He shall answer to such inquiries respecting his department as may be put from the chair by order of Congress, and to questions stated in writing about matters of fact, which lie within his knowledge, when put by the President at the request of a member, and not disapproved of by Congress. The answers to such questions may, at the option of the Secretary, be delivered by him in writing.
He shall have free access to the papers and records of the United States in the custody of their Secretary, or in the offices of finance and war and elsewhere. He may be furnished with copies, or take extracts therefrom, when he shall find it necessary.
He shall use means to obtain from the Ministers and agents of the United States in foreign countries, an abstract of their present state, their commerce, finances, naval and military strength, and the characters of Sovereigns and Ministers, and every other political information, which may be useful to the United States. All letters to sovereign powers, letters of credence, plans of treaties, conventions, manifestoes, instructions, passports, safe conducts, and other acts of Congress relative to the Department of Foreign Affairs, when the substance thereof shall have been previously agreed to in Congress, shall be reduced to form in the office of Foreign Affairs, and submitted to the opinion of Congress; and when passed, signed, and attested, sent to the office of Foreign Affairs, to be countersigned and forwarded. If an original paper is of such a nature as cannot be safely transmitted without cyphers, a copy in cyphers, signed by the Secretary for the Department of Foreign Affairs, shall be considered as authentic, and the Ministers of the United States at foreign Courts may govern themselves thereby in the like manner as if the originals had been transmitted. And for the better execution of the duties hereby assigned him, he is authorised to appoint a Secretary, and one, or if necessary more clerks, to assist him in the business of his office.
Resolved, That the salaries annexed to this department shall be as follows;
To the Secretary of the United States for the Department of Foreign Affairs, the sum of four thousand dollars per annum, exclusive of office expenses, to commence from the first day of October last.
To the Secretary, one thousand dollars per annum.
To the clerks, each five hundred dollars per annum.
Resolved, That the Secretary for the Department of Foreign Affairs, and each of the persons employed under him, shall take an oath before a Judge of the State where Congress shall sit, for the faithful discharge of their respective trusts, and an oath of fidelity to the United States, before they enter upon office.
Resolved, That the act of the 10th of January, 1781, respecting the Department of Foreign Affairs, be and hereby is repealed.