I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9499 

To require the United States Agency for Global Media to verify the authenticity of foreign academic credentials purported to be held by prospective 

and existing employees of the Agency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024 

Mr. BURCHETT (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the United States Agency for Global Media to 

verify the authenticity of foreign academic credentials 

purported to be held by prospective and existing employees of the Agency, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing the Integrity 

5 of Ethics in Government Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADVISORY BOARD.—The term ‘‘Advisory 

2 Board’’ means the International Broadcasting Advi3 sory Board as described in section 306 of the United 

4 States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 

5 U.S.C. 6205). 

6 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Agency’’ means the 

7 United States Agency for Global Media. 

8 (3) CREDENTIAL EVALUATION SERVICE.—The 

9 term ‘‘credential evaluation service’’ means an orga10 nization that is— 

11 (A) a member organization of— 

12 (i) the National Association of Cre13 dential Evaluation Services; or 

14 (ii) the Association of International 

15 Credentials Evaluators; and 

16 (B) has as its primary purpose the evalua17 tion and validation of academic credentials. 

18 (4) FOREIGN ACADEMIC CREDENTIAL.—The 

19 term ‘‘foreign academic credential’’ means a creden20 tial awarded for the completion of an undergraduate 

21 or a graduate-level course of study at a postsec22 ondary educational institution located outside the 

23 United States. 


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1 SEC. 3. DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the effective date of 

3 this Act, the Agency may not appoint an individual who 

4 purports to have a foreign academic credential (as de5 scribed in subsection (c)) to a position in the Agency high6 er than GS–11 (or the equivalent), including a position 

7 for which such credential is not required, unless, prior to 

8 such appointment, the Agency obtains— 

9 (1)(A) a written evaluation from a credential 

10 evaluation service that includes— 

11 (i) verification that the foreign aca12 demic credential was earned by the indi13 vidual at a postsecondary educational insti14 tution outside the United States; 

15 (ii) the name of the institution that 

16 awarded the credential; 

17 (iii) the type of credential earned by 

18 the individual; 

19 (iv) the academic subject matter to 

20 which the credential pertains; 

21 (v) an analysis indicating whether the 

22 foreign academic credential is comparable 

23 to a type of academic credential awarded 

24 by postsecondary educational institutions 

25 in the United States and, if so, which type 

26 of domestically awarded credential is most 


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1 comparable to the foreign academic creden2 tial; 

3 (vi) an explanation of the processes 

4 and standards used by the credential eval5 uation service to determine the validity and 

6 comparability of the foreign academic cre7 dential under clauses (i) and (v), respec8 tively; 

9 (vii) a statement confirming that the 

10 standards and processes used to evaluate 

11 the comparability of the foreign academic 

12 credential under clause (v) followed the rel13 evant guidelines of the International Edu14 cation Standards Council; and 

15 (viii) an assurance confirming that the 

16 credential evaluation service— 

17 (I) inspected all documentation 

18 submitted to the service in connection 

19 with the service’s evaluation of the 

20 foreign academic credential; and 

21 (II) did not find any evidence of 

22 fraud, forgery, or other material irreg23 ularities in such documentation; and 

24 (B) documentation, such as an academic tran25 script or diploma, demonstrating that the individual 


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1 completed all requirements necessary to obtain the 

2 foreign academic credential, which shall— 

3 (i) be provided directly to the Agency by 

4 the postsecondary educational institution that 

5 issued the credential; and 

6 (ii) be certified as authentic by an official 

7 of the institution authorized to issue such docu8 mentation; or 

9 (2) alternative documentation, obtained directly 

10 from the Government of the foreign country with ju11 risdiction over the institution that awarded the cre12 dential, demonstrating the validity of the credential. 

13 (b) VERIFICATION OF FOREIGN ACADEMIC CREDEN14 TIALS FOR EXISTING EMPLOYEES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the effective date of this Act, the Agency shall 

17 obtain the documentation described in subsection 

18 (a)(1) or the alternative documentation described in 

19 subsection (a)(2) with respect to each foreign aca20 demic credential purported to be held (as described 

21 in subsection (c)) by an individual in a position in 

22 the Agency that is higher than GS–11. 

23 (2) PENALTY.—The Agency shall take appro24 priate disciplinary action with respect to an indi25 vidual described in paragraph (1) in the event the 


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1 Agency is unable to obtain the documentation re2 quired under such paragraph for a foreign academic 

3 credential purported to be held by such individual. 

4 (c) RULE OF APPLICABILITY.—The requirements 

5 under subsections (a) and (b) shall apply with respect to 

6 foreign academic credentials that are— 

7 (1) disclosed in the application or other mate8 rials received by the Agency in connection with the 

9 hiring of an individual; or 

10 (2) otherwise noted in the employment record of 

11 an individual. 

12 (d) ALTERNATIVE DOCUMENTATION PROCE13 DURES.—The Agency shall seek to establish procedures, 

14 in consultation with appropriate officials of foreign Gov15 ernments, through which the Agency may obtain the alter16 native documentation described in subsection (a)(2)(A). 

17 SEC. 4. OVERTIME PAYMENTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Agency shall— 

19 (1) record all overtime pay paid to— 

20 (A) employees of the Agency; and 

21 (B) contractors of the Agency; and 

22 (2) establish a system to track such overtime 

23 pay as a result of expiring compensatory time off. 

24 (b) NOTICE AND APPROVAL.—The supervisor of an 

25 employee claiming overtime work in excess of the guideVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:13 Sep 12, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9499.IH H9499

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1 lines of the Agency or overtime pay with respect to expir2 ing compensatory time off may not approve such overtime 

3 work or overtime pay unless such supervisor submits a re4 quest for approval to, and such request is approved by, 

5 the Chief Management Officer of the Agency or such other 

6 officer designated by the Agency. 

7 SEC. 5. REVIEW OF UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL 

8 BROADCASTING. 

9 Section 306(d) of the United States International 

10 Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6205(d)) is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

13 the end; 

14 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 

15 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(8) convene biannually to conduct a review of 

18 United States Agency for Global Media affiliate and 

19 grantee broadcasting activities and, when not less 

20 than three Advisory Board members find a violation 

21 of the broadcasting standards and principles listed 

22 under section 303 pursuant to such a review, submit 

23 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

24 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 


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1 Relations of the Senate a report describing each 

2 such violation.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR FOR CERTAIN MATTERS 

4 RELATING TO THE AGENCY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

6 effective date of this Act, the Chair of the Advisory Board 

7 shall appoint a Special Investigator to submit the report 

8 required by subsection (a). The individual appointed as 

9 Special Investigator shall have expertise in human re10 sources, labor management, credentials screening, and 

11 oversight and accountability. 

12 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the effec13 tive date of this Act, the Special Investigator shall submit 

14 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep15 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

16 the Senate a report on— 

17 (1) the adequacy of the Agency’s hiring and 

18 employee vetting processes; 

19 (2) the efficacy and feasibility of establishing an 

20 Office of Inspector General at the Agency; 

21 (3) its recommendations with respect to the 

22 findings under paragraphs (1) and (2); 

23 (4) a fiscal and administrative cost-benefit anal24 ysis of establishing an independent Office of Inspec25 tor General within the Agency; 


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1 (5) an evaluation of the adequacy of the De2 partment of State’s Office of Inspector General for 

3 oversight and accountability purposes at the Agency, 

4 with particular attention to investigation of matters 

5 potentially criminal in nature; 

6 (6) a review of all incidents pertaining to, inter 

7 alia, fraud, misconduct, malfeasance, misstatements, 

8 misrepresentations, and security breaches at the 

9 Agency since January 1, 2019, and any disciplinary 

10 actions taken with respect to them; 

11 (7) an overview of the Department of State and 

12 the Agency’s responsibilities regarding personnel and 

13 whistleblower complaints, with particular focus on 

14 areas for improvement; 

15 (8) a determination as to whether the Agency 

16 has adequately coordinated with the Department of 

17 State regarding personnel misconduct and whistle18 blower complaints; 

19 (9) the circumstances under which the Depart20 ment of State refers whistleblower complaints to the 

21 Agency; 

22 (10) any circumstances under which the De23 partment of State is involved in Agency hiring deci24 sions, including the Department’s Bureau of DiploVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:13 Sep 12, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9499.IH H9499

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1 matic Security verifying Agency job applicants’ for2 eign education credentials; and 

3 (11) an assessment of the Department of State 

4 and the Agency’s security clearance process, includ5 ing outsourcing to the Defense Counterintelligence 

6 and Security Agency. 

7 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

8 This Act takes effect on January 1, 2025. 

Æ 


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