II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3491 

To establish a commission to reform and modernize the Department of State. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 12 (legislative day, JANUARY 10), 2022 

Mr. HAGERTY (for himself and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish a commission to reform and modernize the 

Department of State. 

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 ‘‘Commission on Reform 

5 and Modernization of the Department of State for the 

6 21st Century Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

8 There is established in the legislative branch the 

9 Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Depart10 ment of State for the 21st Century (in this Act referred 

11 to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 


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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of the Commission are to examine the 

3 changing nature of diplomacy in the 21st century and 

4 ways that the Department of State can modernize to ad5 vance the interests of the United States, as well as offer 

6 recommendations related to— 

7 (1) the organizational structure of the Depart8 ment of State; 

9 (2) all personnel-related matters, to include re10 cruitment, promotion, training, and retention of the 

11 Department of State’s workforce in order to retain 

12 the best and brightest personnel and foster effective 

13 diplomacy worldwide; 

14 (3) the Department of State’s infrastructure— 

15 both domestic and overseas—to include information 

16 technology, transportation, and security; 

17 (4) the link between diplomacy and defense, de18 velopment, commercial, health, law enforcement, and 

19 other core American interests; 

20 (5) core legislation that authorizes United 

21 States diplomacy; and 

22 (6) treaties that impact United States overseas 

23 presence. 

24 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 

25 (a) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be com26 posed of 8 members of whom— 


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1 (1) 1 member shall be appointed by the chair2 person of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

3 Senate, who shall serve as co-chair of the Commis4 sion; 

5 (2) 1 member shall be appointed by the ranking 

6 member of the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

7 the Senate, who shall serve as co-chair of the Com8 mission; 

9 (3) 1 member shall be appointed by the chair10 person of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

11 House of Representatives; 

12 (4) 1 member shall be appointed by the ranking 

13 member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

14 House of Representatives; 

15 (5) 1 member shall be appointed by the major16 ity leader of the Senate; 

17 (6) 1 member shall be appointed by the Speak18 er of the House of Representatives; 

19 (7) 1 member shall be appointed by the minor20 ity leader of the Senate; and 

21 (8) 1 member shall be appointed by the minor22 ity leader of the House of Representatives. 

23 (b) QUALIFICATIONS; MEETINGS.— 

24 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—The members of the Com25 mission who are not Members of Congress should be 


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1 prominent United States citizens, with national rec2 ognition and significant depth of experience in inter3 national relations. 

4 (2) POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION.—Not more 

5 than 4 members of the Commission may be from the 

6 same political party. 

7 (3) MEETINGS.— 

8 (A) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission 

9 shall hold the first meeting and begin oper10 ations as soon as practicable. 

11 (B) FREQUENCY.—The Commission shall 

12 meet at the call of the co-chairs. 

13 (C) QUORUM.—Seven members of the 

14 Commission shall constitute a quorum for pur15 poses of conducting business, except that two 

16 members of the Commission shall constitute a 

17 quorum for purposes of receiving testimony. 

18 (4) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commis19 sion shall not affect the powers of the Commission, 

20 but shall be filled in the same manner as the origi21 nal appointment. 

22 SEC. 5. FUNCTIONS OF COMMISSION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall act by reso24 lution agreed to by a majority of the members of the Com25 mission voting and present. 


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1 (b) PANELS.—The Commission may establish panels 

2 composed of less than the full membership of the Commis3 sion for purposes of carrying out the duties of the Com4 mission under this Act. The actions of any such panel 

5 shall be subject to the review and control of the Commis6 sion. Any findings and determinations made by such a 

7 panel shall not be considered the findings and determina8 tions of the Commission unless approved by the Commis9 sion. 

10 (c) DELEGATION.—Any member, agent, or staff of 

11 the Commission may, if authorized by the co-chairs of the 

12 Commission, take any action which the Commission is au13 thorized to take pursuant to this Act. 

14 SEC. 6. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

15 (a) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The Commission or, 

16 as delegated by the co-chairs, any panel or member there17 of, may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act— 

18 (1) hold such hearings and meetings, take such 

19 testimony, receive such evidence, and administer 

20 such oaths as the Commission or such designated 

21 subcommittee or designated member considers nec22 essary; 

23 (2) require the attendance and testimony of 

24 such witnesses and the production of such cor25 respondence, memoranda, papers, and documents, as 


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1 the Commission or such designated subcommittee or 

2 designated member considers necessary; and 

3 (3) subject to applicable privacy laws and rel4 evant regulations, secure directly from any Federal 

5 department or agency information and data nec6 essary to enable it to carry out its mission, which 

7 shall be provided by the head or acting representa8 tive of the department or agency not later than 30 

9 days after the Commission provides a written re10 quest for such information and data. 

11 (b) CONTRACTS.—The Commission may, to such ex12 tent and in such amounts as are provided in appropriation 

13 Acts, enter into contracts to enable the Commission to dis14 charge its duties under this Act. 

15 (c) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may secure 

17 directly from any executive department, bureau, 

18 agency, board, commission, office, independent es19 tablishment, or instrumentality of the Government, 

20 information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics 

21 for the purposes of this Act. 

22 (2) FURNISHING INFORMATION.—Each depart23 ment, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, 

24 independent establishment, or instrumentality shall, 

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1 mation, suggestions, estimates, and statistics di2 rectly to the Commission, upon request made by a 

3 co-chair, the chairman of any panel created by a ma4 jority of the Commission, or any member designated 

5 by a majority of the Commission. 

6 (3) HANDLING.—Information shall only be re7 ceived, handled, stored, and disseminated by mem8 bers of the Commission and its staff consistent with 

9 all applicable statutes, regulations, and Executive or10 ders. 

11 (d) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

12 (1) SECRETARY OF STATE.—The Secretary of 

13 State shall provide to the Commission, on a non-re14 imbursable basis, such administrative services, 

15 funds, staff, facilities, and other support services as 

16 are necessary for the performance of the Commis17 sion’s duties under this Act. 

18 (2) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.— 

19 Other Federal departments and agencies may pro20 vide the Commission such services, funds, facilities, 

21 staff, and other support as such departments and 

22 agencies consider advisable and as may be author23 ized by law. 

24 (3) COOPERATION.—The Commission shall re25 ceive the full and timely cooperation of any official, 


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1 department, or agency of the Federal Government 

2 whose assistance is necessary, as jointly determined 

3 by the co-chairs of the Commission, for the fulfill4 ment of the duties of the Commission, including the 

5 provision of full and current briefings and analyses. 

6 (e) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 

7 the United States mails in the same manner and under 

8 the same conditions as other departments and agencies of 

9 the Federal Government. 

10 (f) GIFTS.—The Commission may accept, use, and 

11 dispose of gifts or donations of services or property. 

12 SEC. 7. STAFF AND COMPENSATION. 

13 (a) STAFF.— 

14 (1) COMPENSATION.—The co-chairs of the 

15 Commission, in accordance with rules agreed upon 

16 by the Commission, shall appoint and fix the com17 pensation of a staff director and such other per18 sonnel as may be necessary to enable the Commis19 sion to carry out its duties, without regard to the 

20 provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing 

21 appointments in the competitive service, and without 

22 regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and sub23 chapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to 

24 classification and General Schedule pay rates, except 

25 that no rate of pay fixed under this subsection may 


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1 exceed the equivalent of that payable to a person oc2 cupying a position at level V of the Executive Sched3 ule under section 5316 of such title. 

4 (2) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—A 

5 Federal Government employee may be detailed to 

6 the Commission without reimbursement, and such 

7 detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil 

8 service status or privilege. 

9 (3) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTER10 MITTENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Com11 mission may procure temporary and intermittent 

12 services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United 

13 States Code, at rates for individuals that do not ex14 ceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic 

15 pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule 

16 under section 5315 of that title. 

17 (b) COMMISSION MEMBERS.— 

18 (1) COMPENSATION.—Except as provided in 

19 paragraph (2), each member of the Commission may 

20 be compensated at not to exceed the daily equivalent 

21 of the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a posi22 tion at level IV of the Executive Schedule under sec23 tion 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each 

24 day during which that member is engaged in the acVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:18 Jan 13, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3491.IS S3491

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1 tual performance of the duties of the Commission 

2 under this Act. 

3 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from 

4 their homes or regular places of business in the per5 formance of services for the Commission, members 

6 of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, 

7 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the 

8 same manner as persons employed intermittently in 

9 the Government service are allowed expenses under 

10 section 5703(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

11 (c) SECURITY CLEARANCES FOR COMMISSION MEM12 BERS AND STAFF.—The appropriate Federal agencies or 

13 departments shall cooperate with the Commission in expe14 ditiously providing to the Commission members and staff 

15 appropriate security clearances to the extent possible pur16 suant to existing procedures and requirements, except that 

17 no person shall be provided with access to classified infor18 mation under this Act without the appropriate security 

19 clearances. 

20 SEC. 8. REPORT. 

21 Not later than 18 months after the date of the enact22 ment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the 

23 President and Congress a final report containing such 

24 findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective 


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1 measures as have been agreed to by a majority of Commis2 sion members. 

3 SEC. 9. TERMINATION OF COMMISSION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, and all the au5 thorities under this Act, shall terminate 60 days after the 

6 date on which the final report is submitted under section 

7 8. 

8 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES BEFORE TERMI9 NATION.—The Commission may use the 60-day period re10 ferred to in subsection (a) for the purpose of concluding 

11 its activities, including providing testimony to committees 

12 of Congress concerning its reports and disseminating the 

13 report. 

14 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro16 priated to the Commission to carry out this Act 

17 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2022. 

18 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts made available to the 

19 Commission under subsection (a) shall remain available 

20 until the termination of the Commission. 

21 SEC. 11. INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE 

22 PROVISIONS. 

23 (a) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The 

24 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 

25 apply to the Commission. 


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1 (b) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.—The provi2 sions of section 552 of title 5, United States Code (com3 monly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), 

4 shall not apply to the activities, records, and proceedings 

5 of the Commission under this Act. 

Æ 


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