I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2721 
To provide for greater diversity within, and to improve policy direction and 
oversight of, the Senior Executive Service. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 4, 2009 
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GON-
ZALEZ, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Mr. CLAY) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform 
A BILL 
To provide for greater diversity within, and to improve policy 
direction and oversight of, the Senior Executive Service. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Senior Executive Serv-
ice Diversity Assurance Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) according to the Government Accountability 
Office— 
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(A) minorities made up 22.5 percent of the 
individuals serving at the GS–15 and GS–14 
levels and 15.8 percent of the Senior Executive 
Service in 2007; 
(B) women made up 34.3 percent of the 
individuals serving at the GS–15 and GS–14 
levels and 29.1 percent of the Senior Executive 
Service in 2007; and 
(C) although the number of career Senior 
Executive Service members increased from 
6,110 in 2,000 to 6,555 in 2007, the represen-
tation of African-American men in the career 
Senior Executive Service declined during that 
same period from 5.5 percent to 5.0 percent; 
and 
(2) according to the Office of Personnel Man-
agement— 
(A) black employees represented 6.1 per-
cent of employees at the Senior Pay levels and 
17.8 percent of the permanent Federal work-
force compared to 10.1 percent in the civilian 
labor force in 2007; 
(B) Hispanic employees represented 4.0 
percent of employees at the Senior Pay levels 
and 7.8 percent of the permanent Federal 
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workforce compared to 13.3 percent of the civil-
ian labor force in 2007; and 
(C) women represented 28.2 percent of 
employees at the Senior Pay levels and 43.9 
percent of the permanent Federal workforce 
compared to 45.7 percent of the civilian labor 
force in 2007. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 
the Office of Personnel Management; 
(2) the term ‘‘Senior Executive Service’’ has the 
meaning given such term by section 2101a of title 
5, United States Code; 
(3) the terms ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘career appointee’’, 
and ‘‘career reserved position’’ have the meanings 
given them by section 3132 of title 5, United States 
Code; and 
(4) the term ‘‘SES Resource Office’’ means the 
Senior Executive Service Resource Office, estab-
lished under section 4. 
SEC. 4. SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE RESOURCE OFFICE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall 
establish within the Office of Personnel Management an 
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office to be known as the Senior Executive Service Re-
source Office. The mission of the SES Resource Office 
shall be— 
(1) to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and 
productivity of the Senior Executive Service through 
policy formulation and oversight; 
(2) to advance the professionalism of the Senior 
Executive Service; and 
(3) to ensure that, in seeking to achieve a Sen-
ior Executive Service reflective of the Nation’s diver-
sity, recruitment is from qualified individuals from 
appropriate sources. 
(b) FUNCTIONS.—It shall be the function of the SES 
Resource Office to make recommendations to the Director 
with respect to regulations, and to provide guidance to 
agencies, concerning the structure, management, and di-
verse composition of the Senior Executive Service. In 
order to carry out the purposes of this section, the SES 
Resource Office shall— 
(1) take such actions as the SES Resource Of-
fice considers necessary to manage and promote an 
efficient, elite, and diverse corps of senior executives 
by— 
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(8) make available to the public through the of-
ficial public internet site of the Office of Personnel 
Management, the data collected under paragraph 
(7); 
(9) establish mentoring programs for potential 
candidates for the Senior Executive Service, includ-
ing candidates who have been certified as having the 
executive qualifications necessary for initial appoint-
ment as a career appointee under a program estab-
lished pursuant to section 3396(a) of title 5, United 
States Code; 
(10) conduct a continuing program for the re-
cruitment of women, members of racial and ethnic 
minority groups, and individuals with disabilities for 
Senior Executive Service positions, with special ef-
forts directed at recruiting from educational institu-
tions, professional associations, and other sources; 
(11) advise agencies on the best practices for 
an agency in utilizing or consulting with an agency’s 
equal employment or diversity office or official (if 
the agency has such an office or official) with regard 
to the agency’s Senior Executive Service appoint-
ments process; and 
(12) evaluate and implement strategies to en-
sure that agencies conduct appropriate outreach to 
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other agencies to identify candidates for Senior Ex-
ecutive Service positions. 
(c) PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFIABLE 
INFORMATION.—For purposes of subsection (b)(8), the 
SES Resource Office may combine data for any agency 
that is not named in section 901(b) of chapter 31, United 
States Code, to protect individually identifiable informa-
tion. 
(d) COOPERATION OF AGENCIES.—The head of each 
agency shall provide the Office of Personnel Management 
with such information as the SES Resource Office may 
require in order to carry out subsection (b)(7). 
SEC. 5. CAREER APPOINTMENTS. 
(a) PROMOTING DIVERSITY
IN
THE CAREER AP-
POINTMENTS PROCESS.—Section 3393 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b), by inserting after the first 
sentence the following: ‘‘In establishing an executive 
resources board, the head of the agency shall, to the 
extent practicable, ensure diversity of the board and 
of any subgroup thereof or other evaluation panel re-
lated to the merit staffing process for career ap-
pointees, by including members of racial and ethnic 
minority groups, women, and individuals with dis-
abilities.’’; and 
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(2) in subsection (c)(1), by adding after the last 
sentence the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the pre-
ceding sentence, consideration should also be given 
to improving diversity by including members of ra-
cial and ethnic minority groups, women, and individ-
uals with disabilities on such boards.’’. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—Within 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Director shall promulgate 
regulations to implement the amendments made by sub-
section (a) and to improve diversity in executive resources 
boards and qualifications review boards. 
(c) REPORT.—Within 1 year after the date of the en-
actment of this Act, the Director shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Secu-
rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report eval-
uating agency efforts to improve diversity in executive re-
sources boards and of the members designated by agencies 
to serve on qualifications review boards, based on the in-
formation collected by the SES Resource Office under sub-
paragraphs (F) and (G) of section 4(b)(7). 
SEC. 6. ENCOURAGING A MORE DIVERSE SENIOR EXECU-
TIVE SERVICE. 
(a) 
SENIOR
EXECUTIVE
SERVICE
DIVERSITY 
PLANS.—Within 1 year after the date of the enactment 
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of this Act, each agency, in consultation with the Office 
of Personnel Management, shall submit to the Office of 
Personnel Management a plan to enhance and maximize 
opportunities for the advancement and appointment of mi-
norities, women, and individuals with disabilities in the 
agency to the Senior Executive Service. Agency plans shall 
address how the agency is identifying and eliminating bar-
riers that impair the ability of minorities, women, and in-
dividuals with disabilities to obtain appointments to the 
Senior Executive Service and any actions the agency is 
taking to provide advancement opportunities, including— 
(1) conducting outreach to minorities, women, 
and individuals within the agency and outside the 
agency; 
(2) establishing and maintaining training and 
education programs to foster leadership develop-
ment; 
(3) identifying career enhancing opportunities 
for agency employees; 
(4) assessing internal availability of candidates 
for Senior Executive Service positions; and 
(5) conducting an inventory of employee skills 
and addressing current and potential gaps in skills 
and the distribution of skills. 
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Agency plans shall be updated at least every 2 years dur-
ing the 10 years following enactment of this Act. An agen-
cy plan shall be reviewed by the Office of Personnel Man-
agement and, if determined to provide sufficient assur-
ances, procedures, and commitments to provide adequate 
opportunities for the advancement and appointment of mi-
norities, women, and individuals with disabilities to the 
Senior Executive Service, shall be approved by such Office. 
An agency may, in updating its plan, submit to the Office 
of Personnel Management an assessment of the impacts 
of the plan. 
(b) SUMMARY AND EVALUATION.—Within 180 days 
after the deadline for the submission of any report or up-
date under subsection (a), the Director shall transmit to 
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen-
ate a report summarizing and evaluating the agency plans 
or updates (as the case may be) so submitted. 
(c) COORDINATION.—The Office of Personnel Man-
agement shall, in carrying out subsection (a), evaluate ex-
isting requirements under section 717 of the Civil Rights 
Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16) and section 501 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791) and determine 
how agency reporting can be performed so as to be con-
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sistent with, but not duplicative of, such sections and any 
other similar requirements. 
Æ 
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