II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3426 

To amend the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to extend comparability pay 

adjustments to members of the Foreign Service assigned to posts abroad, 

and to amend the provision relating to the death gratuity payable to 

surviving dependents of Foreign Service employees who die as a result 

of injuries sustained in the performance of duty abroad. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2008 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. AKAKA, and 

Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To amend the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to extend comparability pay adjustments to members of the Foreign 

Service assigned to posts abroad, and to amend the 

provision relating to the death gratuity payable to surviving dependents of Foreign Service employees who die 

as a result of injuries sustained in the performance of 

duty abroad. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
2 

•S 3426 IS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Service Over3 seas Pay Equity Act of 2008’’. 

4 SEC. 2. OVERSEAS COMPARABILITY PAY ADJUSTMENT. 

5 (a) OVERSEAS COMPARABILITY PAY ADJUSTMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 4 of the Foreign 

7 Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3961 et seq.) is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 415. OVERSEAS COMPARABILITY PAY ADJUSTMENT. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Service who is 

11 designated class 1 or below for purposes of section 403 

12 and whose official duty station is not in the continental 

13 United States or in a nonforeign area shall receive, in ac14 cordance with the phase-in schedule set forth in subsection 

15 (c), the same locality-based comparability payment under 

16 section 5304 of title 5, United States Code (stated as a 

17 percentage) as would be payable to such member if such 

18 member’s official duty station were in the District of Co19 lumbia. 

20 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT AS BASIC PAY.—The amount of 

21 any locality-based comparability payment which is payable 

22 to a member of the Service under this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) shall be considered a part of the basic pay 

24 of such member for the purposes described in— 

25 ‘‘(A) section 5304(c)(2)(A) of title 5, 

26 United States Code; and 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
3 

•S 3426 IS

1 ‘‘(B) chapter 8 of this Act; and 

2 ‘‘(2) shall be subject to any limitations on pay 

3 applicable to locality-based comparability payments 

4 under section 5304 of such title. 

5 ‘‘(c) PHASE-IN.—The locality-based comparability 

6 payment payable to a member of the Service under this 

7 section shall be equal to— 

8 ‘‘(1) 33.33 percent of the payment which would 

9 otherwise apply under subsection (a) during the pe10 riod beginning on the first day of the first pay pe11 riod beginning on or after the earlier of April 1, 

12 2009, or the date on which appropriations for fiscal 

13 year 2009 are made available pursuant to the enact14 ment of the Department of State, Foreign Oper15 ations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 

16 2009, and ending on the last day of the last pay pe17 riod in fiscal year 2009; 

18 ‘‘(2) 66.67 percent of the payment which would 

19 otherwise apply under subsection (a) during the pe20 riod beginning on the first day of the first pay pe21 riod in fiscal year 2010 and ending on the last day 

22 of the last pay period in fiscal year 2010; and 

23 ‘‘(3) 100 percent of the payment determined 

24 under subsection (a), beginning on the first day of 

25 the first pay period in fiscal year 2011. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
4 

•S 3426 IS

1 ‘‘(d) NONFOREIGN AREA DEFINED.—As used in this 

2 section, the term ‘nonforeign area’ means 1 of the areas 

3 listed in section 591.205 of title 5, Code of Federal Regu4 lations.’’. 

5 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

6 contents under section 2 of the Foreign Service Act 

7 of 1980 is amended by inserting after the item relat8 ing to section 414 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 415. Overseas comparability pay adjustment.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO THE

10 FOREIGN SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEMS.— 

11 (1) CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FUND.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 805(a) of the 

13 Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 

14 4045(a)) is amended— 

15 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

16 (I) by striking ‘‘7.25 percent’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘7 percent’’; and 

18 (II) by striking ‘‘The contribu19 tion by the employing agency’’ and all 

20 that follows through ‘‘and shall be 

21 made’’ and inserting ‘‘An equal 

22 amount shall be contributed by the 

23 employing agency’’; 

24 (ii) in paragraph (2)— 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
5 

•S 3426 IS

1 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik2 ing ‘‘, plus an amount equal to .25 

3 percent of basic pay’’; and 

4 (II) in subparagraph (B), by 

5 striking ‘‘, plus an amount equal to 

6 .25 percent of basic pay’’; and 

7 (iii) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘, 

8 plus .25 percent’’. 

9 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments 

10 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 

11 the first day of the first pay period beginning 

12 on or after October 1, 2010. 

13 (2) COMPUTATION OF ANNUITIES.—Section 

14 806(a)(9) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 

15 U.S.C. 4046(a)(9)) is amended by striking ‘‘is out16 side the continental United States shall’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘was outside the continental United States dur18 ing the period beginning on December 29, 2002, and 

19 ending on the day before the first day of the first 

20 pay period beginning on or after October 1, 2010 (or 

21 during any portion of such period) shall, to the ex22 tent that such computation is based on the basic sal23 ary or basic pay of such member for such period (or 

24 portion of such period),’’. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
6 

•S 3426 IS

1 (3) ENTITLEMENT TO ANNUITY.—Section 

2 855(a)(3) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 

3 U.S.C. 4071d(a)(3)) is amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘section 8414’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘section 8415’’; and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘is outside the continental 

7 United States shall’’ and inserting ‘‘was outside 

8 the continental United States during the period 

9 beginning on December 29, 2002, and ending 

10 on the day before the first day of the first pay 

11 period beginning on or after October 1, 2010 

12 (or during any portion of such period) shall, to 

13 the extent that such computation is based on 

14 the basic salary or basic pay of such member 

15 for such period (or portion of such period),’’. 

16 (4) DEDUCTIONS AND WITHHOLDINGS FROM

17 PAY.—Section 856(a)(2) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 

18 4071e(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(2) The applicable percentage under this sub20 section shall be as follows: 

‘‘Percentage Time Period 

7.5 Before January 1, 1999. 

7.75 January 1, 1999, to December 31, 1999. 

7.9 January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2000. 

7.55 January 11, 2003, to the day before the first day of the 

first pay period beginning on or after October 1, 2010. 

7.5 Beginning on the first day of the first pay period beginning on or after October 1, 2010.’’. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
7 

•S 3426 IS

1 (c) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than Oc2 tober 1, 2010, the Secretary of State shall submit a report 

3 to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the 

4 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af5 fairs of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

6 the House of Representatives, and the Committee on 

7 Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Rep8 resentatives that includes— 

9 (1) an assessment of all allowances provided to 

10 members of the Foreign Service under the Foreign 

11 Service Act of 1980 or under title 5, United States 

12 Code; and 

13 (2) an explanation of how such allowances have 

14 been or will be affected by the amendments to the 

15 Foreign Service Act of 1980 made under this Act. 

16 SEC. 3. DEATH GRATUITY. 

17 Section 413(a) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 

18 (22 U.S.C. 3973(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘at the time 

19 of death’’ and inserting ‘‘at level II of the Executive 

20 Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, United States 

21 Code, at the time of death. If the deceased employee was 

22 compensated under a local compensation plan established 

23 under section 408, the amount of such gratuity shall be 

24 equal to the greater of 1 year’s salary at the time of death 

25 or 1 year’s salary at the highest step of the highest grade 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
8 

•S 3426 IS

1 on the local compensation plan from which the employee 

2 was being paid at the time of death’’. 

Æ 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS