Foreign Service Families Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1550 To support Foreign Service families, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 11, 2021 Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. COONS, and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To support Foreign Service families, 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 ‘‘Foreign Service Fami- 4 lies Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 8 means the Department of State. 9 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 10 the Secretary of State. 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1550.IS S1550 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1550 IS SEC. 3. TELECOMMUTING OPPORTUNITIES. 1 (a) DETO POLICY.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal department 3 and agency shall establish a policy enumerating the 4 circumstances under which employees may be per- 5 mitted to temporarily perform work requirements 6 and duties from approved overseas locations pursu- 7 ant to an approved Domestically Employed Tele- 8 working Overseas (DETO) agreement. 9 (2) PARTICIPATION.—The policy described 10 under paragraph (1) shall— 11 (A) ensure that telework does not diminish 12 employee performance or agency operations; 13 (B) require a written agreement that— 14 (i) is entered into between an agency 15 manager and an employee authorized to 16 telework, that outlines the specific work ar- 17 rangement that is agreed to; and 18 (ii) is mandatory in order for any em- 19 ployee to participate in telework; 20 (C) provide that an employee may not be 21 authorized to telework if the performance of 22 that employee does not comply with the terms 23 of the written agreement between the agency 24 manager and that employee; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1550.IS S1550 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1550 IS (D) except in emergency situations as de- 1 termined by the head of an agency, not apply 2 to any employee of the agency whose official du- 3 ties require on a daily basis (every work day)— 4 (i) direct handling of secure materials 5 determined to be inappropriate for tele- 6 work by the agency head; or 7 (ii) on-site activity that cannot be 8 handled remotely or at an alternate work- 9 site; 10 (E) be incorporated as part of the con- 11 tinuity of operations plans of the agency in the 12 event of an emergency; and 13 (F) enumerate the circumstances under 14 which employees may be permitted to tempo- 15 rarily perform work requirements and duties 16 from approved overseas locations. 17 (b) ACCESS TO ICASS SYSTEM.—Not later than 90 18 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 19 retary of State shall revise chapter 900 of volume 6 of 20 the Foreign Affairs Manual, the International Cooperative 21 Administrative Support Services Handbook, the Personnel 22 Operations Handbook, and any other relevant regulations 23 to allow each Federal agency that has enacted a policy 24 under subsection (a) to have access to the International 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1550.IS S1550 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1550 IS Cooperative Administrative Support Services (ICASS) sys- 1 tem. 2 SEC. 4. EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR EL- 3 IGIBLE FAMILY MEMBERS OF MEMBERS OF 4 THE FOREIGN SERVICE. 5 Section 706(b) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 6 (22 U.S.C. 4026(b)) is amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (1)— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary may’’ and 9 inserting ‘‘The Secretary shall’’; and 10 (B) by amending subparagraph (C) to read 11 as follows: 12 ‘‘(C) establishing a program for assisting 13 eligible family members in accessing employ- 14 ment and education opportunities, which shall 15 be modeled after the programs authorized 16 under sections 1784 and 1784a of title 10, 17 United States Code, and based on regulations 18 modeled after those prescribed pursuant to sub- 19 section (b) of such section 1784.’’; 20 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para- 21 graph (9); 22 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 23 lowing new paragraphs: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1550.IS S1550 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1550 IS ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall prescribe regula- 1 tions— 2 ‘‘(A) to implement such measures as the 3 President orders pursuant to paragraph (1)(C); 4 ‘‘(B) to provide preference to eligible fam- 5 ily members in hiring for any civilian position 6 in the Department of State if— 7 ‘‘(i) the eligible family member is 8 among persons determined to be best 9 qualified for the position; and 10 ‘‘(ii) the position is located in the 11 country of assignment of their sponsoring 12 employee; 13 ‘‘(C) to ensure that notice of any vacant 14 position in the Department is provided in a 15 manner reasonably designed to reach eligible 16 family members of sponsoring employees whose 17 permanent duty stations are in the same coun- 18 try as that in which the position is located; and 19 ‘‘(D) to ensure that an eligible family 20 member who applies for a vacant position in the 21 Department shall, to the extent practicable, be 22 considered for any such position located in the 23 same country as the permanent duty station of 24 their sponsoring employee. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1550.IS S1550 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1550 IS ‘‘(3) Nothing in this section may be construed 1 to provide an eligible family member with preference 2 in hiring over an individual who is preference eligi- 3 ble. 4 ‘‘(4) Under regulations prescribed by the Sec- 5 retary, a chief of mission may, consistent with all 6 applicable laws and regulations pertaining to the 7 ICASS system, make available to a non-Department 8 entity space in an embassy or consulate for the pur- 9 pose of the non-Department entity providing employ- 10 ment-related training for eligible family members. 11 ‘‘(5) The Secretary may work with the Director 12 of the Office of Personnel Management and the 13 heads of other Federal departments and agencies to 14 expand and facilitate the use of existing Federal pro- 15 grams and resources in support of eligible family 16 member employment. 17 ‘‘(6) The Secretary may— 18 ‘‘(A) develop partnerships with firms in the 19 private sector to enhance employment opportu- 20 nities for eligible family members and to pro- 21 vide for improved job portability for such 22 spouses, especially in the case of an eligible 23 family member accompanying a sponsoring em- 24 ployee to a new geographical area because of a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1550.IS S1550 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1550 IS change of permanent duty station of the spon- 1 soring employee; and 2 ‘‘(B) work with the United States Cham- 3 ber of Commerce and other appropriate private- 4 sector entities to facilitate the formation of 5 such partnerships. 6 ‘‘(7) The Secretary may prescribe regulations to 7 incorporate hiring preferences for eligible family 8 members of sponsoring employees into contracts be- 9 tween the Department and private sector entities. 10 ‘‘(8)(A) The Secretary of State shall seek to 11 enter into a cooperative agreement with the Council 12 of State Governments to assist with funding of the 13 development of interstate compacts on licensed occu- 14 pations in order to alleviate the burden associated 15 with relicensing in such an occupation by an eligible 16 family member in connection with a permanent 17 change of duty station of their sponsoring employee. 18 ‘‘(B) The total amount of assistance provided 19 under subparagraph (A) for all interstate compacts 20 in any fiscal year may not exceed $4,000,000. 21 ‘‘(C) The amount provided under subparagraph 22 (A) as assistance for the development of any par- 23 ticular interstate compact may not exceed 24 $1,000,000. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1550.IS S1550 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1550 IS ‘‘(D) Not later than February 28 each year, the 1 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 2 Relations of the Senate and the Committee on For- 3 eign Affairs of the House of Representatives a re- 4 port on interstate compacts described in subpara- 5 graph (A) developed through assistance provided 6 under that subparagraph. Each report shall set forth 7 the following: 8 ‘‘(i) Any interstate compact developed dur- 9 ing the preceding calendar year, including the 10 occupational licenses covered by such compact 11 and the States agreeing to enter into such com- 12 pact. 13 ‘‘(ii) Any interstate compact developed 14 during a prior calendar year into which one or 15 more additional States agreed to enter during 16 the preceding calendar year. 17 ‘‘(E) The authority to enter into a cooperative 18 agreement under subparagraph (A), and to provide 19 assistance described in that subparagraph pursuant 20 to such cooperative agreement, expire on September 21 30, 2024.’’; and 22 (4) by adding after paragraph (9), as redesig- 23 nated by paragraph (2) of this subsection, the fol- 24 lowing new paragraph: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1550.IS S1550 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1550 IS ‘‘(10) In this subsection, the term ‘eligible family 1 member’ has the meaning given the term in section 7121 2 of volume 3 of the Foreign Affairs Manual (3 FAM 3 7121).’’. 4 SEC. 5. REPORTING ON FOREIGN SERVICE FAMILY RE- 5 SERVE CORPS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall brief 8 the appropriate congressional committees on the status of 9 implementation of the Foreign Service Family Reserve 10 Corps. 11 (b) ELEMENTS.—The briefing required under sub- 12 section (a) shall include the following elements: 13 (1) A description of the status of implementa- 14 tion of the Foreign Service Family Reserve Corps 15 (FSFRC). 16 (2) An assessment of the extent to which imple- 17 mentation was impacted by the Department’s hiring 18 freeze and a detailed explanation of the effect of any 19 such impacts. 20 (3) A description of the status of implementa- 21 tion of a hiring preference for the FSFRC. 22 (4) A detailed accounting of any individuals eli- 23 gible for membership in the FSFRC who were un- 24 able to begin working at a new location as a result 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1550.IS S1550 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1550 IS of being unable to transfer their security clearance, 1 including an assessment of whether they would have 2 been able to port their clearance as a member of the 3 FSFRC if the program had been fully implemented. 4 (5) An estimate of the number of individuals 5 who are eligible to join the FSFRC worldwide and 6 the categories, as detailed in the Under Secretary 7 for Management’s guidance dated May 3, 2016, 8 under which those individuals would enroll. 9 (6) An estimate of the number of individuals 10 who are enrolled in the FSFRC worldwide and the 11 categories, as detailed in the Under Secretary for 12 Management’s guidance dated May 3, 2016, under 13 which those individuals enrolled. 14 (7) An estimate of the number of individuals 15 who were enrolled in each phase of the implementa- 16 tion of the FSFRC as detailed in guidance issued by 17 the Under Secretary for Management. 18 (8) An estimate of the number of individuals 19 enrolled in the FSFRC who have successfully trans- 20 ferred a security clearance to a new post since im- 21 plementation of the program began. 22 (9) An estimate of the number of individuals 23 enrolled in the FSFRC who have been unable to suc- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1550.IS S1550 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1550 IS cessfully transfer a security clearance to a new post 1 since implementation of the program began. 2 (10) An estimate of the number of individuals 3 who have declined in writing to apply to the 4 FSFRC. 5 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE- 6 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres- 7 sional committees’’ means— 8 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 9 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 10 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 11 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep- 12 resentatives. 13 SEC. 6. TREATMENT OF FAMILY MEMBERS OF FOREIGN 14 SERVICE OFFICERS SEEKING POSITIONS CUS- 15 TOMARILY FILLED BY FOREIGN SERVICE OF- 16 FICERS OR FOREIGN NATIONAL EMPLOYEES. 17 Section 311 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 18 U.S.C. 3951) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 19 lowing: 20 ‘‘(e) The Secretary shall hold a family member of a 21 government employee described in subsection (a) seeking 22 employment in a position described in that subsection to 23 the same employment standards as those applicable to 24 Foreign Service officers, Foreign Service personnel, or for- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1550.IS S1550 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1550 IS eign national employees seeking the same or a substan- 1 tially similar position.’’. 2 SEC. 7. IN-STATE TUITION RATES FOR MEMBERS OF QUALI- 3 FYING FEDERAL SERVICE. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 135 of the Higher Edu- 5 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1015d) is amended— 6 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘THE 7 ARMED FORCES ON ACTIVE DUTY, SPOUSES, 8 AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘QUALIFYING FEDERAL SERVICE’’; 10 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘member of 11 the armed forces who is on active duty for a period 12 of more than 30 days and’’ and inserting ‘‘member 13 of a qualifying Federal service’’; 14 (3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘member of 15 the armed forces’’ and inserting ‘‘member of a quali- 16 fying Federal service’’; and 17 (4) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘mem- 20 ber of a qualifying Federal service’ means— 21 ‘‘(1) a member of the armed forces [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]