[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5275 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5275
To establish an independent appeals process relating to assignment
restrictions at the Department of State, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 17, 2021
Mr. Lieu (for himself, Mr. Kim of New Jersey, Ms. Houlahan, and Mr.
Castro of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish an independent appeals process relating to assignment
restrictions at the Department of State, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Accountability in Assignment
Restrictions Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Foreign Service Act of 1980 prohibits the
Department of State from discrimination on the basis of race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicapping
condition, marital status, geographic or educational
affiliation within the United States, or political affiliation
in all personnel actions, including assignments.
(2) According to a Government Accountability Office report
published in 2020, the Senior Foreign Service was 69 percent
male and 90 percent White. Meanwhile numerous testimonials have
documented the barriers to advancement faced by non-White
Foreign Service officers (FSOs).
(3) On April 12, 2021, Secretary Blinken appointed a new
Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, former Ambassador Gina
Abercrombie-Winstanley, reflecting his stated commitment to
increasing diversity and inclusion at the Department.
(4) According to the Department of State, there are
approximately 1800 employees currently subject to a practice
called assignment restrictions, whereby they are precluded from
working in or on a particular country. The top four countries
to which the restrictions apply are China (196), Russia (184),
Taiwan (84), and Israel (70).
(5) Department of State employees have repeatedly raised
concerns with Congress and the Department that the practice of
assignment restrictions lacks transparency and accountability,
and it may disproportionately and unfairly affect Asian-
American employees.
(6) The Department of State lacks an independent appeals
process for assignment restrictions, preventing affected
employees from having their case reviewed by individuals who
were not involved with the initial decision.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) it is in the foreign policy interest of the United
States to maintain a diplomatic corps that reflects the
diversity of the country and fully utilizes the cultural and
linguistic skills that stem from this diversity;
(2) the practice of assignment restrictions risks
undermining the Department of State's stated goals of promoting
diversity and inclusion in its workforce, while potentially
restricting those individuals whose cultural and linguistic
skills can most benefit the work of United States diplomacy and
counterintelligence;
(3) the practice of assignment restrictions limits the
opportunities for promotion and career advancement of talented
Department of State employees who possess valuable linguistic
skills and country-specific knowledge;
(4) the establishment of an independent appeals process for
assignment restrictions, whereby the panel is not made up by a
majority of individuals from the same bureau that made the
initial determination, would help ensure fairness and
transparency while promoting the goals of inclusion and
diversity within the Department; and
(5) tracking and reporting data on assignment restrictions,
including the race, ethnicity, and national origin of those
impacted individuals, will help ensure that assignment
restrictions are not disproportionately targeting a particular
group or minority at the Department.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INDEPENDENT APPEALS PROCESS.
The Secretary of State shall amend all relevant provisions of the
Foreign Service Manual, and any associated or related policies of the
Department of State, to reflect the following policies with respect to
Foreign Service and civil service employees of the Department:
(1) Any employee subjected to an assignment restriction or
preclusion shall have the same appeal rights as provided by the
Department regarding denial or revocation of a security
clearance.
(2) Any such appeal shall be resolved not later than 60
days after such appeal is filed.
(3) The Bureau of Diplomatic Security shall transmit to the
Assignment Restriction Appeals Panel all case files, without
redaction, relating to an employee subject to an assignment
restriction or preclusion.
(4) The Assignment Restriction Appeals Panel shall be
comprised of the following officials of the Department:
(A) The Under Secretary for Management.
(B) The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for
the Bureau of Global Talent Management.
(C) The Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.
(D) An Assistant Secretary or Deputy, or
equivalent, from a third bureau designated by the Under
Secretary for Management.
(E) A representative from the geographic bureau to
which the restriction applies.
(F) A representative from the Office of the Legal
Adviser and a representative from the Bureau of
Diplomatic Security, who shall serve as non-voting
advisors.
(5) All members of the Assignment Restriction Appeals Panel
shall possess appropriate security clearances.
(6) If any member of the Assignment Restriction Appeals
Panel is unable to serve, the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, or
the Under Secretary for Management may designate an alternate.
The most senior member of such a Panel shall serve as chair of
the Panel.
SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act
and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate a report that contains the
following:
(1) A rationale for the use of assignment restrictions by
the Department of State, including specific case studies
related to cleared American Foreign Service and civil service
employees of the Department that demonstrate country-specific
restrictions serve a counterintelligence role beyond that which
is already covered by the security clearance process.
(2) The number of such Department employees subject to
assignment restrictions over the previous year, with data
disaggregated by:
(A) Identification as a Foreign Service officer,
civil service employee, eligible family member, or
other employment status.
(B) The ethnicity, national origin, and race of the
precluded employee.
(C) Gender.
(D) Identification of the country of restriction.
(3) A description of the considerations and criteria used
by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security to determine whether an
assignment restriction is warranted.
(4) The number of restrictions that were appealed and the
success rate of such appeals.
(5) The impact of assignment restrictions in terms of
unused language skills as measured by Foreign Service Institute
language scores of such precluded employees.
(6) Measures taken to ensure the diversity of adjudicators
and contracted investigators, with accompanying data on
results.
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