I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7673 

To ensure the United States diplomatic workforce at all levels reflects the 

diverse composition of the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 20, 2020 

Ms. BASS (for herself, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. SIRES, Ms. 

JUDY CHU of California, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. EVANS, Ms. 

JAYAPAL, Ms. HAALAND, Mrs. HAYES, and Ms. OMAR) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To ensure the United States diplomatic workforce at all 

levels reflects the diverse composition of the United States. 

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 ‘‘Represent America 

5 Abroad Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) As the United States becomes more racially 

9 and ethnically diverse, the Department of State 


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1 must continue to invest in policies to recruit, retain, 

2 and develop the best and brightest from the full 

3 spectrum of American society in order to be better 

4 positioned to advance United States interests 

5 abroad. 

6 (2) Foreign Service officers are America’s face 

7 to the world. Thus, the workforce must represent the 

8 United States commitment to inclusion and diversity 

9 in order to effectively advance American values on 

10 the world stage. 

11 (3) The Department of State must embrace 

12 policies that recruit professionals from the broadest 

13 possible pool of talent and retain them in order to 

14 significantly increase diversity in the Foreign Serv15 ice. Timely action to increase diversity at the mid16 levels is crucial, as it takes approximately nine years 

17 for an entry level Foreign Service officer (class 6, 5, 

18 4) to rise to the mid-ranks of the Foreign Service 

19 (class 3, 2, or 1). 

20 (4) A February 2020 report by the Government 

21 Accountability Office found barriers to a diverse and 

22 inclusive workforce at the Department of State, es23 pecially at the mid-career and senior levels. Individ24 uals who are racial or ethnic minorities comprise 

25 only 24 percent of Foreign Service officers as a 


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1 whole. At the executive level, individuals who are ra2 cial or ethnic minorities comprise only 13 percent. 

3 This means that the leadership is the least diverse 

4 level within the Foreign Service. 

5 (5) In the past, the Department of State has 

6 acknowledged its lack of workforce diversity and 

7 pledged to take concrete steps to address the prob8 lem. In 2017, then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson 

9 recognized a great diversity gap in the Department 

10 of State and former Secretary of State John Kerry 

11 noted that in order to represent the United States, 

12 the Department of State must have a workforce that 

13 reflects the rich composition of its citizenry. Yet 

14 there has been no concrete plan to address the lack 

15 of diversity at the mid-career and senior levels. 

16 SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF NATIONAL INTEREST; STATE17 MENT OF POLICY. 

18 (a) DECLARATION OF NATIONAL INTEREST.—Con19 gress declares that it is in the national interest of the 

20 United States to ensure that the members of the United 

21 States Foreign Service workforce be representative of the 

22 American people. 

23 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It shall be the policy 

24 of the Department of State— 


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1 (1) to strengthen the Foreign Service workforce 

2 by bolstering the diversity of those who represent 

3 Americans abroad; 

4 (2) to treat the people of the Foreign Service 

5 as its primary asset, and as such, hold as a central 

6 tenet making strides in increasing minority represen7 tation at all levels of the Foreign Service workforce 

8 to secure the country’s national interests; and 

9 (3) in accordance with the Foreign Service Act 

10 of 1980, to attract highly qualified, mid-career pro11 fessionals who are also American minorities, through 

12 a pathway program for entry into the Foreign Serv13 ice. 

14 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION. 

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

16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 

17 shall establish a program, which shall be known as the 

18 ‘‘Represent America Mid-Career Foreign Service Entry 

19 Program’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Program’’), 

20 to be administered jointly by the Director General of the 

21 Foreign Service and the Director of Global Talent Man22 agement, to identify, attract, and welcome mid-career pro23 fessionals who are from minority groups into the Foreign 

24 Service. 

25 (b) ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

2 of State shall carry out the following with respect to 

3 the Program: 

4 (A) Establish and publish on the Depart5 ment’s website eligibility criteria for candidates 

6 to participate in the program. 

7 (B) Carry out countrywide recruitment ef8 forts to attract highly qualified, mid-career pro9 fessionals from minority groups, such as the 

10 following: 

11 (i) Community agencies and organiza12 tions. 

13 (ii) Faith-based organizations. 

14 (iii) Community events. 

15 (iv) Professional associations. 

16 (v) Colleges and universities, including 

17 historically Black colleges and universities 

18 and other minority-serving institutions 

19 such as Hispanic-serving institutions, 

20 Asian American and Native American Pa21 cific Islander-serving institutions, Amer22 ican Indian Tribally controlled colleges and 

23 universities, Alaska Native and Native Ha24 waiian-serving institutions, Tribal colleges 

25 and universities, Predominantly Black InVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 Aug 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7673.IH H7673

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1 stitutions, and Native American-serving, 

2 Nontribal institutions. 

3 (vi) Diplomats in residence. 

4 (vii) Job fairs. 

5 (viii) Newspaper/magazines/journals. 

6 (ix) Radio stations and programs. 

7 (x) Websites, webcasts, podcasts, and 

8 other online channels. 

9 (C) Recruit eligible candidates for the Pro10 gram. 

11 (D) Develop a structured program that in12 cludes as part of the initial training, a class or 

13 module that specifically prepares participants 

14 for life in the Foreign Service, including con15 veying to such participants essential elements of 

16 the practical knowledge that is normally ac17 quired during a Foreign Service Officer’s initial 

18 assignments. 

19 (E) Include appropriate mentorship and 

20 other career development opportunities, such as 

21 leadership training, for Program participants. 

22 (2) OVERALL QUALIFICATIONS.—In recruiting, 

23 training, and assigning members of the Program, 

24 the Secretary of State should seek highly qualified 


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1 minority individuals who are mid-career profes2 sionals— 

3 (A) with diverse work experience who have 

4 capabilities, insights, techniques, and experi5 ences that would serve to enrich the Foreign 

6 Service workforce and empower it to perform 

7 more effectively; 

8 (B) with demonstrated knowledge of, expe9 rience with, and interest in United States for10 eign policy and national security and inter11 national affairs, including knowledge of the af12 fairs, cultures, and languages of other coun13 tries; 

14 (C) with demonstrable leadership skills and 

15 the potential for further growth; 

16 (D) that demonstrate a track record of col17 laboration, team-building, and stakeholder man18 agement skills; 

19 (E) with demonstrated capacity for critical 

20 thinking and analytical skills, including the 

21 ability to synthesize information into clear and 

22 concise recommendations; 

23 (F) with strategic thinking, and ability to 

24 solve complex problems; 


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1 (G) with flexibility, adaptability, and deter2 mination; and 

3 (H) who are United States citizens with 

4 worldwide service availability and who are able 

5 to obtain appropriate security and medical 

6 clearances. 

7 (c) ADVANCEMENT FROM PROGRAM.—Candidates 

8 who are accepted into the Program in accordance with the 

9 qualifications and requirements of this section shall have 

10 the opportunity to advance to the Foreign Service oral as11 sessment for potential entry as the appropriate class of 

12 mid-level Foreign Service officer in accordance with the 

13 candidate’s professional qualifications. 

14 (d) MID-CAREER PROFESSIONAL DEFINED.—For 

15 purposes of the Program, the term ‘‘mid-career profes16 sional’’ means an individual who has the skills and experi17 ence to serve as a mid-level Foreign Service officer (class 

18 3, 2, or 1) and who meets any of the following criteria, 

19 consistent with the merit-based principles and core pre20 cepts set forth in the Foreign Affairs Manual and Hand21 book and in accordance with applicable requirements of 

22 the Foreign Service Act of 1980: 

23 (1) An individual with 8+ years of professional 

24 experience and a bachelor’s degree from an accred25 ited college or university in selected fields of study 


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1 representing the needs of the Department of State, 

2 including public policy, public administration, inter3 national law, international relations, political science, 

4 foreign languages, business administration, econom5 ics, history, sociology, geography, social or cultural 

6 anthropology, statistics, or the humanities. 

7 (2) An individual with 7+ years of professional 

8 experience and a master’s degree from an accredited 

9 college or university in selected fields of study rep10 resenting the needs of the Department of State, in11 cluding any field listed in paragraph (1). 

12 (3) An individual with 5+ years of professional 

13 experience and doctoral degree from an accredited 

14 college or university in selected fields of study rep15 resenting the needs of the Department of State, in16 cluding any field listed in paragraph (1). 

17 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

18 (a) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

20 submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

21 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela22 tions of the Senate a report on a plan to establish the 

23 Represent America Mid-Career Foreign Service Entry 

24 Program. 


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1 (b) ANNUAL UPDATE.—Annually thereafter, the Sec2 retary shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

3 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

4 Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on the status 

5 of the Represent America Mid-Career Foreign Service 

6 Entry Program. Each such report shall include the fol7 lowing information with respect to the previous year: 

8 (1) The number of candidates approved for the 

9 program. 

10 (2) The number of candidates who began par11 ticipating, including anonymized information on such 

12 candidates’ backgrounds with respect to education 

13 and prior work experience and grade level at which 

14 the candidate entered the Foreign Service. 

15 (3) A breakdown of the number of participants 

16 recruited into and advancing from the program by 

17 ethnicity and sex. 

18 (4) A disaggregation by Foreign Service cone 

19 and post (including identifying whether the post is 

20 hard-to-fill) assigned to each participant advancing 

21 from the program. 

22 (5) Program attrition rates and retention data, 

23 including information on how such data compares to 

24 the data reported in the most recent prior submis25 sion of such report. 


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1 (6) Information on the Department’s recruiting 

2 efforts for the program, including an outreach strat3 egy detailing resources allocated to outreach, as well 

4 as where, how, and when outreach will be carried 

5 out. 

6 (7) Information on the Department’s efforts to 

7 improve the efficacy of the program and promote re8 tention of program participants. 

Æ 


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