II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1527 

To enable more responsible and efficient spending on Department of State 

activities and foreign operations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 8, 2015 

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

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To enable more responsible and efficient spending on 

Department of State activities and foreign operations. 

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 at the ‘‘Improving Department 

5 of State Oversight Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMPETITIVE HIRING STATUS FOR FORMER EM7 PLOYEES OF THE SPECIAL INSPECTOR GEN8 ERAL FOR IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION. 

9 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any em10 ployee of the Special Inspector General for Iraq ReconVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Jun 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527

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1 struction who completes at least 12 months of service at 

2 any time prior to the date of the termination of the Special 

3 Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, October 5, 

4 2013, and was not terminated for cause shall acquire com5 petitive status for appointment to any position in the com6 petitive service for which the employee possesses the re7 quired qualifications. 

8 SEC. 3. ASSURANCE OF INDEPENDENCE OF IT SYSTEMS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, with the 

10 concurrence of the Inspector General of the Department 

11 of State, shall certify to the appropriate congressional 

12 committees that the Department has made reasonable ef13 forts to ensure the integrity and independence of the Of14 fice of the Inspector General Information Technology sys15 tems. 

16 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

17 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con18 gressional committees’’ means— 

19 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

20 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

21 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

22 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep23 resentatives. 


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1 SEC. 4. PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF INTERNAL INVES2 TIGATIONS. 

3 Section 209(c)(5) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 

4 (22 U.S.C. 3929(c)(5)) is amended by inserting at the end 

5 the following new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(C) REQUIRED REPORTING OF ALLEGA7 TIONS AND INVESTIGATIONS AND INSPECTOR

8 GENERAL AUTHORITY.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each bureau, post 

10 or other office (in this subparagraph, an 

11 ‘entity’) of the Department of State shall, 

12 within five business days, report to the In13 spector General any allegations of— 

14 ‘‘(I) waste, fraud, or abuse in a 

15 Department program or operation; 

16 ‘‘(II) criminal or serious mis17 conduct on the part of a Department 

18 employee at the FS–1, GS–15, GM– 

19 15 level or higher; 

20 ‘‘(III) criminal misconduct on the 

21 part of any Department employee; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(IV) serious, noncriminal mis24 conduct on the part of any individual 

25 who is authorized to carry a weapon, 

26 make arrests, or conduct searches, 


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1 such as conduct that, if proved, would 

2 constitute perjury or material dishon3 esty, warrant suspension as discipline 

4 for a first offense, or result in loss of 

5 law enforcement authority. 

6 ‘‘(ii) INSPECTOR GENERAL AUTHOR7 ITY.—The Inspector General may, pursu8 ant to existing authority, investigate mat9 ters covered by clause (i). 

10 ‘‘(iii) LIMITATION ON INVESTIGATIONS

11 OUTSIDE OF OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GEN12 ERAL.—No entity in the Department of 

13 State with concurrent jurisdiction over 

14 matters covered by clause (i), including the 

15 Bureau of Diplomatic Security, may ini16 tiate an investigation of such matter unless 

17 it has first reported the allegations to the 

18 Inspector General as required by clause (i), 

19 except as provided in clauses (v) and (vi). 

20 ‘‘(iv) COOPERATION.—If an entity in 

21 the Department of State initiates an inves22 tigation of a matter covered in clause (i) 

23 the entity must, except as provided in 

24 clause (v), fully cooperate with the Inspec25 tor General, including— 


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1 ‘‘(I) by providing to the Inspector 

2 General all data and records obtained 

3 in connection with its investigation 

4 upon request of the Inspector General; 

5 ‘‘(II) by coordinating, at the re6 quest of the Inspector General, such 

7 entity’s investigation with the Inspec8 tor General; and 

9 ‘‘(III) by providing to the Inspec10 tor General requested support in aid 

11 of the Inspector General’s oversight 

12 and investigative responsibilities. 

13 ‘‘(v) EXCEPTIONS.—The Inspector 

14 General may prescribe general rules under 

15 which any requirement of clause (iii) or 

16 clause (iv) may be dispensed with. 

17 ‘‘(vi) EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES.— 

18 Compliance with clauses (i), (iii), and (iv) 

19 of this subparagraph may be dispensed 

20 with by an entity of the Department of 

21 State if complying with them in an exigent 

22 circumstance would pose an imminent 

23 threat to human life, health or safety, or 

24 result in the irretrievable loss or destruc25 tion of critical evidence or witness testiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Jun 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527

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1 mony, in which case a report of the allega2 tion shall be made not later than 48 hours 

3 after an entity begins an investigation 

4 under the authority of this clause and co5 operation required under clause (iv) shall 

6 commence not later than 48 hours after 

7 the relevant exigent circumstance has 

8 ended. 

9 ‘‘(vii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

10 Nothing in this subparagraph may be in11 terpreted to affect any duty or authority of 

12 the Inspector General under any provision 

13 of law, including the Inspector General’s 

14 duties or authorities under the Inspector 

15 General Act.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. REPORT ON INSPECTOR GENERAL INSPECTION AND 

17 AUDITING OF FOREIGN SERVICE POSTS AND 

18 BUREAUS AND OPERATING UNITS DEPART19 MENT OF STATE. 

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

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

22 shall submit a report to Congress on the requirement 

23 under section 209(a)(1) of the Foreign Service Act of 

24 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3929(a)(1)) that the Inspector General 

25 of the Department of State inspect and audit, at least 


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1 every 5 years, the administration of activities and oper2 ations of each Foreign Service post and each bureau and 

3 other operating unit of the Department of State. 

4 (b) CONSIDERATION OF MULTI-TIER SYSTEM.—The 

5 report required under subsection (a) shall assess the advis6 ability and feasibility of implementing a multi-tier system 

7 for inspecting Foreign Service posts featuring more (or 

8 less) frequent inspections and audits of posts based on 

9 risk, including security risk, as may be determined by the 

10 Inspector General. 

11 (c) COMPOSITION.—The report required under sub12 section (a) shall include separate portions prepared by the 

13 Inspector General of the Department of State, and the 

14 Comptroller General of the United States, respectively. 

Æ 


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