I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8912 
To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to establish 
in the Department of State a Chief Diversity Officer and the Foreign 
Service Act of 1980 to promote increased diversity in the Foreign Service, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 9, 2020 
Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. JUDY CHU of Cali-
fornia, Ms. TITUS, and Ms. BASS) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 
1956 to establish in the Department of State a Chief 
Diversity Officer and the Foreign Service Act of 1980 
to promote increased diversity in the Foreign Service, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Diversity and Inclusion at the Department of State Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER 
Sec. 101. Chief Diversity Officer. 
TITLE II—DIVERSITY IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE AND AT THE 
DEPARTMENT OF STATE 
Sec. 201. Representation on Board of Examiners for the purposes of recruit-
ment into the Foreign Service. 
Sec. 202. Promotion in the Foreign Service. 
Sec. 203. Diversity and inclusion training. 
Sec. 204. Mentorship program. 
Sec. 205. Senior Executive Service candidate development program. 
Sec. 206. Diversity defined in the Foreign Service Act of 1980. 
TITLE III—PROMOTION ACCESSIBILITY 
Sec. 301. Implementation of gap memorandum in selection board process. 
TITLE I—CHIEF DIVERSITY 
OFFICER 
SEC. 101. CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 1 of the State De-
partment Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 
2651a) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(h) CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 
Department of State, in the office of the Deputy 
Secretary of State, a Chief Diversity Officer, who 
shall— 
‘‘(A) be appointed by the President; 
‘‘(B) be a current or former career mem-
ber of the Foreign Service or Civil Service; and 
‘‘(C) report directly to the Deputy Sec-
retary of State. 
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‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEPUTY SEC-
RETARY OF STATE.—The Deputy Secretary of State 
shall be responsible for ensuring policies and prac-
tices of the Department of State relating to recruit-
ment, retention, and promotion to advance diversity, 
equity, and inclusion. 
‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Chief Diversity Officer 
shall be responsible for the following: 
‘‘(A) Providing advice to the Deputy Sec-
retary of State regarding carrying out para-
graph (2). 
‘‘(B) Collecting and sharing information on 
diversity in assignments and promotions within 
the 
Department 
of 
State, 
including 
disaggregated information by office and bureau. 
‘‘(C) Establishing benchmarks and goals 
for individual offices and bureaus regarding as-
signments of personnel, in coordination with the 
Director General of the Foreign Service, to pro-
mote diversity and inclusion at the Department 
of State, and conducting annual reviews of indi-
vidual bureaus on their actions taken to satisfy 
such benchmarks and goals. 
‘‘(D) Providing advice to the Deputy Sec-
retary of State and other senior individuals of 
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the Department of State in the selection of 
chiefs of mission and deputy chiefs of mission. 
‘‘(4) RANK AND STATUS.—The Chief Diversity 
Officer shall have the rank and status of Assistant 
Secretary of State. 
‘‘(5) BUREAU
LIAISONS.—The Secretary of 
State shall appoint in each bureau of the Depart-
ment of State a liaison to coordinate with the Chief 
Diversity Officer the activities of each such bureau. 
‘‘(6) REPORTING.—Not later than January 30 
of every year, the Secretary of State shall submit to 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Re-
lations of the Senate a report— 
‘‘(A) detailing the benchmarks and goals 
for individual offices and bureaus of the De-
partment of State; 
‘‘(B) assessments by the Chief Diversity 
Officer on the performance over the previous 
year of each such office and bureau to satisfy 
such benchmarks and goals; and 
‘‘(C) containing any other relevant infor-
mation. 
‘‘(7) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term 
‘diversity’ has the meaning given such term in sec-
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