I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7549 

To abolish the United States and Foreign Commercial Service, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2020 

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

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To abolish the United States and Foreign Commercial 

Service, 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 ‘‘Foreign Trade Mod5 ernization Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ABOLISHMENT OF UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN 

7 COMMERCIAL SERVICE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The United States and Foreign 

9 Commercial Service is abolished. 


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1 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—There are trans2 ferred to the Secretary of State all functions that, on the 

3 day before the date of the enactment of this Act, were 

4 authorized to be performed by the United States and For5 eign Commercial Service under any statute, reorganization 

6 plan, Executive order, or other provision of law. 

7 SEC. 3. TRANSFER AND ALLOCATION OF PROPERTY AND 

8 APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 The Secretary of Commerce shall transfer to the Sec10 retary of State all contracts, property, records, and unex11 pended balance of appropriations, authorizations, alloca12 tions, and other funds employed, held, used, arising from, 

13 available to, or to be made available in connection with 

14 the functions of the United States and Foreign Commer15 cial Service transferred under section 2(b), as may be nec16 essary to carry out this Act. 

17 SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF PERSONNEL. 

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

19 date of the enactment of this Act— 

20 (1) the Secretary of Commerce shall transfer to 

21 the Department of State those individuals who on 

22 the day before the date of the enactment of this Act, 

23 were officers or employees of the United States and 

24 Foreign Commercial Service; and 


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1 (2) the Secretary of State shall, in accordance 

2 with subsections (b) and (c), receive those individ3 uals into the Foreign Service of the United States 

4 and convert them, if need be, to the appropriate 

5 class in the Foreign Service Schedule established 

6 under the Foreign Service Act of 1980. 

7 (b) NEW POSITIONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Those individuals trans9 ferred to the Department of State under subsection 

10 (a) shall be deemed economic officers of the Foreign 

11 Service and shall not be subject to any exam or 

12 training under the Foreign Service Act of 1980 as 

13 a condition of assuming such position. 

14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT REGARDING

15 TITLE CHANGE OF CERTAIN OFFICERS OF THE FOR16 EIGN SERVICE.—Subsection (d) of section 708 of the 

17 Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4028) is 

18 amended by striking ‘‘and commercial’’ before ‘‘offi19 cers’’. 

20 (3) SAVINGS PROVISION REGARDING CERTAIN

21 OFFICERS OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE SUBJECT TO

22 TITLE CHANGE.—Any individual in the Foreign 

23 Service who as of the day before the date of the en24 actment of this Act is a commercial officer shall be 


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1 known and referred to as an economic officer on and 

2 after such date, and shall otherwise— 

3 (A) maintain his or her grade, rank, and 

4 class in the Foreign Service Schedule with the 

5 same tenure held immediately preceding such 

6 title change; and 

7 (B) maintain his or her same rate of basic 

8 pay or basic salary rate immediately preceding 

9 such title change. 

10 (c) SAVINGS PROVISION REGARDING CERTAIN OFFI11 CERS OR EMPLOYEES OF THE UNITED STATES AD FOR12 EIGN COMMERCIAL SERVICE.—Any individual transferred 

13 to the Department of State under subsection (a) shall— 

14 (1) maintain his or her grade, rank, and class 

15 in the Foreign Service Schedule with the same ten16 ure held immediately preceding transfer; 

17 (2) maintain his or her same rate of basic pay 

18 or basic salary rate immediately preceding transfer; 

19 and 

20 (3) be made subject to Foreign Service Act of 

21 1980 and any other law, rule, regulation, adminis22 trative action, and Executive order governing the 

23 Foreign Service of the United States. 


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1 SEC. 5. INCIDENTAL DISPOSITIONS. 

2 The Director of the Office of Management and Budg3 et, if requested by the Secretary of State, shall make such 

4 incidental dispositions of personnel, assets, liabilities, 

5 grants, contracts, property, records, and unexpended bal6 ances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and 

7 other funds held, used, arising from, available to, or to 

8 be made available in connection with the functions of the 

9 United States and Foreign Commercial Service trans10 ferred under section 2(b), as may be necessary to carry 

11 out this Act. 

12 SEC. 6. SAVINGS PROVISION. 

13 All orders, determinations, rules, regulations, per14 mits, agreements, registrations, privileges, and other ad15 ministrative actions— 

16 (1) that have been issued, made, granted, or al17 lowed to become effective by the President, any Fed18 eral agency or official thereof, or by a court of com19 petent jurisdiction, in the performance of functions 

20 exercised by the United States and Foreign Com21 mercial Service on the day before the date of the en22 actment of this Act; and 

23 (2) that are in effect or were final as of the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act, or are to become 

25 effective on or after the date of the enactment of 

26 this Act, 


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1 shall continue in effect according to their terms until 

2 modified, terminated, superseded, set aside, or revoked in 

3 accordance with law by the President, the Secretary of 

4 State, or other authorized official, a court of competent 

5 jurisdiction, or by operation of law. 

6 SEC. 7. ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE EXPORTS OF GOODS AND 

7 SERVICES FROM THE UNITED STATES. 

8 The Championing American Business through Diplo9 macy Act of 2019 (enacted as title VII of subtitle H of 

10 title I of division J of the Further Consolidated Appropria11 tions Act, 2020 (Public Law 116–94; 22 U.S.C. 9901 et 

12 seq.)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 712. ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE EXPORTS OF GOODS 

14 AND SERVICES FROM THE UNITED STATES. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, acting 

16 through the Assistant Secretary for Economic and Busi17 ness Matters and the relevant chiefs of mission, shall place 

18 primary emphasis on the promotion of exports of goods 

19 and services from the United States, particularly by small 

20 and medium-sized businesses, and on the protection of 

21 United States business interests abroad by carrying out 

22 activities such as the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) Identifying United States businesses with 

24 the potential to export goods and services and proVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:51 Jul 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7549.IH H7549

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1 viding such businesses with advice and information 

2 on establishing export businesses. 

3 ‘‘(2) Providing United States exporters with in4 formation and advice on the necessary adaptation of 

5 product design and marketing strategy to meet the 

6 differing cultural and technical requirements of for7 eign countries. 

8 ‘‘(3) Providing United States exporters with ac9 tual leads and an introduction to contacts within 

10 foreign countries. 

11 ‘‘(4) Assisting United States exporters in locat12 ing reliable sources of business services in foreign 

13 countries and in their dealings with foreign govern14 ments and enterprises owned by foreign govern15 ments. 

16 ‘‘(5) Assisting the coordination of the efforts of 

17 State and local agencies and private organizations 

18 that seek to promote United States business inter19 ests in foreign countries so as to maximize the effec20 tiveness and minimize the duplication of efforts of 

21 such agencies and organizations. 

22 ‘‘(6) Utilizing district offices established under 

23 subsection (b) as one-stop shops for United States 

24 exporters by— 


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1 ‘‘(A) providing exporters with information 

2 on all export promotion and export finance ac3 tivities of the Federal Government; 

4 ‘‘(B) assisting exporters in identifying 

5 which Federal programs may be of greatest as6 sistance; and 

7 ‘‘(C) assisting exporters in making contact 

8 with such identified Federal programs. 

9 ‘‘(7) Providing United States exporters and ex10 port finance institutions with information on all fi11 nancing and insurance programs of the Export-Im12 port Bank of the United States, the United States 

13 International Development Finance Corporation, the 

14 Trade and Development Program, and the Small 

15 Business Administration, including providing assist16 ance in completing applications for such programs 

17 and working with exporters and export finance insti18 tutions to address any deficiencies in such applica19 tions that have been submitted. 

20 ‘‘(b) DISTRICT OFFICES.—The Secretary of State 

21 shall establish, or maintain if transferred to the Secretary 

22 under the Foreign Trade Modernization Act of 2020, dis23 trict offices of the Foreign Service in any United States 

24 city in a region in which the Secretary, in consultation 


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1 with the Secretary of Commerce, determines that there is 

2 a need for Federal Government export assistance.’’. 

3 SEC. 8. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

4 (a) OMNIBUS TRADE AND COMPETITIVENESS ACT OF

5 1988.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The following provisions of 

7 the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 

8 1988 are repealed: 

9 (A) Section 2301 (15 U.S.C. 4721). 

10 (B) Subsection (c) of section 2303 (15 

11 U.S.C. 4723). 

12 (C) Section 2306 (15 U.S.C. 4725). 

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2303 

14 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 4723) is amended by redes15 ignating subsection (d) as subsection (c). 

16 (b) TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 5315 

17 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘As18 sistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of 

19 the United States and Foreign Commercial Service.’’. 

20 (c) TRADE FACILITATION AND TRADE ENFORCE21 MENT ACT OF 2015.—Section 505(c)(1) of the Trade Fa22 cilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (15 U.S.C. 

23 4721a(c)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘acting through the 

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1 ice’’ and inserting ‘‘in consultation with the Assistant Sec2 retary of State for Economic and Business Affairs’’. 

3 (d) FOREIGN SERVICE ACT OF 1980.—The Foreign 

4 Service Act of 1980 is amended— 

5 (1) in section 202(a) (22 U.S.C 3922(a))— 

6 (A) by striking paragraph (3); 

7 (B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

8 paragraph (3); and 

9 (C) by moving the margins of paragraph 

10 (3) (as so redesignated) two ems to the left; 

11 and 

12 (2) in section 305(c) (22 U.S.C. 3945(c))— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘(1) Appointments to the 

14 Senior Foreign Service by the Secretary of 

15 Commerce shall be excluded’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘Appointments to the Senior Foreign Service 

17 by the Secretary of Commerce made on or be18 fore the date of the enactment of the Foreign 

19 Trade Modernization Act of 2020 shall be ex20 cluded’’; and 

21 (B) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3). 

22 (e) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any statute, re23 organization plan, Executive order, regulation, agreement, 

24 determination, or other official document or proceeding 

25 to— 


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1 (1) the Assistant Secretary of Commerce and 

2 Director General of the Commercial Service shall be 

3 deemed to refer to the Secretary of State; and 

4 (2) the United States and Foreign Commercial 

5 Service shall be deemed to refer to the Department 

6 of State. 

Æ 


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