I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6237 
To allow Federal State Department employees to file a confidential or open 
report on any fiscal waste that they come across and establishes an 
award program for exemplary employees who file non-confidential reports 
on wasteful spending. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 6, 2023 
Mr. BAIRD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To allow Federal State Department employees to file a con-
fidential or open report on any fiscal waste that they 
come across and establishes an award program for exem-
plary employees who file non-confidential reports on 
wasteful spending. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF FISCAL WASTE SELF-RE-
PORTING PROGRAM AND FISCAL RESPONSI-
BILITY AWARD. 
(a) FISCAL WASTE SELF-REPORTING PROGRAM.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:53 Nov 15, 2023
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6237.IH
H6237
dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Department of State 
Under Secretary for Management shall work with 
the Director of the Budget and Planning Bureau 
and the Director of Global Talent in the Global Tal-
ent Management Bureau, among other persons, to 
establish a program for employees to self-report fis-
cal waste they observe in their course of employ-
ment. Within 60 days of receiving a report, the 
Under Secretary for Management shall— 
(A) investigate the substance of the report 
and determine if it identifies fiscal waste; and 
(B) rectify all instances of fiscal waste 
identified by the report. 
(2) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Employees shall have 
the opportunity to mark their submissions to the fis-
cal waste self-reporting program as confidential. In-
formation in reports marked as confidential shall— 
(A) be accessible only to staff responsible 
for administering the fiscal waste self-reporting 
program and be shared only insofar as is nec-
essary to investigate or rectify the report. Staff 
administering the program shall not share the 
name or other identifying information of the 
submitting employee; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:53 Nov 15, 2023
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6237.IH
H6237
dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
(B) not be used in the promotion, demo-
tion, or termination of or other employment de-
cisions relating to the submitting employee. 
(3) ANNUAL
REPORT.—The Under Secretary 
for Management shall submit to the appropriate con-
gressional committees an annual report detailing— 
(A) all submissions to the fiscal waste self- 
reporting program that year; 
(B) the findings of all investigations into 
those submissions; and 
(C) all rectifying actions taken in response 
to those submissions. 
(b) FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY AWARD.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for 
Management shall work with the Director of the 
Budget and Planning Bureau and the Director of 
Global Talent in the Global Talent Management Bu-
reau, among other persons, to establish a depart-
mental award for any exemplary employee who— 
(A) recommends or adopts significant cost 
saving measures in program implementation; 
(B) identifies instances of fiscal waste 
within a program; 
(C) cancels, or recommends cancellation of, 
programs resulting in fiscal waste; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:53 Nov 15, 2023
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6237.IH
H6237
dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
(D) proposes a plan for reallocation of re-
sources in lieu of requesting greater appropria-
tions. 
(2) SELF-REPORTS.—An employee’s non-con-
fidential submissions to the fiscal waste self-report-
ing program, particularly those resulting in rectifica-
tion, shall be considered in determining that employ-
ee’s eligibility for this award. 
(3) FREQUENCY.—Eligibility for this award 
shall be determined on at least a quarterly basis. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the House Committee on Foreign 
Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Rela-
tions. 
(2) FISCAL WASTE.—The term ‘‘fiscal waste’’ 
means— 
(A) any inefficiency in the spending pat-
terns or objectives of a program; 
(B) any program which consistently does 
not adequately achieve its stated objectives; and 
(C) any program which no longer holds rel-
evance or has become obsolete. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:53 Nov 15, 2023
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H6237.IH
H6237
dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS