22 U.S.C. § 2697: Acceptance of gifts on behalf of United States

The Secretary of State may accept on behalf of the United States gifts made unconditionally by will or otherwise for the benefit of the Department of State (including the Foreign Service) or for the carrying out of any of its functions. Conditional gifts may be so accepted at the discretion of the Secretary, and the principal of and income from any such conditional gift shall be held, invested, reinvested, and used in accordance with its conditions, except that no gift shall be accepted which is conditioned upon any expenditure which will not be met by the gift or the income from the gift unless such expenditure has been approved by Act of Congress. Any unconditional gift of money accepted under subsection (a), the income from any gift property held under subsection (c) or (d) (except income made available for expenditure under subsection (d)(2)), the net proceeds from the liquidation of gift property under subsection (c) or (d), and the proceeds of insurance on any gift property which are not used for its restoration, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States. Such funds are hereby appropriated and shall be held in trust by the Secretary of the Treasury for the benefit of the Department of State (including the Foreign Service). The Secretary of the Treasury may invest and reinvest such funds in interest-bearing obligations of the United States or in obligations guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the United States. Such funds and the income from such investments shall be available for expenditure in the operation of the Department of State (including the Foreign Service) and the performance of its functions, subject to the same examination and audit as is provided for appropriations made for the Foreign Service by the Congress, but shall not be expended for representational purposes at United States missions except in accordance with the conditions that apply to appropriated funds. The evidences of any unconditional gift of intangible personal property (other than money) accepted under subsection (a), shall be deposited with the Secretary of the Treasury who may hold or liquidate them, except that they shall be liquidated upon the request of the Secretary of State whenever necessary to meet payments required in the operation of the Department of State (including the Foreign Service) or the performance of its functions. The Secretary of State shall hold any real property or any tangible personal property accepted unconditionally pursuant to subsection (a) and shall either use such property for the operation of the Department of State (including the Foreign Service) and the performance of its functions or lease or hire such property, except that any such property not required for the operation of the Department of State (including the Foreign Service) or the performance of its functions may be liquidated by the Secretary of State whenever in the judgment of the Secretary of State the purposes of the gift will be served thereby. The Secretary of State may insure any property held under this subsection. Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall deposit the income from any property held under this subsection with the Secretary of the Treasury as provided in subsection (b). The income from any real property or tangible personal property held under this subsection shall be available for expenditure at the discretion of the Secretary of State for the maintenance, preservation, or repair and insurance of such property and any proceeds from insurance may be used to restore the property insured. For the purpose of Federal income, estate, and gift taxes, any gift, devise, or bequest accepted under this section shall be deemed to be a gift, devise, or bequest to and for the use of the United States. The authorities available to the Secretary of State under this section with respect to the Department of State shall be available to the Broadcasting Board of Governors and the Administrator of the Agency for International Development with respect to the Board and the Agency. It is the sense of the Congress that the United States should not accept a gift of any house or other place of residence for the purpose of providing an official residence for the Secretary of State unless the Congress has had an opportunity to review the proposed gift. The Secretary of State shall conduct a study of any offer of a gift for the purpose of providing a place of official residence for the Secretary of State. Such study shall include an examination of the costs to the United States associated with accepting such gift, including the costs of acquisition, maintenance, security, and daily operation of a residence. The Secretary shall report the results of any study conducted under this section to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Public Works and Transportation [now Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure] of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate.”