II 

Calendar No. 241 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2169 

[Report No. 116–129] 

To amend section 3116 of title 5, United States Code, to clarify the applicability of the appointment limitations for students appointed under the 

expedited hiring authority for post-secondary students. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2019 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself, Mr. PETERS, and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

OCTOBER 15, 2019 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

[Insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend section 3116 of title 5, United States Code, to 

clarify the applicability of the appointment limitations 

for students appointed under the expedited hiring authority for post-secondary students. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. CLARIFICATION OF LIMITATION ON EXPE2 DITED HIRING AUTHORITY FOR POST-SEC3 ONDARY STUDENTS. 

4 Section 3116(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is 

5 amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (2), the total number of students that the 

8 head of an agency may appoint under this section 

9 during a fiscal year may not exceed the number 

10 equal to 15 percent of the number of students that 

11 the agency head appointed during the previous fiscal 

12 year to a position at the GS–11 level, or an equiva13 lent level, or below.’’. 

14 SEC. 2. REST AND RECUPERATION LEAVE AND FOREIGN 

15 HOLIDAY LEAVE. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 63 of title 

17 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

18 the following new sections: 

19 ‘‘§ 6329d. Rest and recuperation leave 

20 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

21 ‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’— 

22 ‘‘(A) means an Executive agency; and 

23 ‘‘(B) does not include the Government Ac24 countability Office; 

25 ‘‘(2) the term ‘combat zone’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a geographic area designated by an 

2 Executive Order of the President as an area in 

3 which the Armed Forces are engaging or have 

4 engaged in combat; 

5 ‘‘(B) an area designated by law to be treat6 ed as a combat zone; or 

7 ‘‘(C) a location the Secretary of Defense has 

8 certified for combat zone tax benefits due to its 

9 direct support of military operations; 

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘employee’ has the meaning given 

11 the term in section 6301; 

12 ‘‘(4) the term ‘high risk, high threat post’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 104 of the Omni14 bus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 

15 1986 (22 U.S.C. 4803); and 

16 ‘‘(5) the term ‘leave year’ means the period be17 ginning on the first day of the first complete pay pe18 riod in a calendar year and ending on the day imme19 diately before the first day of the first complete pay 

20 period in the following calendar year. 

21 ‘‘(b) LEAVE FOR REST AND RECUPERATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During a leave year, the 

23 head of an agency may grant not more than 20 days 

24 of leave without loss of or reduction in pay, leave to 

25 which an employee is otherwise entitled under law, or 


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1 credit for time or service to a civilian employee of the 

2 agency serving in a combat zone or other high risk, 

3 high threat post for the purposes of rest and recuper4 ation. 

5 ‘‘(2) CONVERSION OF LEAVE PERIOD INTO

6 HOURS.—The 20 days of leave referred to in para7 graph (1) shall be converted to 160 hours of leave for 

8 full-time employees and proportionally adjusted for 

9 employees with a part-time tour of duty or an un10 common tour of duty in which the hours for which 

11 leave may be charged are in excess of 80 hours in a 

12 biweekly pay period. 

13 ‘‘(c) DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY OF AGENCY HEAD.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Use of the authority under 

15 subsection (b) shall be at the sole and exclusive discre16 tion of the head of the agency concerned. 

17 ‘‘(2) POLICIES.—The head of an agency may 

18 prescribe agency-wide policies to govern the use of the 

19 authority under subsection (b) within the agency. 

20 ‘‘(d) RECORDS.—An agency shall record leave pro21 vided under this section separately from leave authorized 

22 under any other provision of law. 

23 ‘‘§ 6329e. Foreign holiday leave 

24 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

25 ‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’— 


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1 ‘‘(A) means an Executive agency; and 

2 ‘‘(B) does not include the Government Ac3 countability Office; 

4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘employee’ has the meaning given 

5 that term in section 6301; and 

6 ‘‘(3) the term ‘leave year’ means the period be7 ginning on the first day of the first complete pay pe8 riod in a calendar year and ending on the day imme9 diately before the first day of the first complete pay 

10 period in the following calendar year. 

11 ‘‘(b) LEAVE FOR LOCAL HOLIDAYS OBSERVED IN FOR12 EIGN AREAS.—During a leave year, the head of an agency 

13 may grant not more than 5 days of leave without loss of 

14 or reduction in pay, leave to which an employee is otherwise 

15 entitled under law, or credit for time or service to a civilian 

16 employee of the agency serving in a foreign area for local 

17 holidays observed in the foreign area— 

18 ‘‘(1) if the head of the agency determines that the 

19 conduct of business during the local holidays would be 

20 inconsistent with host-country practice or otherwise 

21 not in the best interest of the United States; or 

22 ‘‘(2) for such other reasons as the head of the 

23 agency determines necessary to advance the diplo24 matic interests of the United States. 

25 ‘‘(c) DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY OF AGENCY HEAD.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Use of the authority under 

2 subsection (b) shall be at the sole and exclusive discre3 tion of the head of the agency concerned. 

4 ‘‘(2) POLICIES.—The head of an agency may 

5 prescribe agency-wide policies to govern the use of the 

6 authority under subsection (b) within the agency. 

7 ‘‘(d) RECORDS.—An agency shall record leave pro8 vided under this section separately from leave authorized 

9 under any other provision of law.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at 

11 the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after 

12 the item relating to section 6329c the following new items: 

‘‘6329d. Rest and recuperation leave. 

‘‘6329e. Foreign holiday leave.’’. 


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Calendar No. 241 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2169 

[Report No. 116–129] 

A BILL 

To amend section 3116 of title 5, United States 

students. the expedited hiring authority for post-secondary ment limitations for students appointed under Code, to clarify the applicability of the appointOCTOBER 15, 2019 

Reported with an amendment 


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