title: Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs
text: # Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs
  
  The Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Consular Affairs within the United States Department of State. The Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs reports to the Under Secretary of State for Management. From 1953 to 1977, the position was called Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs. The bureau is "responsible for the welfare and protection of U.S. citizens abroad, for the issuance of passports and other documentation to citizens and nationals, and for the protection of U.S. border security and the facilitation of legitimate travel to the United States" as described by the bureau's website.
  
  ## List of the Assistant Secretaries of State for Security and Consular Affairs, 1953—77
  
  | Name | Assumed office | Left office | President(s) served under |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | R. W. Scott McLeod | March 3, 1953 | March 9, 1957 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
  | Roderic L. O'Connor | May 28, 1957 | December 29, 1958 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
  | John W. Hanes III | January 1, 1959 | October 4, 1962 | Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy |
  | Abba P. Schwartz | October 5, 1962 | March 6, 1966 | John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson |
  | Barbara M. Watson | August 12, 1968 | December 31, 1974 | Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon |
  | Leonard F. Walentynowicz | January 2, 1975 | March 7, 1977 | Gerald Ford |
  
  ## List of the Assistant Secretaries of State for Consular Affairs, 1977–present
  
  | Name | Assumed office | Left office | President(s) served under |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Barbara M. Watson | April 13, 1977 | August 17, 1980 | Jimmy Carter |
  | Diego C. Asencio | August 29, 1980 | November 21, 1983 | Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan |
  | Joan M. Clark | December 22, 1983 | October 18, 1989 | Ronald Reagan |
  | Elizabeth M. Tamposi | October 18, 1989 | November 10, 1992 | George H. W. Bush |
  | Mary A. Ryan | May 12, 1993 | September 30, 2002 | Bill Clinton and George W. Bush |
  | Maura Harty | November 20, 2002 | February 29, 2008 | George W. Bush |
  | Janice L. Jacobs | June 10, 2008 | April 4, 2014 | George W. Bush and Barack Obama |
  | Michele T. Bond | April 4, 2014 | January 26, 2017 | Barack Obama and Donald Trump |
  | David T. Donahue (acting) | January 26, 2017 | August 11, 2017 | Donald Trump |
  | Carl Risch | August 11, 2017 | December 22, 2020 | Donald Trump |
  | Mora Namdar (acting) | December 22, 2020 | January 20, 2021 | Donald Trump |
  | Ian G. Brownlee (acting) | January 20, 2021 | August 12, 2021 | Joe Biden |
  | Rena Bitter | August 12, 2021 | Incumbent | Joe Biden |
  