herself from any Board activity, interview, deposi-
tion, or recommendation concerning a person with 
whom such member has a conflict of interest. Such 
member shall promptly notify the other members of 
such Board of any such recusal, but need not state 
the basis therefor. 
‘‘(d) CONFLICT
OF INTEREST DEFINED.—In this 
section, the term ‘conflict of interest’ means one of the 
following relationships, whether current or former, that 
would cause a reasonable person with knowledge of the 
relevant facts to question the impartiality of the parties 
to such relationship toward each other: 
‘‘(1) A business, contractual, or other financial 
relationship that involves other than a routine con-
sumer transaction. 
‘‘(2) A familial, member of household, or other 
close personal relationship, including a social rela-
tionship of a romantic or intimate nature. 
‘‘(3) A direct managerial or supervisory work-
place relationship.’’. 
SEC. 5. EVIDENCE. 
Subsection (a) of section 303 of the Omnibus Diplo-
matic Security and Antiterrorism Act (22 U.S.C. 4833) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
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‘‘(4) DETERMINATION
OF
RELEVANCY.—The 
Board may accept any evidence determined by a 
member of the Board to be relevant and material to 
an investigation or inquiry of the Board. The Fed-
eral Rules of Evidence are not applicable to the 
Board.’’. 
SEC. 6. BOARD ACTIONS. 
(a) PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS.—Subsection (b) 
of section 304 of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and 
Antiterrorism Act (22 U.S.C. 4834) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(b) PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), not later than 90 days after a Board is 
convened in a case, such Board shall submit to the 
Secretary of State and Congress its findings (which 
may be classified to the extent determined necessary 
by the Board), together with recommendations as 
appropriate to improve the security and efficiency of 
any program or operation which such Board has re-
viewed. 
‘‘(2) EXTENSION.—The 90 day period referred 
to in paragraph (1) may be extended for up to 60 
days if the Chairperson of the Board referred to in 
such paragraph determines that such additional time 
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is necessary to complete a thorough review of the 
program or operation at issue. 
‘‘(3) DISSENTING
VIEWS.—If a member dis-
sents from any of the findings or recommendations 
of the Board, such member may submit dissenting 
views to accompany the submission of the Board’s 
findings and recommendations under paragraph 
(1).’’. 
(b) REPORTS.—Paragraph (1) of subsection (d) of 
section 304 of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and 
Antiterrorism Act is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later 
than 90 days after the submission to the Secretary 
of State of the findings and recommendations from 
any Board in accordance with subsection (b), the 
Secretary shall submit to Congress a corresponding 
report on the action taken with respect to each such 
recommendation.’’. 
SEC. 7. REGULATIONS. 
The Secretary of State shall promulgate or update 
regulations, as the case may be, to carry out the amend-
ments made by this Act. 
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 
respect to any case of an Accountability Review Board 
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that is convened under section 301 of the Omnibus Diplo-
matic Security and Antiterrorism Act (22 U.S.C. 4831) 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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