IIB 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4060

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 2, 2004

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT

To amend the Peace Corps Act to establish an Ombudsman 

and an Office of Safety and Security 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Health, Safety, and 

3 Security of Peace Corps Volunteers Act of 2004’’. 

4 SEC. 2. OMBUDSMAN OF THE PEACE CORPS. 

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

6 amended by inserting after section 4 the following new 

7 section: 

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

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

10 Peace Corps the Office of the Ombudsman of the Peace 

11 Corps (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘Of12 fice’). The Office shall be headed by the Ombudsman of 

13 the Peace Corps (hereinafter in this section referred to 

14 as the ‘Ombudsman’), who shall be appointed by and re15 port directly to the Director of the Peace Corps. 

16 ‘‘(b) VOLUNTEER COMPLAINTS AND OTHER MAT17 TERS.—The Ombudsman shall receive and, as appro18 priate, inquire into complaints, questions, or concerns sub19 mitted by current or former volunteers regarding services 

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

21 including matters pertaining to—

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

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

24 separation from the Peace Corps; 

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

26 current or former volunteers; 
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1 ‘‘(4) medical or other health-related assistance; 

2 and 

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

4 former volunteers. 

5 ‘‘(c) EMPLOYEE COMPLAINTS AND OTHER MAT6 TERS.—The Ombudsman shall receive and, as appro7 priate, inquire into complaints, questions, or concerns sub8 mitted by current or former employees of the Peace Corps 

9 on any matters of grievance. 

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

11 shall—

12 ‘‘(1) recommend responses to individual matters 

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

14 ‘‘(2) make recommendations for administrative 

15 or regulatory adjustments to address recurring prob16 lems or other difficulties of the Peace Corps; 

17 ‘‘(3) identify systemic issues that relate to the 

18 practices, policies, and administrative procedures of 

19 the Peace Corps affecting volunteers and employees; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(4) call attention to problems not yet ade22 quately considered by the Peace Corps. 

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

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

25 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) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘em11 ployee’ 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 (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘Of2 fice’). The Office shall be headed by the Associate Director 

3 of Safety and Security of the Peace Corps, who shall be

4 appointed by and report directly to the Director of the 

5 Peace Corps. 

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

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

8 security activities of the Peace Corps, including back9 ground checks of volunteers and staff, safety and security 

10 of volunteers and staff (including training), safety and se11 curity of facilities, security of information technology, and 

12 other responsibilities as required by the Director. 

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 established under sub22 section (a); and 

23 ‘‘(2) each country security coordinator—
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1 ‘‘(A) should be under the supervision of 

2 the Peace Corps country director in each such 

3 country; 

4 ‘‘(B) should report directly to the Asso5 ciate Director of Safety and Security of the 

6 Peace Corps, as appointed pursuant to sub7 section (a) of this section, on all matters of im8 portance as the country security coordinator 

9 considers necessary; 

10 ‘‘(C) should be responsible for coordinating 

11 with the regional security officer of the Peace 

12 Corps responsible for the country to which such 

13 country security officer is assigned; and 

14 ‘‘(D) should be a United States citizen who 

15 has access to information, including classified 

16 information, relating to the possible threats 

17 against Peace Corps volunteers.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. OFFICE OF MEDICAL SERVICES OF THE PEACE 

19 CORPS. 

20 (a) REPORT ON MEDICAL SCREENING AND PLACE21 MENT COORDINATION.—Not later than 120 days after the 

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

23 Peace Corps shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

24 committees a report that—
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1 (1) describes the medical screening procedures 

2 and guidelines used by the office responsible for 

3 medical services of the Peace Corps to determine 

4 whether an applicant for Peace Corps service has 

5 worldwide clearance, limited clearance, a deferral pe6 riod, or is not medically, including psychologically, 

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

8 (2) describes the procedures and guidelines 

9 used by the Peace Corps to ensure that applicants 

10 for Peace Corps service are matched with a host 

11 country where the applicant, reasonable accommoda12 tions notwithstanding, can complete at least two 

13 years of volunteer service without interruption due 

14 to foreseeable medical conditions; and 

15 (3) with respect to each of the fiscal years 2000 

16 through 2003 and the first six months of fiscal year 

17 2004, states the number of—

18 (A) medical screenings of applicants con19 ducted; 

20 (B) applicants who have received world21 wide clearance, limited clearance, deferral peri22 ods, and medical disqualifications to serve; 

23 (C) appeals to the Medical Screening Re24 view Board of the Peace Corps and the number 
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1 of times that an initial screening decision was 

2 upheld; 

3 (D) requests to the head of the office re4 sponsible for medical services of the Peace 

5 Corps for reconsideration of a decision of the 

6 Medical Screening Review Board and the num7 ber of times that the decision of the Medical 

8 Screening Review Board was upheld by the 

9 head of such office; 

10 (E) Peace Corps volunteers who became 

11 medically qualified to serve because of a deci12 sion of the Medical Screening Review Board 

13 and who were later evacuated or terminated 

14 their service early due to medical reasons; 

15 (F) Peace Corps volunteers who became 

16 medically qualified to serve because of a deci17 sion of the head of the office responsible for 

18 medical services of the Peace Corps and who 

19 were later evacuated or terminated their service 

20 early due to medical reasons; 

21 (G) Peace Corps volunteers who the agency 

22 has had to separate from service due to the dis23 covery of undisclosed medical information; and 
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1 (H) Peace Corps volunteers who have ter2 minated their service early due to medical, in3 cluding psychological, reasons. 

4 (b) DEFINITION.—In subsection (a), the term ‘‘ap5 propriate congressional committees’’ means the Com6 mittee on International Relations of the House of Rep7 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

8 the Senate. 

9 (c) FULL TIME DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL SERVICES.—

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

11 is amended by adding at the end the following new para12 graph: 

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

14 that the head of the office responsible for medical services 

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

16 the Peace Corps.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. REPORTS ON THE ‘‘FIVE YEAR RULE’’ AND ON WORK 

18 ASSIGNMENTS OF VOLUNTEERS OF THE 

19 PEACE CORPS. 

20 (a) REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—

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

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp23 troller General shall submit to the appropriate con24 gressional committees a report on the effects of the 

25 limitation on the duration of employment, appoint-
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1 ment, or assignment of officers and employees of the 

2 Peace Corps under section 7 of the Peace Corps Act 

3 (22 U.S.C. 2506) on the ability of the Peace Corps 

4 to effectively manage Peace Corps operations. 

5 (2) CONTENTS.—The report described in para6 graph (1) shall include—

7 (A) a description of such limitation;

8 (B) a description of the history of such 

9 limitation and the purposes for which it was en10 acted and amended; 

11 (C) an analysis of the impact of such limi12 tation on the ability of the Peace Corps to re13 cruit capable volunteers, establish productive 

14 and worthwhile assignments for volunteers, pro15 vide for the health, safety, and security of vol16 unteers, and, as declared in section 2(a) of the 

17 Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501(a)), ‘‘pro18 mote a better understanding of the American 

19 people on the part of the peoples served and a 

20 better understanding of other peoples on the 

21 part of the American people’’; 

22 (D) an assessment of whether the applica23 tion of such limitation has accomplished the ob24 jectives for which it was intended; and 
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1 (E) recommendations, if any, for legisla2 tion to amend provisions of the Peace Corps 

3 Act relating to such limitation. 

4 (b) REPORT ON WORK ASSIGNMENTS OF VOLUN5 TEERS.—

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

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Di8 rector of the Peace Corps shall submit to the appro9 priate congressional committees a report on the ex10 tent to which the work assignments of Peace Corps 

11 volunteers fulfill the commitment of the Peace Corps 

12 to ensuring that such assignments are well devel13 oped, with clear roles and expectations, and that vol14 unteers are well-suited for their assignments. 

15 (2) CONTENTS.—The report described in para16 graph (1) shall include—

17 (A) an assessment of the extent to which 

18 agreements between the Peace Corps and host 

19 countries delineate clear roles for volunteers in 

20 assisting host governments to advance their na21 tional development strategies; 

22 (B) an assessment of the extent to which 

23 the Peace Corps recruits volunteers who have 

24 skills that correlate with the expectations cited 
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1 in the country agreements and assigns such vol2 unteers to such posts; 

3 (C) a description of procedures for deter4 mining volunteer work assignments and min5 imum standards for such assignments; 

6 (D) a volunteer survey on health, safety, 

7 and security issues as well as satisfaction sur8 veys which will have been conducted after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act; and 

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

11 Corps to increase the number of volunteers who 

12 are assigned to projects in sub-Saharan Africa, 

13 Asia, and the Western Hemisphere, particularly 

14 among communities of African descent within 

15 countries in the Western Hemisphere, which 

16 help combat HIV/AIDS and other global infec17 tious diseases. 

18 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘appro19 priate congressional committees’’ means the Committee on 

20 International Relations of the House of Representatives 

21 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

22 SEC. 6. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE PEACE CORPS. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INDEPENDENT INSPECTOR

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

2 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended—

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

4 Peace Corps’’; 

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

6 end the following new subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(X) of the Peace Corps, the office of that 

8 agency referred to as the ‘Office of Inspector 

9 General’; and’’; and 

10 (C) in section 11—

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

12 the Office of Personnel Management’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘the Office of Personnel Manage14 ment, or the Peace Corps’’; and 

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

16 the Peace Corps’’ after ‘‘the Office of Per17 sonnel Management’’. 

18 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 

19 9(a)(1)(U) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 

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

21 end. 

22 (b) TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT.—The Director of 

23 the Peace Corps may appoint an individual to assume the 

24 powers and duties of the Inspector General of the Peace 

25 Corps under the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 
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1 App.) on an interim basis until such time as a person is 

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

3 consent of the Senate, pursuant to the amendments made 

4 in this section. 

5 (c) EXEMPTION FROM EMPLOYMENT TERM LIMITS

6 UNDER THE PEACE CORPS ACT.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 7 of the Peace 

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

9 (A) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub10 section (b); and 

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

12 subsection: 

13 ‘‘(c) The provisions of this section that limit the dura14 tion of service, appointment, or assignment of individuals 

15 shall not apply to—

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

17 ‘‘(2) officers of the Office of the Inspector Gen18 eral of the Peace Corps; 

19 ‘‘(3) any individual whose official duties pri20 marily include the safety and security of Peace 

21 Corps volunteers or employees; 

22 ‘‘(4) the head of the office responsible for med23 ical services of the Peace Corps; or 
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1 ‘‘(5) any health care professional within the of2 fice responsible for medical services of the Peace 

3 Corps.’’. 

4 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The first pro5 viso of section 15(d)(4) of the Peace Corps Act (22 

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

7 and inserting ‘‘7(b)’’. 

8 (d) COMPENSATION.—Section 7 of the Peace Corps 

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

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

11 following new subsection: 

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

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

14 Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 

15 States Code.’’.

Passed the House of Representatives June 1, 2004. 

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL, 

Clerk.