I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7314 

To create a task force within the Department of Commerce to oversee and 

promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the tech industry. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2024 

Mr. MEEKS (for himself and Ms. LEE of California) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 

in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To create a task force within the Department of Commerce 

to oversee and promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and 

accessibility in the tech industry. 

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 ‘‘Diversify Tech Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND POWERS OF THE TASK 

6 FORCE. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:53 Feb 22, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7314.IH H7314

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1 merce shall establish, within the Office of Policy and Stra2 tegic Planning, the Tech Industry Diversity, Equity, In3 clusion, and Accessibility Task Force (in this Act referred 

4 to as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 

5 (b) COMPOSITION.— 

6 (1) MEMBERS.—The Task Force shall consist 

7 of the following members: 

8 (A) The Chief Diversity and Equity Officer 

9 of the Department of Labor. 

10 (B) The Chair of the Communications Eq11 uity and Diversity Council of the Federal Trade 

12 Commission. 

13 (C) The Director of the Women’s Bureau 

14 of the Department of Labor. 

15 (D) The Under Secretary of Commerce for 

16 the Minority Business Development Agency. 

17 (E) The Chief Diversity, Equity, and In18 clusion Officer of the Department of Commerce. 

19 (F) The four temporary members selected 

20 pursuant to paragraph (2). 

21 (2) TEMPORARY MEMBERS.—The members de22 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of para23 graph (1) shall, by a majority vote, select the fol24 lowing temporary members for two-year terms: 


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1 (A) Two experts in the field of diversity, 

2 equity, inclusion, and accessibility who work in 

3 the tech industry and have a diverse back4 ground, including diversity related to race, eth5 nicity, gender, and sexual orientation. 

6 (B) Two non-voting representatives-at7 large who may attend meetings to provide in8 sight into— 

9 (i) any matter that the Task Force 

10 may request; and 

11 (ii) the diversity operations of the en12 tity in the tech industry for which such 

13 representative-at-large is employed. 

14 (c) MEETINGS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall meet 

16 quarterly to carry out the duties and responsibilities 

17 of the Task Force under section 3. 

18 (2) CLOSED MEETINGS.—Notwithstanding sec19 tion 1009(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, the 

20 meetings of the Task Force shall be closed to the 

21 public and shall be limited to the members described 

22 in subsection (b) and any such individuals as the 

23 members of the Task Force allow. 

24 (d) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION OF FEDERAL

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1 time officers or employees of the United States may not 

2 receive additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason 

3 of their service on the Commission. 

4 SEC. 3. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TASK 

5 FORCE. 

6 (a) INITIAL AUDIT.—Not later than 60 days after the 

7 establishment of the Task Force, the Task force shall— 

8 (1) conduct an audit to inform how the Task 

9 Force will carry out the activities in subsections (b), 

10 (c), and (d), which shall include— 

11 (A) the percentage of employees in the 

12 tech industry who are minorities; 

13 (B) the hiring and retainment policies of 

14 entities in the tech industry; and 

15 (C) an identification of any trends in lay16 offs in the tech industry; and 

17 (2) submit to Congress a report that includes 

18 the information collected from the audit described in 

19 paragraph (1). 

20 (b) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Task 

21 Force shall— 

22 (1) promote DEIA in the tech industry, includ23 ing issues related to race, ethnicity, gender, and sex24 ual orientation; 


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1 (2) provide guidance to entities in the tech in2 dustry on how to achieve DEIA goals and how to 

3 measure progress in achieving such goals; 

4 (3) through the non-voting members described 

5 in subsection (b)(2)(B) of section 2, consult with 

6 stakeholders in the tech industry, including employ7 ees and investors about DEIA in the tech industry; 

8 (4) monitor the treatment of minorities in the 

9 tech industry, and consider releasing to the public 

10 any information collected pursuant to such moni11 toring; 

12 (5) promote minority-owned startups in the 

13 tech industry as described in subsection (c); and 

14 (6) carry out the reporting requirements in sub15 section (d). 

16 (c) PROMOTION OF MINORITY-OWNED STARTUPS IN

17 THE TECH INDUSTRY.—The Task Force shall— 

18 (1) advise the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary 

19 of Commerce, and the Chair of the Federal Trade 

20 Commission regarding— 

21 (A) the development of outreach programs 

22 to minority-owned startups to ensure such 

23 startups are aware of grant opportunities; and 

24 (B) existing outreach programs to minor25 ity-owned startups to ensure such Secretaries 


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1 and such Chair are aware of all available re2 sources, including technical assistance, training, 

3 and mentorship; and 

4 (2) encourage venture capital investment into 

5 minority-owned startups in the tech industry. 

6 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 (1) REPORT ON LAYOFFS IN 2023.—Not later 

8 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

9 Act, the Task Force shall submit to the President 

10 and Congress a publicly available report that— 

11 (A) identifies the number of individuals 

12 that were laid off during calendar year 2023 by 

13 entities in the tech industry; 

14 (B) evaluates how the layoffs affected 

15 DEIA at entities in the tech industry, including 

16 whether— 

17 (i) DEIA departments were elimi18 nated; 

19 (ii) overall diversity in the tech indus20 try decreased; and 

21 (iii) any Federal civil rights or labor 

22 laws may have been violated; and 

23 (C) identifies the process and procedures 

24 each entity in the tech industry followed in lay25 ing off such individuals. 


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1 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, and on an 

3 annual basis thereafter, the Task Force shall submit 

4 to the President and Congress a publicly available 

5 report that— 

6 (A) evaluates the progress of entities in the 

7 tech industry in achieving the DEIA goals of 

8 such entities; 

9 (B) makes recommendations regarding 

10 policies and programs that can promote DEIA 

11 in the tech industry; 

12 (C) evaluates how artificial intelligence can 

13 be used to promote DEIA and identify the ways 

14 in which artificial intelligence is affecting social, 

15 socio-economic, and gender discrimination; and 

16 (D) proposes policy solutions to increase 

17 accountability in the tech industry concerning 

18 such discrimination. 

19 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) DEIA.—The term ‘‘DEIA’’ means diver22 sity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. 

23 (2) ENTITY IN THE TECH INDUSTRY .—The 

24 term ‘‘entity in the tech industry’’ means an entity 

25 that— 


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1 (A) has its principal office located in the 

2 United States or has a subsidiary the principal 

3 office of which is located in the United States; 

4 (B) has over 10 million aggregate sub5 scribers or users of social media platforms that 

6 are provided by such entity; and 

7 (C) manufactures, supports, researches, 

8 and develops technology products and services 

9 on a large scale. 

10 (3) MINORITY-OWNED STARTUP.—The term 

11 ‘‘minority-owned startup’’ means a business that is 

12 owned, managed, or controlled by one or more mi13 nority persons who have, collectively, at least 51 per14 cent of an ownership interest in such business. 

15 (4) TECH INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘tech indus16 try’’ means the sector of the economy comprised of 

17 the entities described in paragraph (2). 

18 (5) TECHNOLOGY PRODUCT AND SERVICE.— 

19 The term ‘‘technology product and service’’ means— 

20 (A) a computing, telecommunications, or 

21 consumer electronics-based technology intensive 

22 product, including products related to digital 

23 electronics, software, optics, or new energy; and 

24 (B) a technology service, including an 

25 internet-related service, such as services related 


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1 to software, hardware, social media and digital 

2 platforms, cloud storage, or e-commerce. 

Æ 


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