As used in this chapter, the term—
(1) “abroad” means all areas not included within the United States;
(2) “agency” means an agency as defined in section 552(e) 11 See References in Text note below. of title 5;
(3) “chief of mission” means the principal officer in charge of a diplomatic mission of the United States or of a United States office abroad which is designated by the Secretary of State as diplomatic in nature, including any individual assigned under [section 3982(c) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title22-section3982/c&num=0&edition=prelim) to be temporarily in charge of such a mission or office;
(4) “Department” means the Department of State, except that with reference to the exercise of functions under this chapter with respect to another agency authorized by law to utilize the Foreign Service personnel system, such term means that other agency;
(5) “employee” (except as provided in [section 4102(8) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title22-section4102/8&num=0&edition=prelim)) means, when used with respect to an agency or to the Government generally, an officer or employee (including a member of the Service) or a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service, or the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
(6) “function” includes any duty, obligation, power, authority, responsibility, right, privilege, discretion, or activity;
(7) “Government” means the Government of the United States;
(8) “merit principles” means the principles set out in [section 2301(b) of title 5](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title5-section2301/b&num=0&edition=prelim);
(9) “p
File SHA-256: d4c49a5c48c164f5d0b74d547ca32ab68916d6d8f10d992820ad791b15044202. The original may include catalog metadata, neighboring provisions, or embedded records outside this collection's scope. This page displays the selected federal record. Historical editions and unverified snapshots are not a statement of current law.
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Stable record: federal_law:legal_authorities:record_usc_f4f020c8d06bed75210d5498 Source file: Laws/federal/codes/united-states-code/title-22/section-3902-definitions--ac4ae450c6.md Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded Passage SHA-256: 8b1b253231d58d9814d1deebb68f27160f090f356801c27cb824457624280fcb Retained source evidence SHA-256: d4c49a5c48c164f5d0b74d547ca32ab68916d6d8f10d992820ad791b15044202
Source location: Title 22, Chapter 52, § 3902; chapter-052-foreign-service.md
Stored source content
As used in this chapter, the term—
(1) “abroad” means all areas not included within the United States;
(2) “agency” means an agency as defined in section 552(e) 11 See References in Text note below. of title 5;
(3) “chief of mission” means the principal officer in charge of a diplomatic mission of the United States or of a United States office abroad which is designated by the Secretary of State as diplomatic in nature, including any individual assigned under [section 3982(c) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title22-section3982/c&num=0&edition=prelim) to be temporarily in charge of such a mission or office;
(4) “Department” means the Department of State, except that with reference to the exercise of functions under this chapter with respect to another agency authorized by law to utilize the Foreign Service personnel system, such term means that other agency;
(5) “employee” (except as provided in [section 4102(8) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title22-section4102/8&num=0&edition=prelim)) means, when used with respect to an agency or to the Government generally, an officer or employee (including a member of the Service) or a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service, or the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
(6) “function” includes any duty, obligation, power, authority, responsibility, right, privilege, discretion, or activity;
(7) “Government” means the Government of the United States;
(8) “merit principles” means the principles set out in [section 2301(b) of title 5](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title5-section2301/b&num=0&edition=prelim);
(9) “principal officer” means the officer in charge of a diplomatic mission, consular mission (other than a consular agency), or other Foreign Service post;
(10) “Secretary” means the Secretary of State, except that (subject to [section 3921 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title22-section3921&num=0&edition=prelim)) with reference to the exercise of functions under this Act with respect to any agency authorized by law to utilize the Foreign Service personnel system, such term means the head of that agency;
(11) “Service” or “Foreign Service” means the Foreign Service of the United States; and
(12) “United States”, when used in a geographic sense, means the several States and the District of Columbia.
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
§ 3902. Definitions
As used in this chapter, the term—
(1) ‘‘abroad’’ means all areas not included
within the United States;
(2) ‘‘agency’’ means an agency as defined in
section 552(e) 1 of title 5;
(3) ‘‘chief of mission’’ means the principal of-
ficer in charge of a diplomatic mission of the
United States or of a United States office
abroad which is designated by the Secretary of
State as diplomatic in nature, including any
individual assigned under section 3982(c) of
this title to be temporarily in charge of such
a mission or office;
(4) ‘‘Department’’ means the Department of
State, except that with reference to the exer-
cise of functions under this chapter with re-
spect to another agency authorized by law to
utilize the Foreign Service personnel system,
such term means that other agency;
(5) ‘‘employee’’ (except as provided in sec-
tion 4102(8) of this title) means, when used
with respect to an agency or to the Govern-
ment generally, an officer or employee (in-
cluding a member of the Service) or a member
Page 1424
TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
§ 3903
of the Armed Forces of the United States, the
commissioned corps of the Public Health Serv-
ice, or the commissioned corps of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
(6) ‘‘function’’ includes any duty, obligation,
power, authority, responsibility, right, privi-
lege, discretion, or activity;
(7) ‘‘Government’’ means the Government of
the United States;
(8) ‘‘merit principles’’ means the principles
set out in section 2301(b) of title 5;
(9) ‘‘principal officer’’ means the officer in
charge of a diplomatic mission, consular mis-
sion (other than a consular agency), or other
Foreign Service post;
(10) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of
State, except that (sub