II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2454 

To amend the Peace Corps Act to establish an Ombudsman of the Peace 

Corps and an Office of Safety and Security of the Peace Corps, to 

establish an independent Inspector General of the Peace Corps, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2004 

Mr. DEWINE (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Peace Corps Act to establish an Ombudsman 

of the Peace Corps and an Office of Safety and Security 

of the Peace Corps, to establish an independent Inspector 

General of the Peace Corps, 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 ‘‘Peace Corps Volun5 teers Health, Safety, and Security Act of 2004’’. 
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•S 2454 IS 

1 SEC. 2. OMBUDSMAN OF THE PEACE CORPS. 

2 The Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.) is 

3 amended by inserting after section 4 the following new 

4 section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 4A. OMBUDSMAN OF THE PEACE CORPS. 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

7 Peace Corps the Office of the Ombudsman of the Peace 

8 Corps (in this section referred to as the ‘Office’). The Of9 fice shall be headed by the Ombudsman of the Peace 

10 Corps (in this section referred to as the ‘Ombudsman’), 

11 who shall be appointed by and report directly to the Direc12 tor of the Peace Corps. 

13 ‘‘(b) VOLUNTEER COMPLAINTS AND OTHER MAT14 TERS.—The Ombudsman shall receive and, as appro15 priate, inquire into complaints, questions, or concerns sub16 mitted by current or former volunteers regarding services 

17 or support provided by the Peace Corps to its volunteers, 

18 including matters pertaining to— 

19 ‘‘(1) the safety and security of volunteers; 

20 ‘‘(2) due process, including processes relating to 

21 separation from the Peace Corps; 

22 ‘‘(3) benefits and assistance that may be due to 

23 current or former volunteers; 

24 ‘‘(4) medical or other health-related assistance; 

25 and 
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1 ‘‘(5) access to files and records of current or 

2 former volunteers. 

3 ‘‘(c) EMPLOYEE COMPLAINTS AND OTHER MAT4 TERS.—The Ombudsman shall receive and, as appro5 priate, inquire into complaints, questions, or concerns sub6 mitted by current or former employees of the Peace Corps 

7 on any matters of grievance. 

8 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—The Ombudsman 

9 shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) recommend responses to individual matters 

11 received under subsections (b) and (c); 

12 ‘‘(2) make recommendations for legislative, ad13 ministrative, or regulatory adjustments to address 

14 recurring problems or other difficulties of the Peace 

15 Corps; 

16 ‘‘(3) identify systemic issues relating to the 

17 practices, policies, and administrative procedures of 

18 the Peace Corps that affect volunteers and employ19 ees; and 

20 ‘‘(4) call attention to problems not yet ade21 quately considered by the Peace Corps. 

22 ‘‘(e) STANDARDS OF OPERATION.—The Ombudsman 

23 shall carry out the duties under this section in a manner 

24 that is— 
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1 ‘‘(1) independent, impartial in the conduct of 

2 inquiries, and confidential; and 

3 ‘‘(2) consistent with the revised Standards for 

4 the Establishment and Operation of Ombudsman 

5 Offices (August 2003) as endorsed by the American 

6 Bar Association. 

7 ‘‘(f) INVOLVEMENT IN MATTERS SUBJECT TO ONGO8 ING ADJUDICATION, LITIGATION, OR INVESTIGATION.— 

9 The Ombudsman shall refrain from any involvement in the 

10 merits of individual matters that are the subject of ongo11 ing adjudication or litigation, or investigations related to 

12 such adjudication or litigation. 

13 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of this section, and 

16 semiannually thereafter, the Ombudsman shall sub17 mit to the Director of the Peace Corps, the Chair of 

18 the Peace Corps National Advisory Council, and 

19 Congress a report containing a summary of— 

20 ‘‘(A) the complaints, questions, and con21 cerns considered by the Ombudsman; 

22 ‘‘(B) the inquiries completed by the Om23 budsman; 
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1 ‘‘(C) recommendations for action with re2 spect to such complaints, questions, concerns, 

3 or inquiries; and 

4 ‘‘(D) any other matters that the Ombuds5 man considers relevant. 

6 ‘‘(2) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Each report sub7 mitted under paragraph (1) shall maintain confiden8 tiality on any matter that the Ombudsman considers 

9 appropriate in accordance with subsection (e). 

10 ‘‘(h) EMPLOYEE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

11 ‘employee’ means an employee of the Peace Corps, an em12 ployee of the Office of Inspector General of the Peace 

13 Corps, an individual appointed or assigned under the For14 eign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3901 et seq.) to carry 

15 out functions under this Act, or an individual subject to 

16 a personal services contract with the Peace Corps.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF SAFETY AND SECURITY OF THE PEACE 

18 CORPS. 

19 The Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.), as 

20 amended by section 2 of this Act, is further amended by 

21 inserting after section 4A the following new section: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 4B. OFFICE OF SAFETY AND SECURITY OF THE 

23 PEACE CORPS. 

24 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

25 Peace Corps the Office of Safety and Security of the Peace 
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1 Corps (in this section referred to as the ‘Office’). The Of2 fice shall be headed by the Associate Director of the Peace 

3 Corps for Safety and Security, who shall be appointed by 

4 and report directly to the Director of the Peace Corps. 

5 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Office established 

6 under subsection (a) shall be responsible for all safety and 

7 security activities of the Peace Corps, including back8 ground checks of volunteers and staff, the safety and secu9 rity of volunteers and staff (including training), the safety 

10 and security of facilities, the security of information tech11 nology, and other responsibilities as required by the Direc12 tor. 

13 ‘‘(c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con14 gress that— 

15 ‘‘(1) the Associate Director of Safety and Secu16 rity of the Peace Corps, as appointed pursuant to 

17 subsection (a) of this section, should assign a Peace 

18 Corps country security coordinator for each country 

19 where the Peace Corps has a program of volunteer 

20 service for the purposes of carrying out the field re21 sponsibilities of the Office; and 

22 ‘‘(2) each country security coordinator— 

23 ‘‘(A) should be a United States citizen; 
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1 ‘‘(B) should be under the supervision of 

2 the Peace Corps country director in such coun3 try; 

4 ‘‘(C) should report directly to the Associate 

5 Director of the Peace Corps for Safety and Se6 curity on all matters of importance that the 

7 country security coordinator considers nec8 essary; 

9 ‘‘(D) should be responsible for coordinating 

10 security activities with the regional security of11 ficer of the Peace Corps responsible for the 

12 country to which such country security officer is 

13 assigned; and 

14 ‘‘(E) should have access to information, in15 cluding classified information, relating to pos16 sible threats against Peace Corps volunteers.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE PEACE CORPS. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INDEPENDENT INSPECTOR

19 GENERAL.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General Act 

21 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

22 (A) in section 8G(a)(2), by striking ‘‘, the 

23 Peace Corps’’; 

24 (B) in section 9(a)(1), by adding at the 

25 end the following new subparagraph: 
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1 ‘‘(X) of the Peace Corps, the office of that 

2 agency referred to as the ‘Office of Inspector 

3 General’; and’’; and 

4 (C) in section 11— 

5 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or 

6 the Office of Personnel Management’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘the Office of Personnel Manage8 ment, or the Peace Corps’’; and 

9 (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, 

10 the Peace Corps’’ after ‘‘the Office of Per11 sonnel Management’’. 

12 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 

13 9(a)(1)(U) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 

14 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

15 end. 

16 (b) TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT.—The Director of 

17 the Peace Corps may appoint an individual to assume the 

18 powers and duties of the Inspector General of the Peace 

19 Corps under the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 

20 App.) on an interim basis until such time as a person is 

21 appointed by the President, by and with the advice and 

22 consent of the Senate, pursuant to the amendments made 

23 in this section. 

24 (c) EXEMPTION FROM EMPLOYMENT TERM LIMITS

25 UNDER THE PEACE CORPS ACT.— 
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 7 of the Peace 

2 Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2506) is amended— 

3 (A) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub4 section (b); and 

5 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

6 subsection: 

7 ‘‘(c) The provisions of this section that limit the dura8 tion of service, appointment, or assignment of individuals 

9 shall not apply to— 

10 ‘‘(1) the Inspector General of the Peace Corps; 

11 ‘‘(2) officers of the Office of the Inspector Gen12 eral of the Peace Corps; 

13 ‘‘(3) any individual whose official duties pri14 marily include the safety and security of Peace 

15 Corps volunteers or employees; 

16 ‘‘(4) the head of the office responsible for med17 ical services of the Peace Corps; or 

18 ‘‘(5) any health care professional within the of19 fice responsible for medical services of the Peace 

20 Corps.’’. 

21 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The first pro22 viso of section 15(d)(4) of the Peace Corps Act (22 

23 U.S.C. 2514(d)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘7(c)’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘7(b)’’. 
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1 (d) COMPENSATION.—Section 7 of the Peace Corps 

2 Act (22 U.S.C. 2506), as amended by subsection (c) of 

3 this section, is further amended by adding at the end the 

4 following new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(d) The Inspector General of the Peace Corps shall 

6 be compensated at the rate provided for level IV of the 

7 Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 

8 States Code.’’. 

9 SEC. 5. OFFICE OF MEDICAL SERVICES OF THE PEACE 

10 CORPS. 

11 (a) REPORT ON MEDICAL SCREENING AND PLACE12 MENT COORDINATION.—Not later than 120 days after the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the 

14 Peace Corps shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

15 committees a report that— 

16 (1) describes the medical screening procedures 

17 and guidelines used by the office responsible for 

18 medical services of the Peace Corps to determine 

19 whether an applicant for Peace Corps service has 

20 worldwide clearance, limited clearance, a deferral pe21 riod, or is not medically, including psychologically, 

22 qualified to serve in the Peace Corps as a volunteer; 

23 (2) describes the procedures and guidelines 

24 used by the Peace Corps to ensure that applicants 

25 for Peace Corps service are matched with a host 
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1 country where the applicant can, with reasonable ac2 commodations, complete at least two years of volun3 teer service without interruption due to foreseeable 

4 medical conditions; and 

5 (3) with respect to each of fiscal years 2000 

6 through 2003 and the first six months of fiscal year 

7 2004, states the number of— 

8 (A) medical screenings of applicants con9 ducted; 

10 (B) applicants who have received world11 wide clearance, limited clearance, deferral peri12 ods, and medical disqualifications to serve; 

13 (C) appeals to the Medical Screening Re14 view Board of the Peace Corps and the number 

15 of times that an initial screening decision was 

16 upheld; 

17 (D) requests that have been made to the 

18 head of the office responsible for medical serv19 ices of the Peace Corps for reconsideration of a 

20 decision of the Medical Screening Review Board 

21 and the number of times that such decisions 

22 were upheld by the head of such office; 

23 (E) Peace Corps volunteers who became 

24 medically qualified to serve because of a deci25 sion of the Medical Screening Review Board 
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1 and who were later evacuated or terminated 

2 their service early due to medical reasons; 

3 (F) Peace Corps volunteers who became 

4 medically qualified to serve because of a deci5 sion of the head of the office responsible for 

6 medical services of the Peace Corps and who 

7 were later evacuated or terminated their service 

8 early due to medical reasons; 

9 (G) Peace Corps volunteers who the agency 

10 has had to separate from service due to the dis11 covery of undisclosed medical information; and 

12 (H) Peace Corps volunteers who have ter13 minated their service early due to medical, in14 cluding psychological, reasons. 

15 (b) FULL TIME DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL SERVICES.— 

16 Section 4(c) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2503(c)) 

17 is amended by adding at the end the following new para18 graph: 

19 ‘‘(5) The Director of the Peace Corps shall ensure 

20 that the head of the office responsible for medical services 

21 of the Peace Corps does not occupy any other position in 

22 the Peace Corps.’’. 
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1 SEC. 6. REPORTS ON THE ‘‘FIVE YEAR RULE’’ AND ON WORK 

2 ASSIGNMENTS OF VOLUNTEERS OF THE 

3 PEACE CORPS. 

4 (a) REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp7 troller General shall submit to the appropriate con8 gressional committees a report on the effects on the 

9 ability of the Peace Corps to effectively manage 

10 Peace Corps operations of the limitations on the du11 ration of employment, appointment, or assignment 

12 of officers and employees of the Peace Corps under 

13 section 7 of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2506). 

14 (2) CONTENTS.—The report described in para15 graph (1) shall include— 

16 (A) a description of such limitations; 

17 (B) a description of the history of such 

18 limitations and the purposes for which it was 

19 enacted and amended; 

20 (C) an analysis of the impact of such limi21 tations on the ability of the Peace Corps to re22 cruit capable volunteers, establish productive 

23 and worthwhile assignments for volunteers, pro24 vide for the health, safety, and security of vol25 unteers, and, as declared in section 2(a) of the 

26 Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501(a)), ‘‘pro-
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1 mote a better understanding of the American 

2 people on the part of the peoples served and a 

3 better understanding of other peoples on the 

4 part of the American people’’; 

5 (D) an assessment of whether the applica6 tion of such limitations have accomplished the 

7 objectives for which they were intended; and 

8 (E) recommendations, if any, for legisla9 tion to amend provisions of the Peace Corps 

10 Act that relate to such limitations. 

11 (b) REPORT ON WORK ASSIGNMENTS OF VOLUN12 TEERS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Di15 rector of the Peace Corps shall submit to the appro16 priate congressional committees a report on the ex17 tent to which the work assignments of Peace Corps 

18 volunteers fulfill the commitment of the Peace Corps 

19 to ensuring that— 

20 (A) such assignments are well developed, 

21 with clear roles and expectations; and 

22 (B) volunteers are well-suited for their as23 signments. 

24 (2) CONTENTS.—The report described in para25 graph (1) shall include— 
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1 (A) an assessment of the extent to which 

2 agreements between the Peace Corps and host 

3 countries delineate clear roles for volunteers in 

4 assisting host governments to advance their na5 tional development strategies; 

6 (B) an assessment of the extent to which 

7 the Peace Corps— 

8 (i) recruits volunteers who have skills 

9 that correlate with the expectations cited 

10 in the country agreements; and 

11 (ii) assigns such volunteers to such 

12 posts; 

13 (C) a description of the procedures in place 

14 for determining volunteer work assignments 

15 and minimum standards for such assignments; 

16 (D) the results of a survey of volunteers on 

17 health, safety, and security issues and of satis18 faction surveys, which are to be conducted after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act; and 

20 (E) an assessment of the plan of the Peace 

21 Corps to increase the number of volunteers who 

22 are assigned to projects in sub-Saharan Africa, 

23 Asia, and the Western Hemisphere, particularly 

24 among communities of African descent within 

25 countries in the Western Hemisphere, that help 
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1 combat HIV/AIDS and other global infectious 

2 diseases. 

3 SEC. 7. DEFINITION OF APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL 

4 COMMITTEES. 

5 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com6 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

7 the Senate and the Committee on International Relations 

8 of the House of Representatives. 

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