II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5628 

To provide for an international disability rights strategy, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 19 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To provide for an international disability rights strategy, 

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 ‘‘State Department Dis5 ability Policy and Accommodations Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The United States has shown leadership do9 mestically on disability policy with the Americans 

10 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 


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1 seq.), as well as section 504 of the Rehabilitation 

2 Act (29 U.S.C. 794), and this leadership should be 

3 leveraged to support international disability policy 

4 priorities. 

5 (2) The United Nations (UN) Sustainable De6 velopment Goals 4 (No Poverty), 8 (Decent Work 

7 and Economic Growth), 10 (Reduced Inequality), 11 

8 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 16 (Peaceful 

9 and Inclusive Societies), and 17 (Partnerships) ex10 plicitly mention persons with disabilities, while 13 

11 other Goals are particularly related to persons with 

12 disabilities, and countries are required to report dis13 ability disaggregated data for each. 

14 (3) There are more than 1,000,000,000 people 

15 with disabilities around the world and 80 percent 

16 live in developing countries. 

17 (4) Sixty percent of people with disabilities are 

18 women, according to the United Nations. 

19 (5) Women with disabilities are more likely to 

20 experience violence and sexual violence than women 

21 without disabilities. 

22 (6) There are more than 90,000,000 children 

23 with disabilities worldwide according to the United 

24 Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 


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1 (7) Children with disabilities are more likely to 

2 be malnourished, subject to violence, isolation, and 

3 abuse and less likely to attend school than children 

4 without disabilities. 

5 (8) People with disabilities are subject to eco6 nomic and social marginalization. The International 

7 Labor Organization has estimated that the cost of 

8 excluding people with disabilities from the world of 

9 work could be up to 7 percent of Gross Domestic 

10 Product (GDP) in some low- and middle-income 

11 countries. 

12 (9) The inclusion of people with disabilities is 

13 a fundamental part of democracy and essential to 

14 the full realization of human rights. 

15 (10) The political participation and leadership 

16 of people with disabilities, including those who ac17 quired a disability through conflict, is crucial to sus18 taining democratic institutions. 

19 (11) People with disabilities can face disadvan20 tages in all areas of life, including educational at21 tainment, labor market outcomes, financial stability, 

22 housing, standard of living conditions, political par23 ticipation, access to health care, arts and culture, 

24 sports, transportation, and access to justice and citi25 zenship. 


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1 (12) Issues related to disability policy cut 

2 across all sectors of foreign assistance, including de3 mocracy, voting and elections, human rights, civil 

4 rights, labor, global health, education, economic 

5 growth and trade, gender equality and women’s em6 powerment, agriculture and food security, water and 

7 sanitation, conflict transformation, disaster risk re8 duction, and humanitarian recovery and relief. 

9 (13) People with disabilities are members of all 

10 marginalized groups, including women, young peo11 ple, older adults, the LGBTI+ community, ethnic 

12 and religious minorities, indigenous people, inter13 nally displaced people, and refugees. 

14 (14) The public presence of the Special Advisor 

15 for International Disability Rights at the Depart16 ment of State, first appointed in 2010, helped raise 

17 the visibility of people with disabilities in Depart18 ment policies and programs, and improved the inclu19 sion of disability in the Department’s annual Coun20 try Reports on Human Rights Practices and Traf21 ficking in Persons reports. 

22 (15) There is currently no mandate that De23 partment of State programming be disability inclu24 sive where relevant and the Department does not 

25 have a formal, publicly available disability policy. 


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1 SEC. 3. DISABILITY INCLUSION IN FOREIGN POLICY. 

2 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con3 gress that, since international disability rights is 

4 foundational to development, national security, and eco5 nomic outcomes, disability inclusion should be 

6 mainstreamed through all foreign assistance and program7 ming. 

8 (b) FORMAL POLICY FOR DISABILITY INCLUSION IN

9 FOREIGN POLICY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary of State shall develop and adopt a formal pol13 icy for disability inclusion in United States foreign 

14 assistance programming and ensure that such policy 

15 is implemented in the Foreign Affairs Manual. 

16 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The policy 

17 required under paragraph (1) should include infor18 mation and guidance on the Department’s approach 

19 to disability inclusion in United States foreign as20 sistance and disaster response programming. 

21 (3) CONSULTATION.—In developing and adopt22 ing the policy, the Secretary shall consult with— 

23 (A) individuals with disabilities, organiza24 tions of people with disabilities and inter25 national nongovernmental organizations work26 ing on disability rights; and 


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1 (B) the Administrator of the United States 

2 Agency for International Development (USAID) 

3 to promote coherence of such policy with 

4 USAID’s formal disability policy. 

5 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary 

6 shall publish such policy on a publicly available 

7 website of the Department. 

8 SEC. 4. OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY RIGHTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall es10 tablish an Office of International Disability Rights (re11 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Office’’) and which shall 

12 be headed by an Ambassador-at-Large. 

13 (b) APPOINTMENT.—The Ambassador shall be ap14 pointed by the President, by and with advice and consent 

15 of the Senate, and shall work with and through the Assist16 ant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and 

17 Labor to advise the Secretary of State regarding matters 

18 related to disability rights. 

19 (c) PURPOSE.—The Office shall coordinate efforts of 

20 the United States Government, as directed by the Sec21 retary, regarding human rights for people with disabilities 

22 and advancing the status of people with disabilities in 

23 United States foreign policy. 


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1 (d) DUTIES.—Section 5104(b) of the Department of 

2 State Authorization Act of 2021 (division D of Public Law 

3 117–81; 135 Stat. 2345) is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 

5 (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8) as paragraphs (2), (3), 

6 (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), and (13), respectively; 

7 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redes8 ignated by paragraph (1) of this subsection, the fol9 lowing new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(1) coordinate all international disability policy 

11 and international assistance provided by the United 

12 States Government, in consultation with relevant 

13 and appropriate regional bureaus of the Department 

14 and chiefs of mission, to support efforts abroad to 

15 strengthen the rights of persons with disabilities;’’; 

16 and 

17 (3) in paragraph (8), as so redesignated, by 

18 striking ‘‘disabilities; and’’ and inserting the fol19 lowing: ‘‘disabilities; 

20 ‘‘(9) coordinate the collection of data regarding 

21 the United States Government’s international assist22 ance and activities to promote the rights of persons 

23 with disabilities, in coordination with the Adminis24 trator of the United States Agency for International 

25 Development, the Secretary of State, and the heads 


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1 of other relevant Federal agencies, including to the 

2 extent feasible— 

3 ‘‘(A) a detailed accounting of spending by 

4 relevant Federal departments and agencies, in5 cluding, for each Federal department and agen6 cy, the statutory source of spending; 

7 ‘‘(B) the amounts spent; and 

8 ‘‘(C) activities supported to the extent 

9 practicable and appropriate; 

10 ‘‘(10) establish interagency detail or rotation 

11 opportunities for relevant Federal agencies to be 

12 housed within the Office for the purposes of— 

13 ‘‘(A) augmenting the Office’s ability to 

14 share United States Government best practices 

15 with United States missions and with inter16 national partners; and 

17 ‘‘(B) strengthening the Office’s role in the 

18 coordination of efforts across the government; 

19 ‘‘(11) work with relevant bureaus to promote 

20 the use of existing educational and cultural ex21 changes with international disability policymakers 

22 and advocates; 

23 ‘‘(12) coordinate with the Administrator of the 

24 United States Agency for International Development 

25 on the publication and promotion of an updated 


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1 United States Agency for International Development 

2 disability policy; and’’. 

3 (e) SUPERVISION.—Section 5104(c) of the Depart4 ment of State Authorization Act of 2021 (division D of 

5 Public Law 117–81; 135 Stat. 2345) is amended to read 

6 as follows: 

7 ‘‘(c) SUPERVISION.—The Office shall be headed by 

8 an Ambassador-at-Large for International Disability 

9 Rights. The Ambassador-at-Large should be a person of 

10 recognized distinction in the field of disability rights. The 

11 Ambassador-at-Large shall be provided with appropriate 

12 funding and staff consistent with the duties of the Office 

13 and with Department of State guidance on the status of 

14 an Office.’’. 

15 (f) INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY RIGHTS STRAT16 EGY.—Section 5104 of the Department of State Author17 ization Act of 2021 (division D of Public Law 117–81; 

18 135 Stat. 2345) is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(e) INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY RIGHTS STRAT21 EGY.— 

22 ‘‘(1) STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after 

23 the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 

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1 national Development, the heads of other relevant 

2 Federal agencies, and nongovernmental organiza3 tions, should submit to the appropriate congressional 

4 committees a strategy to— 

5 ‘‘(A) achieve the purposes described in 

6 subsection (b); 

7 ‘‘(B) identify target countries and regions 

8 for prioritization of the Department’s inter9 national assistance efforts related to the rights 

10 of persons with disabilities; 

11 ‘‘(C) identify the United States national 

12 security interest in the target countries and re13 gions where assistance will be provided; 

14 ‘‘(D) establish specific goals to advance 

15 international best practices relating to the 

16 rights of persons with disabilities; and 

17 ‘‘(E) implement the Department’s plan to 

18 leverage resources and expertise through part19 nerships with the private sector, nongovern20 mental organizations, and research and aca21 demic institutions. 

22 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one 

24 year after submission of the strategy required 

25 under paragraph (1), and annually thereafter, 


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1 the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 

2 Administrator of the United States Agency for 

3 International Development and other relevant 

4 Federal agencies, should provide the appro5 priate congressional committees with a written 

6 description of results achieved, including— 

7 ‘‘(i) progress on implementation of the 

8 strategy; 

9 ‘‘(ii) an assessment of efforts to co10 ordinate United States international dis11 ability rights activities and initiatives with 

12 foreign governments, multilateral institu13 tions, nongovernmental organizations, and 

14 other key stakeholders related to the rights 

15 of persons with disabilities; 

16 ‘‘(iii) a detailed accounting of spend17 ing by the Department of State, the 

18 United States Agency for International 

19 Development, and other relevant Federal 

20 agencies on United States international 

21 disability rights assistance to foreign gov22 ernments and multilateral institutions re23 lated to the rights of persons with disabil24 ities; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the number of educational and 

2 cultural exchanges focused on advancing 

3 international disability rights. 

4 ‘‘(B) DISAGGREGATION OF DATA.—The 

5 data submitted under subparagraph (A) should, 

6 where feasible, be disaggregated by country, 

7 gender of recipients of assistance, funding ac8 count, funding levels, and fiscal year of funding. 

9 ‘‘(3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT10 TEES DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘ap11 propriate congressional committees’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

13 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

14 Senate; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

16 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

17 House of Representatives.’’. 

18 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

19 authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State 

20 $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2027, 

21 to achieve the purposes described in subsection (b) of sec22 tion 5104 of the Department of State Authorization Act 

23 of 2021, as amended by subsection (a) of this section. 


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1 SEC. 5. DEPARTMENTAL HIRING AND FACILITIES ACCESSI2 BILITY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary of State for 

4 Management shall, in consultation with the Office of 

5 International Disability Rights, prioritize in the hiring and 

6 recruitment and overseas assignments, the accessibility 

7 practices of civil service employees and Foreign Service of8 ficers with disabilities and their family members with 

9 chronic medical conditions or disabilities. 

10 (b) DUTIES.—The Under Secretary shall— 

11 (1) ensure that facilities used to carry out the 

12 mission of the United States at embassies, con13 sulates, leased facilities, or any other facilities are in 

14 compliance with United States Access Board stand15 ards, including accessibility to people with disabil16 ities, including by— 

17 (A) making websites and other forms of 

18 communication accessible to people with disabil19 ities and providing reasonable accommodations 

20 to program participants; 

21 (B) ensuring accessibility of United States 

22 Government facilities by contracting with local 

23 contractors and subcontractors that meet the 

24 requirements of section 503 of the Rehabilita25 tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 793) to affirma26 tively hire workers with disabilities; and 


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1 (C) consulting with the Department of La2 bor’s Office of Federal Contracts Compliance to 

3 ensure all Department of State contractors are 

4 compliant with the Americans with Disabilities 

5 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.); 

6 (2) ensure that the policies and practices for 

7 the recruitment and placement of Foreign Service 

8 officers and their families encourage the hiring and 

9 placement of people with disabilities in compliance 

10 with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 

11 et seq.); 

12 (3) consult with the Disability Rights Section of 

13 the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Jus14 tice to ensure that Department of State hiring is 

15 compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act 

16 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.); and 

17 (4) ensure that policies are in place for hiring 

18 locally employed staff in embassies and consulates 

19 outside the United States to ensure that accom20 modations are offered, provided, and funded from 

21 the Department’s centralized reasonable accommoda22 tion fund. 

23 (c) FACILITY ACCESSIBILITY.—The Under Secretary 

24 for Management shall, in consultation with the Office of 

25 International Disability Rights— 


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1 (1) ensure that embassies and consulates and 

2 their services are accessible to people with disabil3 ities, including with respect to— 

4 (A) the physical accessibility of facilities 

5 housing embassies and consulates; 

6 (B) websites of United States embassies 

7 and consulates; 

8 (C) public internet and telecommuni9 cations; and 

10 (D) other means of communication with 

11 United States residents and the general public; 

12 and 

13 (2) acquire 5 percent of residences per diplo14 matic post and ensure that such residences meet the 

15 adaptable standards set by the Director of the Bu16 reau of Overseas Buildings. 

17 SEC. 6. TRAINING. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall re19 quire online or in-person mandatory disability inclusion 

20 training for all civil service and Foreign Service personnel 

21 of the Department of State and chiefs of mission, includ22 ing on— 

23 (1) how to develop solicitations, programming, 

24 budgets, and policies that are inclusive; 


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1 (2) how to ensure a disability-inclusive work en2 vironment; 

3 (3) how to conduct disability-inclusive analyses 

4 of laws and programming; 

5 (4) how to empower and support local organiza6 tions of people with disabilities; 

7 (5) how to ensure implementing partners that 

8 receive funding from the Department hire and in9 clude people with disabilities throughout all Depart10 ment programs, as applicable by using international 

11 monitoring frameworks that address inclusive pro12 gramming and integrating inclusion indicators; and 

13 (6) inclusive humanitarian action for people 

14 with disabilities, in line with established inter15 national frameworks including the Inter-Agency 

16 Standing Committee (IASC) guidelines and the 

17 Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in 

18 Humanitarian Action. 

19 (b) COUNTRY-SPECIFIC AND CULTURAL CONSIDER20 ATIONS.—The Secretary shall ensure that training for 

21 Foreign Service officers under subsection (a) should in22 clude country-specific and cultural considerations. 

23 (c) FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS.—Section 

24 708(a)(1) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 

25 4028(a)(1)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

2 and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub4 paragraph (E); and 

5 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol6 lowing new subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(D) instruction on recognizing risks and 

8 vulnerabilities of individuals with disabilities in 

9 specific country contexts, disability inclusion in 

10 policymaking and outreach at United States 

11 embassies and analysis of disability-inclusive 

12 laws and programming in local country con13 texts; and’’. 

14 SEC. 7. REPORT AND BRIEFING REQUIREMENTS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

17 the Secretary of State shall provide to the Committee on 

18 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 

19 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report 

20 and briefing on the steps taken to implement this Act. 

21 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report and 

22 briefing required under subsection (a) shall include— 

23 (1) an explanation of policies and programs to 

24 fulfill— 


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1 (A) the duties of the Office of Inter2 national Disability Rights established under 

3 section 4; and 

4 (B) the training requirements under sec5 tion 6; 

6 (2) a description of the status of efforts to 

7 mainstream disability rights throughout Department 

8 of State programming without regard to whether 

9 such programming is specifically directed toward 

10 people with disabilities; 

11 (3) an explanation of disability-specific pro12 gramming across the Department; 

13 (4) a description of the status of accessible fa14 cilities in all foreign missions, as required under sec15 tion 5(c); 

16 (5) a description of any policy, programming, or 

17 human resources gaps to mainstreaming disability 

18 rights policy throughout the Department, and plans 

19 to address gaps through appropriate mechanisms; 

20 (6) a description of progress made on the real21 ization of the rights of people with disabilities as a 

22 result of Department policies and programming; 

23 (7) an explanation of the current status of the 

24 Department’s evidence gathering and improved sys25 tematic disability data collection, including the use 


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1 of disaggregated data, in order to ensure that pro2 gramming, monitoring, and reporting reflect and ad3 dress the risks and needs of people with disabilities; 

4 and 

5 (8) recommendations for legislative actions to 

6 fully implement the matters described in paragraphs 

7 (1) through (7). 

8 SEC. 8. JUDY HEUMANN FOREIGN AND CIVIL SERVICE DIS9 ABILITY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

10 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con11 gress that— 

12 (1) disability rights are foundational to human 

13 rights, national security, and positive economic out14 comes; 

15 (2) the Department of State should mainstream 

16 disability inclusion by expanding training and pro17 fessional development opportunities for Foreign 

18 Service and civil service personnel of the Depart19 ment— 

20 (A) to support and advance efforts to 

21 make the Department of State a more acces22 sible and disability inclusive workplace by— 

23 (i) familiarizing personnel with domes24 tic disability laws, regulations, and policies; 

25 and 


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1 (ii) providing first-hand experience of 

2 disability policy; and 

3 (B) to fully integrate support for persons 

4 with disabilities as a key component of the De5 partment of State’s foreign policy and foreign 

6 assistance programming by— 

7 (i) examining and identifying the 

8 United States foreign policies and pro9 grams that affect individuals with disabil10 ities in other countries; 

11 (ii) establishing the principle that no 

12 United States international activity should 

13 have a lower standard of inclusion than its 

14 domestic correlate; 

15 (iii) promoting disability inclusive 

16 practices and the training of personnel on 

17 quality programming that is fully inclusive 

18 of people with disabilities; 

19 (iv) strengthening support for and in20 clusion of persons with disabilities, along 

21 with the effective development and imple22 mentation of inclusive disability laws, regu23 lations, standards, and policies, in foreign 

24 and domestic partnerships; and 


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1 (v) representing the United States in 

2 diplomatic and multilateral fora on matters 

3 relevant to the rights of persons with dis4 abilities and working to raise the profile of 

5 disabilities across a broad range of organi6 zations contributing to international devel7 opment efforts. 

8 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

10 means the Department of State. 

11 (2) ORGANIZATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABIL12 ITIES.—The term ‘‘organization of persons with dis13 abilities’’ means a nongovernmental civil society or14 ganization, including a think tank, nonprofit, non15 governmental organization, academic institution, or 

16 other organization, that— 

17 (A) includes staff leadership and a board 

18 of directors the majority of which consists of 

19 people with disabilities; and 

20 (B) serves people with disabilities. 

21 (c) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State shall 

22 establish the Judy Heumann Foreign Service Disability 

23 Fellowship (referred in this section as the ‘‘Fellowship’’) 

24 for purposes of assigning fellows to opportunities at orga25 nizations of persons with disabilities lasting between 6 


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1 months and one year. The Secretary shall make grants 

2 to organizations of persons with disabilities in order to en3 able fellows to carry out the activities described in sub4 section (e). The Secretary shall be responsible for design5 ing, implementing, and operating the Fellowship program, 

6 including setting standards for successful completion of 

7 each fellowship. 

8 (d) SELECTION OF FELLOWS.— 

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

10 establish criteria for selecting the fellows for the Fel11 lowship and shall play a central role in selecting 5 

12 fellows for the Fellowship during the first two years 

13 and 10 fellows for the Fellowship during each year 

14 thereafter. 

15 (2) SELECTION AND PLACEMENT.—The Sec16 retary of State shall— 

17 (A) make efforts to recruit fellowship can18 didates who reflect the diversity of the United 

19 States; 

20 (B) select fellows from among entry-, mid21 and senior-level Foreign Service and civil serv22 ice personnel; 

23 (C) prioritize the selection of candidates 

24 willing to serve in a fellowship lasting one year; 


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1 (D) help fellows arrange a fellowship place2 ment with an organization of persons with dis3 abilities; and 

4 (E) for each fellow, approve a work plan 

5 that identifies the target objectives for the fel6 low, including specific duties and responsibil7 ities relating to those objectives. 

8 (e) FELLOWSHIP ACTIVITIES.—Fellows participating 

9 in the Fellowship program shall— 

10 (1) study the United Nations Convention on the 

11 Rights of Persons with Disabilities, done at New 

12 York December 12, 2006; 

13 (2) attend the Conference of States Parties to 

14 the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Dis15 abilities (COSP) along with one member of the 

16 hosting organization of persons with disabilities; and 

17 (3) carry out such other activities as the Sec18 retary of State determines appropriate. 

19 (f) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than one year after 

20 the date of the completion of the Fellowship by the initial 

21 cohort of fellows selected under subsection (d), and annu22 ally thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 

23 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 

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1 tives a report on the implementation of the Fellowship, 

2 including— 

3 (1) a summary of gender, race, national origin, 

4 disability status, or other demographic categories of 

5 the cohort of fellows who completed a fellowship dur6 ing the preceding one-year period; 

7 (2) a description of the fellowships and place8 ments, including feedback on implementation and 

9 lessons learned; and 

10 (3) an analysis of trends relating to the diver11 sity of each cohort of fellows since the establishment 

12 of the Fellowship program. 

Æ 


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