Diplomatic Personnel Modernization Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1232 To require a five-year staffing plan for the Department of State, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 23, 2021 Mr. GREEN of Tennessee introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To require a five-year staffing plan for the Department of State, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Diplomatic Personnel 4 Modernization Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FIVE-YEAR STAFFING PLAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT 6 OF STATE. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 9 State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1232.IH H1232 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1232 IH of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 1 Foreign Relations of the Senate a comprehensive 5-year 2 strategic staffing plan for the Department of State that 3 is aligned with and furthers the objectives of the National 4 Security Strategy of the United States of America issued 5 in December 2017, or any subsequent strategy issued not 6 later than 18 months after such date of enactment, which 7 shall include the following: 8 (1) A dataset displaying comprehensive work- 9 force data, including all shortages in bureaus de- 10 scribed in GAO report GAO–19–220, for all current 11 and planned employees of the Department of State, 12 disaggregated by— 13 (A) Foreign Service officer and Foreign 14 Service specialist rank; 15 (B) civil service job skill code, grade level, 16 and bureau of assignment; 17 (C) contracted employees, including the 18 equivalent job skill code and bureau of assign- 19 ment; and 20 (D) employees hired under schedule C of 21 subpart C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Fed- 22 eral Regulations, including the equivalent grade 23 and job skill code and bureau of assignment of 24 such employee. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1232.IH H1232 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1232 IH (2) Recommendations on the number of For- 1 eign Service officers disaggregated by service cone 2 that should be posted at each United States diplo- 3 matic post and in the District of Columbia, with a 4 detailed basis for such recommendations. 5 (3) Recommendations on the number of civil 6 service officers that should be employed by the De- 7 partment, with a detailed basis for such rec- 8 ommendations. 9 (b) MAINTENANCE.—The dataset required under 10 subsection (a)(1) shall be maintained and updated on a 11 regular basis. 12 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of State shall 13 lead the development of the plan required under sub- 14 section (a), but may consult or partner with private sector 15 entities with expertise in labor economics, management, 16 or human resources, as well as organizations familiar with 17 the demands and needs of the Department of State’s 18 workforce. 19 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date 20 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 21 submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 22 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela- 23 tions of the Senate a report regarding root causes of For- 24 eign Service and civil service shortages, the effect of such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1232.IH H1232 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1232 IH shortages on national security objectives, and the Depart- 1 ment of State’s plan to implement recommendations de- 2 scribed in GAO–19–10 220. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1232.IH H1232 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS