damage Payments; Acceptance of Gifts or Services

Title 22 › CHAPTER 8 — FOREIGN SERVICE BUILDINGS › § 300

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of State may sell, trade, lease, or license property used for embassies and consulates in the United States and abroad. The Secretary may take payment in any form for damage or loss to those buildings and their contents and may accept gifts of property or services for these diplomatic purposes on behalf of the United States. Money or gifts from those sales, payments, or donations must be used for buying, building, or other purposes allowed by this law or placed in the Foreign Service Buildings Fund as the Secretary thinks best. The Secretary must report these transactions to Congress each year with the State Department budget. Money from selling furniture, furnishings, and equipment from foreign posts must go into the Foreign Service Buildings Fund and can be spent as the Secretary directs.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §300

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Authority of Secretary of State
The Secretary of State is authorized—
(1)to sell, exchange, lease, or license any property or property interest acquired under this chapter, or under other authority, for use of diplomatic and consular establishments in foreign countries or in the United States pursuant to section 4304(b)(5) of this title,
(2)to receive payment in whatever form, or in kind, he determines to be in the interest of the United States for damage to or destruction of property acquired for use of diplomatic and consular establishments abroad, and the contents of such buildings, and
(3)to accept on behalf of the United States gifts of property or services of any kind made by will or otherwise for the purposes of this chapter.
(b)Disposition of proceeds; report to Congress
Proceeds derived from dispositions, payments, or gifts under subsection (a) shall, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, be applied toward acquisition, construction, or other purposes authorized by this chapter or held in the Foreign Service Buildings Fund, as in the judgment of the Secretary may best serve the Government’s interest: Provided, That the Secretary shall report all such transactions annually to the Congress with the budget estimates of the Department of State.
(c)Proceeds from sale of furniture, furnishings, and equipment
Notwithstanding subsection (b), proceeds from the disposition of furniture, furnishings, and equipment from diplomatic and consular establishments in foreign countries shall be deposited into the Foreign Service Building Fund to be available for obligation or expenditure as directed by the Secretary.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1990—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 101–246 inserted before comma at end “or in the United States pursuant to section 4304(b)(5) of this title”. 1986—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 99–399 added subsec. (c). 1966—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 89–636 substituted provisions designated as subsec. (a) and authorizing the Secretary to sell, exchange, lease, or license any property or property interest acquired under this chapter, to receive payment in whatever form, or in kind, for damage to or destruction of buildings or their contents, and to accept gifts of property or services for former provisions which authorized the Secretary, when he found it to be in the Government’s interest, to sell buildings and grounds acquired for use of diplomatic and consular establishments in foreign countries. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 89–636 substituted provisions designated as subsec. (b) and providing for application of proceeds derived from dispositions, payments, or gifts under subsec. (a) toward acquisition,

Construction

, or other purposes authorized by this chapter, as in the judgment of the Secretary may best serve the Government’s interest, for former provision for application of proceeds of sales toward purchase and

Construction

, furnishing, and preservation of other properties. 1963—Pub. L. 88–94 struck out “with the concurrence of the Foreign Service Buildings Commission,” after “Government,” and “, as in the judgment of the Commission may best serve the Government’s interest” after “Foreign Service building fund”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Termination of Reporting RequirementsFor termination, effective May 15, 2000, of provisions in subsec. (b) of this section relating to the Secretary reporting transactions annually to Congress, see section 3003 of Pub. L. 104–66, as amended, set out as a note under section 1113 of Title 31, Money and Finance, and page 129 of House Document No. 103–7.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 300

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110