The Office of Interparliamentary Affairs is an office of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for working with "parliamentarians, officers, or employees of foreign legislative bodies" to organize official visits to the House of Representatives.
Created in 2003 by the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2004, the Office is headed by the a Director, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The serves for as long as they are sanctioned by the Speaker, and, with the approval of the Speaker, the may appoint other employees necessary to carry out the functions of the Office. Appointed by the Speaker of the House the head of Interparliamentary affairs is Kay King.
Specific duties of the Office include:
- To receive and respond to inquiries from foreign parliamentarians or foreign legislative bodies regarding official visits to the House of Representatives.
- To coordinate official visits to the House of Representatives by parliamentarians, officers, or employees of foreign legislative bodies.
- To coordinate with the House Sergeant-at-Arms, the Clerk, and other officers of the House of Representatives in providing services for delegations of Members on official visits to foreign nations.
- To carry out other activities to—
- discharge and coordinate the activities and responsibilities of the House of Representatives in connection with participation in various interparliamentary exchanges and organizations;
- facilitate the interchange and reception in the United States of members of foreign legislative bodies and permanent officials of foreign governments; and
- enable the House to host meetings with senior government officials and other dignitaries in order to discuss matters relevant to United States relations with other nations.
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“When Mr. Apollinax visited the United States
His laughter tinkled among the teacups.
I thought of Fragilion, that shy figure among the birch-trees,
And of Priapus in the shrubbery
Gaping at the lady in the swing.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
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—Myriam Miedzian, U.S. author. Boys Will Be Boys, introduction (1991)
“When some one remarked that, with the addition of a chaplain, it would have been a perfect Cromwellian troop, he observed that he would have been glad to add a chaplain to the list, if he could have found one who could fill that office worthily. It is easy enough to find one for the United States Army. I believe that he had prayers in his camp morning and evening, nevertheless.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Long time he lay upon the sunny hill,
To his father’s house below securely bound.”
—Edwin Muir (1887–1959)
“His [the President’s] office is anything he has the sagacity and force to make it.”
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“To quarrel with the uncertainty that besets us in intellectual affairs would be about as reasonable as to object to live one’s life with due thought for the morrow because no man can be sure he will alive an hour hence.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)