II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1180 

To provide for greater diversity within, and to improve policy direction and 

oversight of, the Senior Executive Service. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2009 

Mr. AKAKA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for greater diversity within, and to improve policy 

direction and oversight of, the Senior Executive Service. 

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 ‘‘Senior Executive Serv5 ice Diversity Assurance Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) according to the most recent findings from 

9 the Government Accountability Office— 


wwoods2 on PROD1PC60 with BILLS
2 

•S 1180 IS

1 (A) minorities made up 22.5 percent of the 

2 individuals serving at the GS–15 and GS–14 

3 levels and 15.8 percent of the Senior Executive 

4 Service in 2007; 

5 (B) women made up 34.3 percent of the 

6 individuals serving at the GS–15 and GS–14 

7 levels and 29.1 percent of the Senior Executive 

8 Service in 2007; and 

9 (C) although the number of career Senior 

10 Executive Service members increased from 

11 6,110 in 2,000 to 6,555 in 2007, the represen12 tation of African-American men in the career 

13 Senior Executive Service declined during that 

14 same period from 5.5 percent to 5.0 percent; 

15 and 

16 (2) according to the Office of Personnel Man17 agement— 

18 (A) Black employees represented 6.1 per19 cent of employees at the Senior Pay levels and 

20 17.9 percent of the permanent Federal work21 force compared to 10 percent in the civilian 

22 labor force in 2008; 

23 (B) Hispanic employees represented 4.0 

24 percent of employees at the Senior Pay levels 

25 and 7.9 percent of the permanent Federal 


wwoods2 on PROD1PC60 with BILLS
3 

•S 1180 IS

1 workforce compared to 13.2 percent of the civil2 ian labor force in 2008; and 

3 (C) women represented 29.1 percent of 

4 employees at the Senior Pay levels and 44.2 

5 percent of the permanent Federal workforce 

6 compared to 45.6 percent of the civilian labor 

7 force in 2008. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act— 

10 (1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 

11 the Office of Personnel Management; 

12 (2) the term ‘‘Senior Executive Service’’ has the 

13 meaning given under section 2101a of title 5, United 

14 States Code; 

15 (3) the terms ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘career appointee’’, 

16 and ‘‘career reserved position’’ have the meanings 

17 given under section 3132 of title 5, United States 

18 Code; and 

19 (4) the term ‘‘SES Resource Office’’ means the 

20 Senior Executive Service Resource Office established 

21 under section 4. 

22 SEC. 4. SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE RESOURCE OFFICE. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

25 establish within the Office of Personnel Management an 


wwoods2 on PROD1PC60 with BILLS
4 

•S 1180 IS

1 office to be known as the Senior Executive Service Re2 source Office. 

3 (b) MISSION.—The mission of the SES Resource Of4 fice shall be to— 

5 (1) improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and 

6 productivity of the Senior Executive Service through 

7 policy formulation and oversight; 

8 (2) advance the professionalism of the Senior 

9 Executive Service; and 

10 (3) ensure that, in seeking to achieve a Senior 

11 Executive Service reflective of the Nation’s diversity, 

12 recruitment is from qualified individuals from appro13 priate sources. 

14 (c) FUNCTIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The functions of the SES 

16 Resource Office are to— 

17 (A) make recommendations to the Director 

18 with respect to regulations; and 

19 (B) provide guidance to agencies, con20 cerning the structure, management, and diverse 

21 composition of the Senior Executive Service. 

22 (2) SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS.—In order to carry 

23 out the purposes of this section, the SES Resource 

24 Office shall— 


wwoods2 on PROD1PC60 with BILLS
5 

•S 1180 IS

1 (A) take such actions as the SES Resource 

2 Office considers necessary to manage and pro3 mote an efficient, elite, and diverse corps of 

4 senior executives by— 

5 (i) creating policies for the manage6 ment and improvement of the Senior Exec7 utive Service; 

8 (ii) providing oversight of the per9 formance, structure, and composition of 

10 the Senior Executive Service; and 

11 (iii) providing guidance and oversight 

12 to agencies in the management of senior 

13 executives and candidates for the Senior 

14 Executive Service; 

15 (B) be responsible for the policy develop16 ment, management, and oversight of the Senior 

17 Executive Service pay and performance man18 agement system; 

19 (C) develop standards for certification of 

20 each agency’s Senior Executive Service per21 formance management system and evaluate all 

22 agency applications for certification; 

23 (D) be responsible for coordinating, pro24 moting, and monitoring programs for the ad25 vancement and training of senior executives, inVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:53 Jun 05, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1180.IS S1180

wwoods2 on PROD1PC60 with BILLS
6 

•S 1180 IS

1 cluding the Senior Executive Service Federal 

2 Candidate Development Program; 

3 (E) provide oversight of, and guidance to, 

4 agency executive resources boards; 

5 (F) be responsible for the administration 

6 of the qualifications review board; 

7 (G) establish and maintain annual statis8 tics (in a form that renders such statistics use9 ful to appointing authorities and candidates) 

10 on— 

11 (i) the total number of career reserved 

12 positions at each agency; 

13 (ii) the total number of vacant career 

14 reserved positions at each agency; 

15 (iii) of the positions under clause (ii), 

16 the number for which candidates are being 

17 sought; 

18 (iv) the amount of time a career re19 served position is vacant; 

20 (v) the amount of time it takes to hire 

21 a candidate into a career reserved position; 

22 (vi) the number of individuals who 

23 have been certified in accordance with sec24 tion 3393(c) of title 5, United States Code, 

25 and the composition of that group of indiVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:53 Jun 05, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1180.IS S1180

wwoods2 on PROD1PC60 with BILLS
7 

•S 1180 IS

1 viduals with regard to race, ethnicity, sex, 

2 age, and individuals with disabilities; 

3 (vii) the composition of the Senior Ex4 ecutive Service with regard to race, eth5 nicity, sex, age, and individuals with dis6 abilities; 

7 (viii) the composition of executive re8 sources boards with regard to race, eth9 nicity, sex, and individuals with disabilities; 

10 and 

11 (ix) the composition of qualifications 

12 review boards with regard to race, eth13 nicity, sex, and individuals with disabilities; 

14 (H) make available to the public through 

15 the official public Internet site of the Office of 

16 Personnel Management, the data collected 

17 under subparagraph (G); 

18 (I) establish and promote mentoring pro19 grams for potential candidates for the Senior 

20 Executive Service, including candidates who 

21 have been certified as having the executive 

22 qualifications necessary for initial appointment 

23 as a career appointee under a program estab24 lished under to section 3396(a) of title 5, 

25 United States Code; 


wwoods2 on PROD1PC60 with BILLS
8 

•S 1180 IS

1 (J) conduct a continuing program for the 

2 recruitment of women, members of racial and 

3 ethnic minority groups, and individuals with 

4 disabilities for Senior Executive Service posi5 tions, with special efforts directed at recruiting 

6 from educational institutions, professional asso7 ciations, and other sources; 

8 (K) advise agencies on the best practices 

9 for an agency in utilizing or consulting with an 

10 agency’s equal employment or diversity office or 

11 official (if the agency has such an office or offi12 cial) with regard to the agency’s Senior Execu13 tive Service appointments process; and 

14 (L) evaluate and implement strategies to 

15 ensure that agencies conduct appropriate out16 reach to other agencies to identify candidates 

17 for Senior Executive Service positions. 

18 (d) PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFIABLE

19 INFORMATION.—For purposes of subsection (c)(2)(H), the 

20 SES Resource Office shall combine data for any agency 

21 that is not named in section 901(b) of chapter 31, United 

22 States Code, to protect individually identifiable informa23 tion. 

24 (e) COOPERATION OF AGENCIES.—The head of each 

25 agency shall provide the Office of Personnel Management 


wwoods2 on PROD1PC60 with BILLS
9 

•S 1180 IS

1 with such information as the SES Resource Office may 

2 require in order to carry out subsection (c)(2)(G). 

3 (f) STAFFING.—The Director of the Office of Per4 sonnel Management shall make such appointments as nec5 essary to staff the SES Resource Office. 

6 SEC. 5. CAREER APPOINTMENTS. 

7 (a) PROMOTING DIVERSITY IN THE CAREER AP8 POINTMENTS PROCESS.—Section 3393(b) of title 5, 

9 United States Code, is amended by inserting after the first 

10 sentence the following: ‘‘In establishing an executive re11 sources board, the head of the agency shall, to the extent 

12 practicable, ensure diversity of the board and of any sub13 group thereof or other evaluation panel related to the 

14 merit staffing process for career appointees, by including 

15 members of racial and ethnic minority groups, women, and 

16 individuals with disabilities.’’. 

17 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall pro19 mulgate regulations to implement subsection (a). 

20 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit 

22 to the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern23 mental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Over24 sight and Government Reform of the House of Represent25 atives a report evaluating agency efforts to improve diverVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:53 Jun 05, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1180.IS S1180

wwoods2 on PROD1PC60 with BILLS
10 

•S 1180 IS

1 sity in executive resources boards based on the informa2 tion collected by the SES Resource Office under section 

3 4(c)(2)(G) (viii) and (ix). 

4 SEC. 6. ENCOURAGING A MORE DIVERSE SENIOR EXECU5 TIVE SERVICE. 

6 (a) SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE DIVERSITY

7 PLANS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act, each agency, 

10 in consultation with the Office of Personnel Manage11 ment and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council, 

12 shall submit to the Office of Personnel Management 

13 a plan to enhance and maximize opportunities for 

14 the advancement and appointment of minorities, 

15 women, and individuals with disabilities in the agen16 cy to the Senior Executive Service. Agency plans 

17 shall be reflected in the strategic human capital 

18 plan. 

19 (2) CONTENTS.—Agency plans shall address 

20 how the agency is identifying and eliminating bar21 riers that impair the ability of minorities, women, 

22 and individuals with disabilities to obtain appoint23 ments to the Senior Executive Service and any ac24 tions the agency is taking to provide advancement 

25 opportunities, including— 


wwoods2 on PROD1PC60 with BILLS
11 

•S 1180 IS

1 (A) conducting outreach to minorities, 

2 women, and individuals within the agency and 

3 outside the agency; 

4 (B) establishing and maintaining training 

5 and education programs to foster leadership de6 velopment; 

7 (C) identifying career enhancing opportuni8 ties for agency employees; 

9 (D) assessing internal availability of can10 didates for Senior Executive Service positions; 

11 and 

12 (E) conducting an inventory of employee 

13 skills and addressing current and potential gaps 

14 in skills and the distribution of skills. 

15 (3) UPDATE OF AGENCY PLANS.—Agency plans 

16 shall be updated at least every 2 years during the 

17 10 years following enactment of this Act. An agency 

18 plan shall be reviewed by the Office of Personnel 

19 Management and, if determined to provide sufficient 

20 assurances, procedures, and commitments to provide 

21 adequate opportunities for the advancement and ap22 pointment of minorities, women, and individuals 

23 with disabilities to the Senior Executive Service, 

24 shall be approved by such Office. An agency may, in 

25 updating its plan, submit to the Office of Personnel 


wwoods2 on PROD1PC60 with BILLS
12 

•S 1180 IS

1 Management an assessment of the impacts of the 

2 plan. 

3 (b) SUMMARY AND EVALUATION.—Not later than 

4 180 days after the deadline for the submission of any re5 port or update under subsection (a), the Director shall 

6 transmit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

7 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

8 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 

9 Representatives a report summarizing and evaluating the 

10 agency plans or updates (as the case may be) so sub11 mitted. 

12 (c) COORDINATION.—The Office of Personnel Man13 agement shall, in carrying out subsection (a), evaluate ex14 isting requirements under section 717 of the Civil Rights 

15 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16) and section 501 of the 

16 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791) and determine 

17 how agency reporting can be performed so as to be con18 sistent with, but not duplicative of, such sections and any 

19 other similar requirements. 

Æ 


wwoods2 on PROD1PC60 with BILLS