I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2979 To improve diversity and inclusion in the workforce of national security agencies, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 23, 2019 Mr. CONNOLLY (for himself, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. HASTINGS, and Ms. BASS) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on For- eign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, Intel- ligence (Permanent Select), the Judiciary, Homeland Security, Agri- culture, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To improve diversity and inclusion in the workforce of national security agencies, 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 ‘‘National Security Di- 4 versity and Inclusion Workforce Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2979.IH H2979 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2979 IH (1) The greatest national asset of the United 1 States in protecting the homeland and advancing the 2 interests of the United States abroad is the talent 3 and diversity of the national security workforce. 4 (2) The United States has made important 5 progress toward harnessing the extraordinary range 6 of backgrounds, cultures, perspectives, skills, and ex- 7 periences of the population of the United States to- 8 ward keeping the United States safe and strong. 9 (3) The 2015 National Security Strategy recog- 10 nized that the diversity of the national security 11 workforce of the United States is a strategic asset 12 that enhances the ability of the United States to 13 lead on the global stage. 14 (4) In March 2011, the Military Leadership Di- 15 versity Commission demonstrated that minorities 16 and women are still underrepresented among the top 17 leadership of the Armed Forces, as compared with 18 the members they lead. 19 (5) Although African Americans, Latinos or 20 Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asians represent 21 34 percent of the workforce of the United States, in 22 2016, only 10 and 13 percent, respectively, of the 23 senior positions in the civil service and the Foreign 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2979.IH H2979 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2979 IH Service at the Department of State were occupied by 1 members of these groups. 2 (6) As of 2015, African Americans, Latinos or 3 Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asians rep- 4 resented only 22 percent of the officer corps of the 5 Armed Forces, far less than the enlisted forces they 6 lead, 40 percent of the members of which are from 7 these groups. 8 (7) In the intelligence community, African 9 Americans, Latinos or Hispanics, Native Americans, 10 and Asians represented 24 percent of the employees, 11 but only 11 percent of the senior positions. 12 (8) The percentages of Latinos or Hispanics as 13 part of the overall Federal workforce and in senior 14 positions in the Federal workforce are even lower, at 15 8 percent and 4 percent, respectively, as compared 16 to the general population of the United States, 17 which is 17 percent Latino or Hispanic. 18 (9) Latinos or Hispanics represented only a 19 fraction of the senior positions at the Department of 20 State, 3 percent and 5 percent, respectively, for posi- 21 tions in the civil service and Foreign Service, only 1 22 percent for the officer corps of the Armed Forces, 23 and 3 percent for senior positions in the intelligence 24 community. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2979.IH H2979 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2979 IH (10) With regard to gender diversity, of the in- 1 dividuals in senior positions in the civil service or the 2 Foreign Service at the Department of State 39 per- 3 cent and 31 percent are female, respectively. For the 4 Department of Defense, 24 percent of the individ- 5 uals in senior civilian positions are female, of the 6 senior grades of the Armed Forces, 8 percent of the 7 officers are female, and 12 percent of enlisted mem- 8 bers of the Armed Forces are females. Of the indi- 9 viduals in senior positions in the intelligence commu- 10 nity, 29 percent are female, compared to the overall 11 Federal workforce, which is 33.7 percent female. 12 (11) In concert with the findings of the Military 13 Leadership Diversity Commission, the amendments 14 made by section 519 of the National Defense Au- 15 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Public Law 16 112–239; 126 Stat. 1721) mandated that the Armed 17 Forces develop and implement a plan to accurately 18 measure the efforts of the Department of Defense 19 and Coast Guard to ‘‘achieve a dynamic, sustainable 20 level of members of the armed forces (including re- 21 serve components) that, among both commissioned 22 officers and senior enlisted personnel of each armed 23 force, will reflect the diverse population of the 24 United States eligible to serve in the armed forces, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2979.IH H2979 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2979 IH including gender specific, racial, and ethnic popu- 1 lations.’’. 2 (12) The amendments made by section 1011 of 3 the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention 4 Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–458; 118 Stat. 3643) 5 called on the intelligence community to prescribe 6 personnel policies and programs that ensure its per- 7 sonnel ‘‘are sufficiently diverse for purposes of the 8 collection and analysis of intelligence through the re- 9 cruitment and training of women, minorities, and in- 10 dividuals with diverse ethnic, cultural, and linguistic 11 backgrounds’’. 12 (13) The Department of State Authorities Act, 13 Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–323), urges the 14 State Department to promote a diverse representa- 15 tion among mid- and senior-level career professionals 16 and section 101 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 17 (22 U.S.C. 3901) urges the Department of State to 18 develop policies to encourage the entry into and ad- 19 vancement in the Foreign Service by persons from 20 all segments of American society. 21 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 22 It is the policy of the United States that— 23 (1) in order to protect the homeland and ad- 24 vance the interests of the United States abroad, na- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2979.IH H2979 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2979 IH tional security agencies of the Federal Government 1 must have a workforce that reflects the rich com- 2 position and talent of its citizenry; 3 (2) the skills, knowledge, perspectives, ideas, 4 and experiences of all of the members of the work- 5 force of national security agencies contribute to the 6 vitality and success of their national security mis- 7 sion; 8 (3) promoting diversity and inclusion within the 9 national security workforce must be a joint effort 10 and requires engagement by senior leadership, man- 11 agers, and the entire workforce, as well as effective 12 collaboration among those responsible for human re- 13 sources, equal employment opportunity, and diver- 14 sity and inclusion issues; and 15 (4) as the United States becomes more diverse 16 and the challenges it faces more complex, the United 17 States must continue to invest in policies to recruit, 18 retain, and develop the best and brightest from all 19 segments of the population of the United States. 20 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 21 In this Act: 22 (1) APPLICANT FLOW DATA.—The term ‘‘appli- 23 cant flow data’’ means data that tracks the rate of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2979.IH H2979 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2979 IH applications for job positions among demographic 1 categories. 2 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 3 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 4 mittees’’ means— 5 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 6 the Committee on Armed Services, the Com- 7 mittee on Homeland Security and Govern- 8 mental Affairs, the Select Committee on Intel- 9 ligence, and the Committee on Appropriations 10 of the Senate; and 11 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 12 Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 13 on Homeland Security, the Permanent Select 14 Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee 15 on Appropriations of the House of Representa- 16 tives. 17 (3) DIVERSITY.—The term ‘‘diversity’’ means 18 diversity of persons based on gender, race, ethnicity, 19 disability status, veteran status, sexual orientation, 20 gender identity, national origin, and other demo- 21 graphic categories. 22 (4) FOREIGN SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Foreign 23 Service’’ has the meaning given that term in section 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2979.IH H2979 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2979 IH 102 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 1 3902). 2 (5) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 3 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given 4 that term in section 3 of the National Security Act 5 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 6 (6) NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY.—The term 7 ‘‘national security agency’’ means— 8 (A) the Department of State; 9 (B) the United States Agency for Inter- 10 national Development; 11 (C) the Department of Defense; 12 (D) the Armed Forces; 13 (E) each element of the intelligence com- 14 munity; 15 (F) the Office of International Affairs and 16 the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection 17 of the Department of the Treasury; 18 (G) the National Security Division of the 19 Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau 20 of Investigation; 21 (H) the Department of Homeland Secu- 22 rity; 23 (I) the Foreign Agricultural Service of the 24 Department of Agriculture; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2979.IH H2979 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2979 IH (J) any other Federal agency that is pri- 1 marily engaged in diplomacy, development, de- 2 fense, intelligence, law enforcement, or home- 3 land security. 4 (7) MEMBER OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE.—The 5 term ‘‘member of the Foreign Service’’ means a 6 member of the Foreign Service described in section 7 103 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 8 3903). 9 (8) WORKFORCE.—The term ‘‘workforce’’ 10 means an individual serving in a position— 11 (A) in the civil service (as defined in sec- 12 tion 2101 of title 5, United States Code); 13 (B) as a member of the Foreign Service; or 14 (C) as an officer or enlisted member of an 15 armed force. 16 SEC. 5. COLLECTION, ANALYSIS, AND DISSEMINATION OF 17 WORKFORCE DATA. 18 (a) INITIAL REPORTING.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 20 after the date of enactment of this Act, and subject 21 to paragraph (3), the head of each national security 22 agency shall make available to the public, the appro- 23 priate congressional committees, and the workforce 24 of the national security agency a report which in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2979.IH H2979 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2979 IH cludes aggregate demographic data and other infor- 1 mation regarding the diversity and inclusion efforts 2 of the workforce of the national security agency. 3 (2) CONTENTS.—A report made available under 4 paragraph (1)— 5 (A) shall include unclassified reports and 6 barrier analyses relating to diversity and inclu- 7 sion efforts; 8 (B) shall include aggregate demographic 9 data— 10 (i) by segment of the workforce of the 11 national security agency and grade or 12 rank; 13 (ii) relating to attrition and promotion 14 rates; 15 (iii) that addresses the compliance of 16 the national security agency with validated 17 inclusion metrics, such as the New Inclu- 18 sion Quotient index score; and 19 (iv) that provides demographic com- 20 parisons to the relevant nongovernmental 21 labor force and the relevant civilian labor 22 force; 23 (C) shall include an analysis of applicant 24 flow data, including the percentage and level of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2979.IH H2979 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2979 IH positions for which data are collected, and a 1 discussion of any resulting policy changes or 2 recommendations; 3 (D) shall include demographic data relat- 4 ing to participants in professional development 5 programs of the national security agency and 6 the rate of placement into senior positions for 7 participants in such programs; 8 (E) shall include any voluntarily collected 9 demographic data relating to the membership of 10 any external advisory committee or board to 11 which individuals in senior positions in the na- 12 tional security agency appoint members; and 13 (F) may include data in proportions or 14 percentages to account for concerns relating to 15 the protection of classified information. 16 (3) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The elements 17 of the intelligence community may make available a 18 single report with respect to the diversity and inclu- 19 sion efforts of the workforce of the elements of the 20 intelligence community under this subsection. 21 (b) UPDATES.—After making available a report 22 under subsection (a), the head of each national security 23 agency shall annually provide a report (which may be pro- 24 vided as part of an annual report required under another 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2979.IH H2979 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2979 IH provision of law) to the workforce of the national security 1 agency (including senior leadership), the public, and the 2 appropriate congressional committees that includes— 3 (1) demographic data and information on the 4 status of diversity and inclusion efforts of the na- 5 tional security agency; 6 (2) an analysis of applicant flow data, including 7 the percentage and level of positions for which data 8 are collected, and a discussion of any resulting policy 9 changes or recommendations; and 10 (3) demographic data relating to participants in 11 professional development programs of the national 12 [Text truncated for display. 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