I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1768 

To amend the Diplomatic Security Act to require certain notifications to 

Congress of Accountability Review Boards of the Department of State, 

avoid conflicts of interest of the members of such Boards, require actions 

with respect to reports from such Boards, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2013 

Mr. ROYCE (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. 

POE of Texas, Mr. SALMON, Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois, Mr. COTTON, Mr. 

HOLDING, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. PERRY, Mr. DESANTIS, Mr. 

RADEL, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. MESSER, and Mr. 

GRIMM) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Diplomatic Security Act to require certain 

notifications to Congress of Accountability Review 

Boards of the Department of State, avoid conflicts of 

interest of the members of such Boards, require actions 

with respect to reports from such Boards, 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, 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1768 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accountability Review 

3 Board Reform Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The United States has a crucial stake in 

7 supporting the presence abroad of United States 

8 Government personnel representing United States 

9 interests. 

10 (2) United States Government personnel and 

11 missions abroad are confronted by serious security 

12 risks, including the threat of terrorism, which will 

13 continue for the foreseeable future. 

14 (3) The Accountability Review Board process 

15 was established in 1986 by Congress to conduct a 

16 thorough assessment of security-related incidents at 

17 or related to a United States Government mission 

18 abroad. 

19 (4) Each assessment by a Board is expected to 

20 promote strengthened security measures, and to pro21 vide for the accountability of United States Govern22 ment personnel with security-related responsibilities. 

23 (5) The terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, on 

24 September 11, 2012, that took the lives of four 

25 United States Government personnel has brought 

26 unprecedented attention to the work of such Boards. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1768 IH

1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that the effectiveness of Accountability Review 

3 Boards would be improved by reconstituting such Boards 

4 to increase their independence from the Department of 

5 State. 

6 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS ABOUT CERTAIN IN7 FORMATION RELATING TO ACCOUNTABILITY 

8 REVIEW BOARDS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 

9 STATE. 

10 Subsection (c) of section 301 of the Omnibus Diplo11 matic Security and Antiterrorism Act (22 U.S.C. 4831) 

12 is amended— 

13 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

14 inserting ‘‘, the Chairman of the Committee on For15 eign Affairs of the House of Representatives,’’ after 

16 ‘‘the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen17 ate’’; and 

18 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

19 end; 

20 (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para21 graph (5); and 

22 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol23 lowing new paragraphs: 

24 ‘‘(3) of any individual who is employed at a 

25 grade of not lower than the level of FS-3 or GS-14 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1768 IH

1 who is hired, assigned, or detailed to assist the 

2 Board to carry out its duties; 

3 ‘‘(4) of any political appointee who is hired, as4 signed, or detailed to assist the Board to carry out 

5 its duties; and’’. 

6 SEC. 4. ACCOUNTABILITY REVIEW BOARDS. 

7 (a) MEMBERSHIP.—Subsection (a) of section 302 of 

8 the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act 

9 (22 U.S.C. 4832) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking the first sentence and inserting 

11 the following new sentence: ‘‘A Board shall consist 

12 of five members, two appointed by the Secretary of 

13 State, two appointed by the Chairperson of the 

14 Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Effi15 ciency (the CIGIE Chairperson), and one appointed 

16 by the Director of National Intelligence.’’; and 

17 (2) by striking the final two sentences and in18 serting the following new sentences: ‘‘Members of a 

19 Board who are not Federal officers or employees 

20 shall each be paid at a rate not to exceed the max21 imum rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the 

22 Executive Schedule under section 5317 of title 5, 

23 United States Code, for each day (including travel 

24 time) during which such members are engaged in 

25 the actual performance of duties vested in such 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1768 IH

1 Board. Members of the Board who are Federal offi2 cers or employees shall receive no additional pay by 

3 reason of such membership. Only in exceptional cir4 cumstances may a member of a Board be a current 

5 Federal officer or employee.’’. 

6 (b) STAFF.—Paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of sec7 tion 302 of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and 

8 Antiterrorism Act is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(2) STAFF.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Board may hire 

11 staff to assist the Board, and may have any 

12 Federal Government employee assigned or de13 tailed to such Board, with or without reim14 bursement, to assist such Board. Any such as15 signee or detailee shall retain without interrup16 tion the rights, status, and privileges of his or 

17 her regular employment. 

18 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—Any individual who 

19 is hired, assigned, or detailed to assist a Board 

20 under subparagraph (A) shall be subject to the 

21 rule relating to the avoidance of conflicts of in22 terest under subsection (a) in the same manner 

23 and to the same extent as a Member of such a 

24 Board is subject to such avoidance under such 

25 subsection. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1768 IH

1 ‘‘(C) OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GEN2 ERAL.—To the maximum extent practicable, in3 dividuals assisting the Board shall be employees 

4 of the Office of the Inspector General of the 

5 Department of State.’’. 

6 (c) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—Section 302 of the 

7 Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following new sub9 sections: 

10 ‘‘(c) AVOIDANCE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, the 

12 CIGIE Chairperson, and the Director of National 

13 Intelligence may not appoint any individual as a 

14 member of a Board if the Secretary, the CIGIE 

15 Chairperson, or the Director, as the case may be, 

16 determines that such individual has a conflict of in17 terest concerning a person whose performance such 

18 Board reasonably could be expected to review. 

19 ‘‘(2) DECLINING APPOINTMENT.—An individual 

20 shall decline appointment to membership on a Board 

21 if such individual has actual knowledge of a conflict 

22 of interest concerning a person whose performance 

23 such Board could reasonably be expected to review. 

24 ‘‘(3) RECUSAL FROM PARTICULAR ACTIVI25 TIES.—A member of a Board shall recuse him or 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1768 IH

1 herself from any Board activity, interview, deposi2 tion, or recommendation concerning a person with 

3 whom such member has a conflict of interest. Such 

4 member shall promptly notify the other members of 

5 such Board of any such recusal, but need not state 

6 the basis therefor. 

7 ‘‘(d) CONFLICT OF INTEREST DEFINED.—In this 

8 section, the term ‘conflict of interest’ means one of the 

9 following relationships, whether current or former, that 

10 would cause a reasonable person with knowledge of the 

11 relevant facts to question the impartiality of the parties 

12 to such relationship toward each other: 

13 ‘‘(1) A business, contractual, or other financial 

14 relationship that involves other than a routine con15 sumer transaction. 

16 ‘‘(2) A familial, member of household, or other 

17 close personal relationship, including a social rela18 tionship of a romantic or intimate nature. 

19 ‘‘(3) A direct managerial or supervisory work20 place relationship.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. EVIDENCE. 

22 Subsection (a) of section 303 of the Omnibus Diplo23 matic Security and Antiterrorism Act (22 U.S.C. 4833) 

24 is amended by adding at the end the following new para25 graph: 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 1768 IH

1 ‘‘(4) DETERMINATION OF RELEVANCY.—The 

2 Board may accept any evidence determined by a 

3 member of the Board to be relevant and material to 

4 an investigation or inquiry of the Board. The Fed5 eral Rules of Evidence are not applicable to the 

6 Board.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. BOARD ACTIONS. 

8 (a) PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS.—Subsection (b) 

9 of section 304 of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and 

10 Antiterrorism Act (22 U.S.C. 4834) is amended to read 

11 as follows: 

12 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para14 graph (2), not later than 90 days after a Board is 

15 convened in a case, such Board shall submit to the 

16 Secretary of State and Congress its findings (which 

17 may be classified to the extent determined necessary 

18 by the Board), together with recommendations as 

19 appropriate to improve the security and efficiency of 

20 any program or operation which such Board has re21 viewed. 

22 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION.—The 90 day period referred 

23 to in paragraph (1) may be extended for up to 60 

24 days if the Chairperson of the Board referred to in 

25 such paragraph determines that such additional time 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 1768 IH

1 is necessary to complete a thorough review of the 

2 program or operation at issue. 

3 ‘‘(3) DISSENTING VIEWS.—If a member dis4 sents from any of the findings or recommendations 

5 of the Board, such member may submit dissenting 

6 views to accompany the submission of the Board’s 

7 findings and recommendations under paragraph 

8 (1).’’. 

9 (b) REPORTS.—Paragraph (1) of subsection (d) of 

10 section 304 of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and 

11 Antiterrorism Act is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later 

13 than 90 days after the submission to the Secretary 

14 of State of the findings and recommendations from 

15 any Board in accordance with subsection (b), the 

16 Secretary shall submit to Congress a corresponding 

17 report on the action taken with respect to each such 

18 recommendation.’’. 

19 SEC. 7. REGULATIONS. 

20 The Secretary of State shall promulgate or update 

21 regulations, as the case may be, to carry out the amend22 ments made by this Act. 

23 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

24 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

25 respect to any case of an Accountability Review Board 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 1768 IH

1 that is convened under section 301 of the Omnibus Diplo2 matic Security and Antiterrorism Act (22 U.S.C. 4831) 

3 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS