The United States Information Agency has been abolished and its functions transferred to the Department of State. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright presided over a brief transition ceremony in Washington October 1 in front of the USIA Building, now called the Department of State Annex #44. The USIA Information Resource Center (IRC) libraries in countries around the world are expected to remain outwardly unaffected by the reorganization, although they will be called Public Diplomacy IRCs.
“Everything will continue to function as before at the IRCs,” USIA spokesperson Jimmye C. Walker told American Libraries on the day of the transfer, but they will be under the direction of the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, through the new Office of International Information Programs.
The reorganization emanates from the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998. Presented under the leadership of Vice President Al Gore, the reorganization plan says the move “will make U.S. foreign policy more agile.”
Posted October 4, 1999.