II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4026 

To expedite and expand provision of American Citizen Services worldwide 

during the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2020 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. CASEY) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To expedite and expand provision of American Citizen Services worldwide during the COVID–19 pandemic, 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 ‘‘Expanding Vital Amer5 ican Citizen Services Overseas (EVACS) Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) There is an unprecedented need for Amer9 ican Citizen Services from the Department of State 


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1 and its posts globally during the COVID–19 pan2 demic. 

3 (2) Consistent intake of new Foreign Service 

4 Officers and Foreign Service Specialists is integral 

5 to protecting Americans worldwide. 

6 (3) American Citizen Services include, among 

7 other services, emergency passports, consular reports 

8 of birth abroad, virtual or in-person welfare visits of 

9 United States citizens who are imprisoned or hos10 pitalized, emergency financial assistance, and repa11 triation of United States citizens, as well as repatri12 ation of remains when deaths occur abroad. 

13 (4) Consular systems worldwide, as well as pre14 viously established crisis management task force pro15 cedures, are unable to handle the remote workload 

16 and requirements for social distancing simulta17 neously. 

18 (5) The Department of State has increased 

19 need for personal protective equipment for its staff 

20 worldwide as they fulfill the mission to provide 

21 American Citizen Services and perform other essen22 tial diplomatic duties. 

23 (6) Current United States laws and regulations 

24 are not adequate to meet worldwide needs such as 

25 the sudden demand for evacuation of United States 


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1 citizens, combined with reduced or nonexistent pri2 vate airline capacity, and the reduced staffing capa3 bilities and remote processing of American Citizen 

4 Services requests. 

5 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

6 The Secretary of State should take steps to ensure 

7 the expedited and expanded provision of American Citizen 

8 Services from the Department of State during the 

9 COVID–19 pandemic and future global emergencies. 

10 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) ACS; AMERICAN CITIZEN SERVICES.—The 

13 terms ‘‘ACS’’ and ‘‘American Citizen Services’’ refer 

14 to the range of services provided to United States 

15 nationals by the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the 

16 Department of State, and at the Department’s over17 seas posts. 

18 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT19 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com20 mittees’’ means— 

21 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

22 the Senate; and 

23 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

24 the House of Representatives. 


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1 (3) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

2 individual’’ means a United States citizen, United 

3 States national, lawful permanent resident, or the 

4 immediate family members of a United States cit5 izen, a United States national, or a lawful perma6 nent resident. 

7 (4) DECLARED COVID–19 PANDEMIC PERIOD.— 

8 The term ‘‘declared COVID–19 pandemic period’’ 

9 means the period of the national emergency declared 

10 by the President under the National Emergencies 

11 Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) with respect to the 

12 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19). 

13 SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE FOR COVERED INDIVIDUALS OVER14 SEAS. 

15 (a) PETITIONING FOR INTRACOUNTRY TRAVEL FOR

16 UNITED STATES PERSONS IN CERTAIN COUNTRIES.— 

17 The Secretary of State shall petition the government of 

18 any country that closes borders and airspace or places 

19 travel restrictions due to COVID–19 to make provisions 

20 with the United States embassy, consulate, or other diplo21 matic mission responsible for consular services in that 

22 country to assure covered individuals can travel 

23 intracountry to United States Government evacuation 

24 points or to access commercial travel when possible. 


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1 (b) WAIVER OR REIMBURSEMENT OF TRAVEL EX2 PENSES.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 

4 waive any travel expenses paid by the Department of 

5 State on or after December 31, 2019, for any cov6 ered individual who is evacuated from a foreign 

7 country and repatriated to the United States due to 

8 travel restrictions implemented in response to 

9 COVID–19 or any future pandemic or international 

10 crisis, as determined by the Secretary. 

11 (2) PROMISSORY NOTES.—Any promissory note 

12 signed by a covered individual to reimburse the De13 partment of State for travel expenses described in 

14 paragraph (1) shall be null and void. 

15 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 4 of 

16 the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 

17 (22 U.S.C. 2671) is amended by adding at the end 

18 the following new subsection: 

19 ‘‘(e) EXCEPTION FROM REIMBURSEMENT REQUIRE20 MENT FOR CERTAIN COMMUNICABLE DISEASE RELATED

21 EXPENSES.—In the case of a communicable disease for 

22 which the Federal Government has issued a travel alert 

23 or travel warning, the reimbursement requirements under 

24 subsections (b)(2)(A)(ii) and (d) shall not apply.’’. 

25 (4) REIMBURSEMENT.— 


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1 (A) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of 

2 State shall reimburse covered individuals who 

3 were evacuated from a foreign country on or 

4 after December 31, 2019, and repatriated to 

5 the United States due to travel restrictions de6 scribed in paragraph (1) for travel expenses as7 sociated with such evacuation and repatriation, 

8 including the costs of commercial or charter 

9 flights and any ground transportation expenses 

10 associated with travel to the foreign airport and 

11 from the domestic airport to their homes in the 

12 United States. 

13 (B) PROCESS.—The Secretary of State 

14 shall develop an online process through which 

15 United States citizens may submit claims for 

16 reimbursement for travel expenses described in 

17 subparagraph (A). 

18 (c) FUNDING.—The Secretary of State may use 

19 amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to the 

20 Department of State in any appropriations Act for paying 

21 expenses related to overseas evacuations to pay for the 

22 travel expenses described in subsection (b)(1). 


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1 SEC. 6. CONSULAR AFFAIRS, TASK FORCES, AND REGULA2 TIONS. 

3 The Secretary of State shall direct the Assistant Sec4 retary of State for Consular Affairs to immediately— 

5 (1) provide United States embassies, consulates, 

6 and other diplomatic missions worldwide with ex7 plicit guidance to protect covered individuals and use 

8 innovative means to empower officers, specialists, 

9 and Locally Employed Staff employees to protect 

10 American lives during and immediately after the de11 clared COVID–19 pandemic period; 

12 (2) increase the staffing of Consular Affairs 

13 Task Force 2 in Washington, DC, to ensure ade14 quate consular response and improved guidance 

15 from Washington, DC, to embassies, consulates, and 

16 missions overseas, including— 

17 (A) augmentation of the Overseas Con18 sular Services (OCS) call center and activation 

19 of the National Passport Information Center 

20 (NPIC) and the National Visa Center (NVC) to 

21 immediately provide improved consular re22 sponses; and 

23 (B) direct public access to Task Force 2 

24 through the OCS call center; and 


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1 (3) notify Congress of any additional monetary 

2 or technical resources needed to carry out the ac3 tions described in this subsection. 

4 SEC. 7. PROTECTING RESPONDERS. 

5 Not later than 15 days after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to 

7 the appropriate congressional committees a report with a 

8 comprehensive plan for COVID–19 infection risk mitiga9 tion procedures for all persons under chief of mission au10 thority at overseas posts, including an assessment of avail11 ability and adequacy of personal protective equipment at 

12 United States embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic 

13 missions. 

14 SEC. 8. PROGRESS REPORTS; YEARLY REMOTE ACS DRILLS 

15 WORLDWIDE. 

16 (a) COMPREHENSIVE PROGRESS REPORT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act, and semiannu19 ally until the Global Health Advisory of Level 4: Do 

20 Not Travel is rescinded by the Secretary of State, 

21 the Secretary shall provide a comprehensive progress 

22 report on the Bureau of Consular Affairs response 

23 to the COVID–19 pandemic to the appropriate con24 gressional committees, including issues such as, but 

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1 ures due to lack of resources—personnel, technical, 

2 system design, or capacity—and resources needed to 

3 improve current and future performance of Amer4 ican Citizen Services during this and future global 

5 health crises. 

6 (2) FORM.—The report required under para7 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

8 but may include a classified annex. 

9 (b) ANNUAL WORLDWIDE REMOTE ACS DRILLS.— 

10 The Secretary of State shall direct the Assistant Secretary 

11 of State for Consular Affairs to direct an annual world12 wide consular test of remote processing (including a min13 imum 80-percent remote consular telework worldwide) and 

14 systems with reporting of outcomes to Congress within 90 

15 days after each test. The first test shall be held not later 

16 than 60 days after the Secretary of State rescinds the 

17 Global Health Advisory of Level 4: Do Not Travel. 

18 SEC. 9. FOREIGN SERVICE HIRING. 

19 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con20 gress that— 

21 (1) there are no legal constraints preventing the 

22 Department of State and the United States Agency 

23 for International Development from virtual 

24 onboarding of new Foreign Service Officers and For25 eign Service Specialists; 


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1 (2) hiring of Foreign Service Officers (FSO) 

2 and Foreign Service Specialists (FSS) must con3 tinue, while taking all necessary steps to ensure per4 sonnel safety, at the same pace as determined prior 

5 to the COVID–19 pandemic; and 

6 (3) in-processing of classes of FSOs, FSSs, and 

7 Department fellows must resume immediately, re8 motely as necessary, with the goal of achieving 2020 

9 hiring targets and exceeding those targets as author10 ized under sections 7062 and 7063(d)(1) of the De11 partment of State, Foreign Operations, and Related 

12 Programs Appropriations Act, 2020 (division G of 

13 Public Law 116–94). 

14 (b) DELAYED FOREIGN SERVICE CLASSES.—The 

15 Secretary of State shall make immediate efforts to ensure 

16 individuals scheduled to enter the Foreign Service who 

17 have been affected by delays of the swearing-in and 

18 onboarding process during the COVID–19 pandemic are 

19 given the full opportunity to join the Foreign Service. 

20 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 

22 report to Congress how the Department of State will, re23 motely as necessary, onboard FSO and FSS classes that 

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1 demic after many were already issued orders and inbound 

2 to Washington, DC, or their training locations. 

3 (d) EXTENSION OF HIRING REGISTRY TIME LIM4 ITS.—To ensure a robust Foreign Service Officer and For5 eign Service Specialist staffing pipeline during the pan6 demic and more generally, the Secretary of State shall im7 mediately extend hiring registry time limits by the entirety 

8 of the declared COVID–19 pandemic period. 

Æ 


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