I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5542 

To provide for the review and appeal of determinations that personnel of 

the Department of State should be restricted or precluded from serving 

in certain assignments, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 

Mr. LIEU (for himself, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, and Mr. KIM of New Jersey) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the review and appeal of determinations that 

personnel of the Department of State should be restricted or precluded from serving in certain assignments, 

and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Accountability in As5 signment Restrictions and Reviews Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASED ACCOUNTABILITY IN ASSIGNMENT RE2 STRICTIONS AND REVIEW. 

3 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that— 

5 (1) the use of policies to restrict personnel from 

6 serving in certain assignments may undermine the 

7 ability of the Department of State to deploy relevant 

8 cultural and linguistic skills at diplomatic posts 

9 abroad if not applied judiciously; and 

10 (2) the Department should continuously evalu11 ate all processes relating to assignment restrictions, 

12 assignment reviews, and preclusions at the Depart13 ment. 

14 (b) NOTIFICATION OF STATUS.—Beginning not later 

15 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

16 the Secretary shall— 

17 (1) provide a status update for all Department 

18 personnel who, prior to such date of enactment, were 

19 subject to a prior assignment restriction, assignment 

20 review, or preclusion for whom a review or decision 

21 related to assignment is pending; and 

22 (2) on an ongoing basis, provide a status up23 date for any Department personnel who has been 

24 the subject of a pending assignment restriction or 

25 pending assignment review for more than 30 days. 


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1 (c) NOTIFICATION CONTENT.—The notification re2 quired under subsection (b) shall inform relevant per3 sonnel, as of the date of the notification— 

4 (1) whether any prior assignment restriction 

5 has been lifted; 

6 (2) if their assignment status is subject to on7 going review, and an estimated date for completion; 

8 and 

9 (3) if they are subject to any other restrictions 

10 on their ability to serve at posts abroad. 

11 (d) ADJUDICATION OF ONGOING ASSIGNMENT RE12 VIEWS.— 

13 (1) TIME LIMIT.—The Department shall estab14 lish a reasonable time limit for the Department to 

15 complete an assignment review and establish a dead16 line by which it must inform personnel of a decision 

17 related to such a review. 

18 (2) APPEALS.—For any personnel the Depart19 ment determines are ineligible to serve in an assign20 ment due to an assignment restriction or assignment 

21 review, a Security Appeal Panel shall convene not 

22 later than 120 days of an appeal being filed. 

23 (3) ENTRY-LEVEL BIDDING PROCESS.—The De24 partment shall include a description of the assign25 ment review process and critical human intelligence 


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1 threat posts in a briefing to new officers as part of 

2 their entry-level bidding process. 

3 (4) POINT OF CONTACT.—The Department 

4 shall designate point of contacts in the Bureau of 

5 Diplomatic Security and Bureau of Global Talent 

6 Management to answer employee and Career Devel7 opment Officer questions about assignment restric8 tions, assignment reviews, and preclusions. 

9 (e) SECURITY APPEAL PANEL.—Not later than 90 

10 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secu11 rity Appeal Panel shall be comprised of— 

12 (1) the head of an office responsible for human 

13 resources or discrimination who reports directly to 

14 the Secretary; 

15 (2) the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary 

16 for the Bureau of Global Talent Management; 

17 (3) the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary 

18 for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research; 

19 (4) an Assistant Secretary or Deputy, or equiv20 alent, from a third bureau as designated by the 

21 Under Secretary for Management; 

22 (5) a representative from the geographic bureau 

23 to which the restriction applies; and 

24 (6) a representative from the Office of the 

25 Legal Adviser and a representative from the Bureau 


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1 of Diplomatic Security, who shall serve as non-vot2 ing advisors. 

3 (f) APPEAL RIGHTS.—Section 414(a) of the Depart4 ment of State Authorities Act, Fiscal Year 2017 (22 

5 U.S.C. 2734c(a)) is amended by striking the first two sen6 tences and inserting ‘‘The Secretary shall establish and 

7 maintain a right and process for employees to appeal a 

8 decision related to an assignment, based on a restriction, 

9 review, or preclusion. Such right and process shall ensure 

10 that any such employee shall have the same appeal rights 

11 as provided by the Department regarding denial or revoca12 tion of a security clearance.’’. 

13 (g) FAM UPDATE.—Not later than 120 days after the 

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

15 amend all relevant provisions of the Foreign Service Man16 ual, and any associated or related policies of the Depart17 ment, to comply with this section. 

18 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

20 means the Department of State. 

21 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

22 the Secretary of State. 

Æ 


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