Diversity and Inclusion at the Department of State Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8912 To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to establish in the Department of State a Chief Diversity Officer and the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to promote increased diversity in the Foreign Service, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 9, 2020 Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. JUDY CHU of Cali- fornia, Ms. TITUS, and Ms. BASS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to establish in the Department of State a Chief Diversity Officer and the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to promote increased diversity in the Foreign Service, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Diversity and Inclusion at the Department of State Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8912.IH H8912 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8912 IH Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER Sec. 101. Chief Diversity Officer. TITLE II—DIVERSITY IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE AND AT THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE Sec. 201. Representation on Board of Examiners for the purposes of recruit- ment into the Foreign Service. Sec. 202. Promotion in the Foreign Service. Sec. 203. Diversity and inclusion training. Sec. 204. Mentorship program. Sec. 205. Senior Executive Service candidate development program. Sec. 206. Diversity defined in the Foreign Service Act of 1980. TITLE III—PROMOTION ACCESSIBILITY Sec. 301. Implementation of gap memorandum in selection board process. TITLE I—CHIEF DIVERSITY 1 OFFICER 2 SEC. 101. CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 1 of the State De- 4 partment Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 5 2651a) is amended by adding at the end the following new 6 subsection: 7 ‘‘(h) CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 9 Department of State, in the office of the Deputy 10 Secretary of State, a Chief Diversity Officer, who 11 shall— 12 ‘‘(A) be appointed by the President; 13 ‘‘(B) be a current or former career mem- 14 ber of the Foreign Service or Civil Service; and 15 ‘‘(C) report directly to the Deputy Sec- 16 retary of State. 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8912.IH H8912 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8912 IH ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEPUTY SEC- 1 RETARY OF STATE.—The Deputy Secretary of State 2 shall be responsible for ensuring policies and prac- 3 tices of the Department of State relating to recruit- 4 ment, retention, and promotion to advance diversity, 5 equity, and inclusion. 6 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Chief Diversity Officer 7 shall be responsible for the following: 8 ‘‘(A) Providing advice to the Deputy Sec- 9 retary of State regarding carrying out para- 10 graph (2). 11 ‘‘(B) Collecting and sharing information on 12 diversity in assignments and promotions within 13 the Department of State, including 14 disaggregated information by office and bureau. 15 ‘‘(C) Establishing benchmarks and goals 16 for individual offices and bureaus regarding as- 17 signments of personnel, in coordination with the 18 Director General of the Foreign Service, to pro- 19 mote diversity and inclusion at the Department 20 of State, and conducting annual reviews of indi- 21 vidual bureaus on their actions taken to satisfy 22 such benchmarks and goals. 23 ‘‘(D) Providing advice to the Deputy Sec- 24 retary of State and other senior individuals of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8912.IH H8912 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8912 IH the Department of State in the selection of 1 chiefs of mission and deputy chiefs of mission. 2 ‘‘(4) RANK AND STATUS.—The Chief Diversity 3 Officer shall have the rank and status of Assistant 4 Secretary of State. 5 ‘‘(5) BUREAU LIAISONS.—The Secretary of 6 State shall appoint in each bureau of the Depart- 7 ment of State a liaison to coordinate with the Chief 8 Diversity Officer the activities of each such bureau. 9 ‘‘(6) REPORTING.—Not later than January 30 10 of every year, the Secretary of State shall submit to 11 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 12 Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Re- 13 lations of the Senate a report— 14 ‘‘(A) detailing the benchmarks and goals 15 for individual offices and bureaus of the De- 16 partment of State; 17 ‘‘(B) assessments by the Chief Diversity 18 Officer on the performance over the previous 19 year of each such office and bureau to satisfy 20 such benchmarks and goals; and 21 ‘‘(C) containing any other relevant infor- 22 mation. 23 ‘‘(7) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term 24 ‘diversity’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8912.IH H8912 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8912 IH tion 102 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1980 (22 1 U.S.C. 3902).’’. 2 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 3 gress that the Chief Diversity Officer of the Department 4 of State established pursuant to subsection (h) of the 5 State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956, as added 6 by subsection (a), should be provided sufficient office 7 space and support staff to ensure successful operation. 8 TITLE II—DIVERSITY IN THE 9 FOREIGN SERVICE AND AT 10 THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE 11 SEC. 201. REPRESENTATION ON BOARD OF EXAMINERS 12 FOR THE PURPOSES OF RECRUITMENT INTO 13 THE FOREIGN SERVICE. 14 Section 211 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 15 U.S.C. 3931) is amended— 16 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub- 17 section (e); and 18 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 19 lowing new subsections: 20 ‘‘(c) Members of the Foreign Service and members 21 of the Senior Foreign Service shall accrue one additional 22 year of time in class for every two years spent as a mem- 23 ber of a Board of Examiners. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8912.IH H8912 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8912 IH ‘‘(d) The Secretary of State shall ensure that a sub- 1 stantial number of women and members of minority 2 groups are appointed to the Board of Examiners.’’. 3 SEC. 202. PROMOTION IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE. 4 The Foreign Service Act of 1980 is amended— 5 (1) in section 602 (22 U.S.C. 4002), by adding 6 at the end the following new subsection: 7 ‘‘(d) Not later than January 31 of each year, the Sec- 8 retary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 9 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Com- 10 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that 11 details the demographic composition of selection boards 12 under this section and the Board of Examiners for the 13 Foreign Service under section 211 convened in the pre- 14 vious year, including information on the diversity of the 15 members of such boards, in addition to any other informa- 16 tion the Secretary determines relevant.’’; and 17 (2) in section 603 (22 U.S.C. 4003)— 18 (A) in subsection (a), in the second sen- 19 tence, by inserting ‘‘testimony from peers and 20 subordinates,’’ after ‘‘supervisors,’’; and 21 (B) in subsection (b)— 22 (i) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘, or’’ 23 and inserting a semicolon; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8912.IH H8912 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8912 IH (ii) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 1 paragraph (4); and 2 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (1) 3 the following new paragraphs: 4 ‘‘(2) a record of supporting the recruitment and 5 career development goals of members of the Foreign 6 Service, such as serving as a mentor in mentorship 7 program under section 616, participation in recruit- 8 ment activities, or serving on the Board of Exam- 9 iners or on selection boards; 10 ‘‘(3) a demonstrated commitment to promoting 11 diversity and inclusion at the Department of State, 12 including in management practices;’’. 13 SEC. 203. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION TRAINING. 14 Section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 is 15 amended by inserting after section 614 (22 U.S.C. 4028) 16 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 17 section: 18 ‘‘(e) DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION TRAINING.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, 20 with the assistance of other relevant officials, such 21 as the Director General of the Foreign Service and 22 the Director of Human Resources, the Director of 23 the Office of Civil Rights, the Chief Diversity Offi- 24 cer, and the director of the George P. Shultz Na- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8912.IH H8912 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8912 IH tional Foreign Affairs Training Center, shall estab- 1 lish as part of the standard training provided after 2 the date of the enactment of this section, for officers 3 of the Service, including chiefs of mission, instruc- 4 tion on promoting diversity. Such training shall be 5 informed by the latest available research and meth- 6 ods, and may include unconscious bias training and 7 other such instruction. 8 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out the 9 training required under paragraph (1), the Director 10 of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs 11 Training Center shall, not later than one year after 12 the date of the enactment of this section, conduct 13 training on diversity and inclusion for all Foreign 14 Service officers, including all entry level officers and 15 all officers prior to service on a selection board or 16 the Board of Examiners. Such training shall be in- 17 cluded in— 18 ‘‘(A) the A–100 course attended by all 19 Foreign Service officers; and 20 ‘‘(B) the courses required of all officers 21 prior to service on a selection board or the 22 Board of Examiners.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8912.IH H8912 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8912 IH SEC. 204. MENTORSHIP PROGRAM. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Foreign Service Act of 1980 2 is amended by inserting after section 708 (22 U.S.C. 3 4028) the following new sections: 4 ‘‘SEC. 709. MENTORSHIP PROGRAM. 5 ‘‘(a) The Secretary of State shall establish in the De- 6 partment of State a mentorship program to match— 7 ‘‘(1) entry-level members of the Foreign Service 8 and newly hired members of the civil service at the 9 GS–9 level and below; and 10 ‘‘(2) mid-level members of the Foreign Service 11 and mid-level members of the civil service at the 12 GS–12 level and above. 13 ‘‘(b) Individuals participating in the mentorship pro- 14 gram under this section shall participate for a minimum 15 of two tours of duty. 16 ‘‘(c) The mentorship program established under this 17 section shall include Employee Affinity Groups in the se- 18 lection of mentors, in addition to other individuals selected 19 by the Secretary of State. 20 ‘‘(d) Service as mentor in the mentorship program 21 shall be considered as satisfying criteria under section 22 603(b)(2).’’. 23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 24 in section 2 of the Foreign Service Act is amended by in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8912.IH H8912 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8912 IH serting after the item relating to section 707 the following 1 new items: 2 ‘‘Sec. 708. Training for Foreign Service officers. ‘‘Sec. 709. Mentorship program.’’. SEC. 205. SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE CANDIDATE DEVEL- 3 OPMENT PROGRAM. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall an- 5 nually offer the Senior Executive Service Candidate Devel- 6 opment Program to members of the civil service at the 7 Department of State at the GS–14 and GS–15 levels. 8 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary of State shall submit to 9 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep- 10 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 11 the Senate, at the same time as each report required 12 under section 313 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as 13 added by section 2(a)(2), a report detailing the demo- 14 graphic information of candidates referred by each bureau 15 of the Department of State to interview for the Senior Ex- 16 ecutive Service, including demographic information 17 disaggregated by bureau relating to the diversity (as such 18 term is defined in the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as 19 amended by section 206) of such candidates. 20 SEC. 206. DIVERSITY DEFINED IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE 21 ACT OF 1980. 22 Section 102 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 23 U.S.C. 3902) is amended by— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8912.IH H8912 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8912 IH (1) redesignating paragraphs (5) through (12) 1 as paragraphs (6) through (13), respectively; and 2 (2) inserting after paragraph (4) the following 3 new paragraph: 4 ‘‘(5) ‘diversity’ includes characteristics such as 5 national origin, language, race, color, disability, eth- 6 nicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, gen- 7 der identity, socioeconomic status, and family struc- 8 ture.’’. 9 TITLE III—PROMOTION 10 ACCESSIBILITY 11 SEC. 301. IMPLEMENTATION OF GAP MEMORANDUM IN SE- 12 LECTION BOARD PROCESS. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 603 of the Foreign Serv- 14 ice Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4003) is amended by adding 15 at the end the following new subsection: 16 ‘‘(c)(1) A member of the Service or member of the 17 Senior Foreign Service whose performance will be evalu- 18 ated by a selection board may submit to such selection 19 board a gap memo in advance of such evaluation. 20 ‘‘(2) Members of a selection board may not con- 21 sider as negative the submission of a gap memo by 22 a member described in paragraph (1) when evalu- 23 ating the performance of such member. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8912.IH H8912 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8912 IH ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘gap memo’ 1 means a written record, submitted to a selection 2 board in a standard format established by the Direc- 3 tor General of the Foreign Service, which indicates [Text truncated for display. 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