Enhancing America's Core Diplomatic Capabilities Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1113 To protect and enhance core diplomatic capabilities at the Department of State. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 10, 2019 Mrs. SHAHEEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To protect and enhance core diplomatic capabilities at the Department of State. 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 ‘‘Enhancing America’s 4 Core Diplomatic Capabilities Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; OBJECTIVE. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 7 ings: 8 (1) The Foreign Service of the United States, 9 established under the Act of May 24, 1924 (com- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1113.IS S1113 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1113 IS monly known as the Rogers Act), continued by the 1 Foreign Service Act of 1946, and further strength- 2 ened by the Foreign Service Act of 1980, character- 3 ized by excellence and professionalism, is essential in 4 the national interest to assist the President and the 5 Secretary of State in conducting the foreign policy 6 of the United States. 7 (2) Consistent, predictable staffing and man- 8 agement practices are essential to the maintenance 9 of core diplomatic capabilities, effective career devel- 10 opment patterns, and an orderly flow of talent in the 11 Foreign Service. 12 (3) The expanding scope and increasing com- 13 plexity of the foreign affairs of the United States 14 have heightened the need for expanded training, pro- 15 fessional development, and professional education 16 opportunities for members of the Foreign Service. 17 (b) OBJECTIVE.—The objective of this Act is to 18 strengthen and improve the core diplomatic capabilities of 19 the United States by— 20 (1) assuring that, in accordance with merit 21 principles, sufficient numbers of Foreign Service 22 personnel are recruited, trained, promoted, and re- 23 tained to effectively serve the interests of the United 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1113.IS S1113 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1113 IS States and to provide the highest caliber of represen- 1 tation in the conduct of foreign affairs; 2 (2) providing expanded training, professional 3 development, and professional education opportuni- 4 ties to career Foreign Service and civil service em- 5 ployees; and 6 (3) promoting the role of members of the For- 7 eign Service in certain key institutional leadership 8 positions. 9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 10 In this Act: 11 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 12 mittees’’ means— 13 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 14 the Senate; and 15 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 16 the House of Representatives. 17 (2) The term ‘‘core diplomatic capabilities’’ 18 means diplomatic functions pertaining to political af- 19 fairs, economic affairs, and public diplomacy. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1113.IS S1113 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1113 IS TITLE I—FOREIGN SERVICE 1 OFFICER STAFFING LEVELS 2 SEC. 101. POLICY OF HIRING SUFFICIENT NUMBERS OF 3 ENTRY-LEVEL MEMBERS OF THE FOREIGN 4 SERVICE TO MEET LONG-TERM NEEDS. 5 Section 303 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 6 U.S.C. 3943) is amended— 7 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 10 section: 11 ‘‘(b) LONG-TERM PROJECTIONS OF PERSONNEL 12 FLOWS AND NEEDS.—Decisions by the Secretary on the 13 numbers of individuals to be appointed as entry-level mem- 14 bers of the Service shall be based upon a systematic long- 15 term projection of personnel flows and needs designed to 16 provide— 17 ‘‘(1) a regular, predictable flow of recruitment 18 in the Service; 19 ‘‘(2) effective career development patterns to 20 meet the needs of the Service; and 21 ‘‘(3) a regular, predictable flow of talent up- 22 ward through the ranks of the Service.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1113.IS S1113 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1113 IS SEC. 102. MINIMUM NUMBER OF FOREIGN SERVICE OFFI- 1 CERS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall take 3 all practicable measures to maintain within the Foreign 4 Service a minimum number of Foreign Service officers, 5 based on staffing levels as of September 30, 2016, as fol- 6 lows: 7 (1) 905 Senior Foreign Service officers. 8 (2) 4,598 Foreign Service officers, in aggregate, 9 at the levels of FS–01, FS–02, and FS–03. 10 (3) 2,662 Foreign Service officers, in aggregate, 11 at the levels of FS–04, FS–05, and FS–06. 12 (4) QUARTERLY REPORT.—Not later than 90 13 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 14 quarterly thereafter, the Secretary of State shall 15 submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of 16 the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 17 the House of Representatives a report on the size of 18 the Foreign Service workforce. In the event that the 19 current workforce is below the minimum levels set 20 forth in subsection (a), the report shall include an 21 explanation of the reasons for the deficiency and a 22 plan for meeting such levels. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1113.IS S1113 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1113 IS SEC. 103. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DAMAGE FROM YEAR- 1 TO-YEAR REDUCTIONS IN ENTRY-LEVEL HIR- 2 ING. 3 It is the sense of Congress that significant year-to- 4 year reductions in the levels of entry-level hiring for the 5 Foreign Service, including levels below projected rates of 6 attrition, will inevitably result in shortages of appro- 7 priately experienced personnel at specific grades in future 8 years and, therefore, are not in the interest of the Service 9 and should not be used to carry out reductions in the over- 10 all size of the Service. 11 TITLE II—ENHANCED TRAINING, 12 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOP- 13 MENT, AND PROFESSIONAL 14 EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES 15 FOR CAREER DEPARTMENT 16 OF STATE EMPLOYEES 17 SEC. 201. REPORT ON EXPANDED TRAINING OPPORTUNI- 18 TIES. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 21 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 22 a report on measures to provide enhanced training, profes- 23 sional development, and professional education opportuni- 24 ties to career Foreign Service and civil service employees 25 to enhance core diplomatic capabilities. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1113.IS S1113 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1113 IS (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required under sub- 1 section (a) shall include the following elements: 2 (1) An assessment of current and planned 3 training, professional development, and professional 4 education opportunities, including topics such as 5 leadership, management, resource allocation, whole- 6 of-government team leadership and management, 7 and trade craft pertaining to core diplomatic capa- 8 bilities. 9 (2) An assessment of the processes and re- 10 sources required to make the George P. Shultz Na- 11 tional Foreign Affairs Training Center an accredited 12 academic institution, on a level equivalent to the 13 United States military’s war colleges, capable of 14 granting a master of arts degree in diplomatic stud- 15 ies, to enhance its capabilities to educate Foreign 16 Service, civil service, and other civilian and military 17 interagency professionals in the practice of diplo- 18 macy and international development. 19 SEC. 202. REESTABLISHMENT OF THE SENIOR SEMINAR. 20 The Secretary of State shall, not later than one year 21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, reestablish 22 the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training 23 Center’s full-time Senior Seminar in Foreign Policy for 24 highly qualified Foreign Service, civil service, and military 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1113.IS S1113 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1113 IS personnel from the Department of State, other agencies 1 and the Armed Forces. The seminar’s duration shall be 2 a minimum of nine months. Participants in the seminar 3 shall be competitively selected based upon past perform- 4 ance and future potential. 5 SEC. 203. SUSPENSION OF TIME IN CLASS REQUIREMENT 6 FOR MEMBERS OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE 7 ENGAGED IN LONG-TERM TRAINING. 8 Section 607(d) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 9 (22 U.S.C. 4007(d)) is amended— 10 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 11 inserting a semicolon; 12 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para- 13 graph (3); and 14 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 15 lowing new paragraph: 16 ‘‘(2) the Secretary may, for purposes of this 17 section, increase the maximum time spent in class 18 for a member of the Service by the amount of time 19 spent by such member in long-term training while in 20 such class to encourage participation in such train- 21 ing; and’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1113.IS S1113 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1113 IS SEC. 204. FOREIGN LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE INCENTIVE 1 PROGRAM. 2 The Secretary of State is authorized to establish and 3 implement an incentive program to encourage members of 4 the Foreign Service who possess language proficiency in 5 a qualifying list of languages, as determined by the Sec- 6 retary, to maintain critical foreign language skills. Not 7 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 8 Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate 9 committees a report detailing a plan to implement the pro- 10 gram, including resource requirements. 11 TITLE III—PROMOTING A PRO- 12 FESSIONAL DIPLOMATIC SER- 13 VICE 14 SEC. 301. LIMITATION OF CERTAIN KEY POSITIONS TO CA- 15 REER DIPLOMATS. 16 (a) DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE FOREIGN SERV- 17 ICE.—Section 208 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 18 U.S.C. 3928) is amended, in the first sentence, by striking 19 ‘‘current or former career member of the Foreign Service’’ 20 and inserting ‘‘current career member of the Senior For- 21 eign Service who has served at least once as a chief of 22 mission’’. 23 (b) DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES.— 24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of the Foreign 25 Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3921 et seq.) is 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1113.IS S1113 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1113 IS amended by inserting after section 208 the following 1 new section: 2 ‘‘SEC. 208A. DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES. 3 ‘‘The Secretary shall appoint a Director of Human 4 Resources, who shall be a current career member of the 5 Senior Foreign Service who has served at least once as 6 a chief of mission. The Director should assist the Sec- 7 retary of State in the management of the human resources 8 matters of the Department of State and perform such 9 functions as the Secretary of State may prescribe.’’. 10 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 11 tents in section 2 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 12 (Public Law 96–465; 94 Stat. 2071) is amended by 13 inserting after the item relating to section 208 the 14 following new item: 15 ‘‘Sec. 208A. Director of Human Resources.’’. (c) DIRECTOR OF THE GEORGE P. SHULTZ NA- 16 TIONAL FOREIGN AFFAIRS TRAINING CENTER.—Section 17 701(a) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 18 4021(a)) is amended by inserting before the last sentence 19 the following: ‘‘The Director shall be a current career 20 member of the Senior Foreign Service who has served at 21 least once as a chief of mission.’’. 22 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 23 subsections (a) through (c) shall take effect upon the date 24 of the enactment of this Act, and the requirements under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1113.IS S1113 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1113 IS the provisions of law amended by such subsections shall 1 apply to any individual serving in a position covered by 2 any such provision on or after such date. 3 SEC. 302. RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS 4 AS COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. 5 When referring to Foreign Service officers in its pub- 6 lic and internal communications, the Department of State 7 and other Departments and Agencies shall, in recognition 8 of the status of such officers as commissioned officers of 9 the United States Government, use the terminology found 10 in the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (Public Law 110–457) 11 and refer to such individuals as ‘‘Foreign Service officers’’ 12 rather than using other terms such as ‘‘Foreign Service 13 generalists’’. The term ‘‘Foreign Service specialists’’ may 14 be used as appropriate to refer to personnel who fit that 15 description. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1113.IS S1113 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS