I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6034 
To amend the Diplomatic Security Act of 1986 to empower diplomats to 
pursue vital diplomatic goals and mitigate security risks at United States 
Government missions abroad, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 18, 2021 
Ms. JACOBS of California (for herself and Mr. KINZINGER) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the Diplomatic Security Act of 1986 to empower 
diplomats to pursue vital diplomatic goals and mitigate 
security risks at United States Government missions 
abroad, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Diplomatic Support 
and Security Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
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(1) it is a United States national security pri-
ority that United States Government mission per-
sonnel are able to fully execute their duties, includ-
ing— 
(A) providing United States citizen services 
that are often a matter of life and death in in-
secure places; 
(B) meeting with foreign officials, includ-
ing government and nongovernment, civil soci-
ety, private sector, and members of the press, 
to advance United States national security pri-
orities; and 
(C) understanding, engaging, and report-
ing on foreign political, social, and economic 
conditions; 
(2) a risk-averse environment that inhibits the 
execution of these fundamental duties undermines 
the national security interests of the United States 
and contributes to the further militarization of 
United States foreign policy as military and intel-
ligence agencies may experience fewer security re-
strictions and greater risk tolerance in the wake of 
security incidents; and 
(3) Congress has a role to play in addressing 
the negative impacts of an increasingly risk-averse 
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culture at the Department of State and United 
States Agency for International Development and 
helping to create an appropriate balance of security 
and safety for United States diplomats and per-
sonnel with greater flexibility to carry out their most 
important duties, and in removing politics from the 
review of post-security incident evaluations. 
SEC. 3. ENCOURAGING EXPEDITIONARY DIPLOMACY. 
(a) PURPOSE.—Subsection (b) of section 102 of the 
Diplomatic Security Act (22 U.S.C. 4801(b)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(3) to promote strengthened security meas-
ures, institutionalize a culture of learning, and, in 
the case of apparent gross negligence or breach of 
duty, recommend the Director General of the For-
eign Service investigate accountability for United 
States Government personnel with security-related 
responsibilities;’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 
paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
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‘‘(4) to support a culture of effective risk man-
agement that enables the Department of State to 
pursue its vital goals with full knowledge that it is 
neither desirable nor possible for the Department to 
avoid all risks;’’. 
(b) BRIEFINGS ON EMBASSY SECURITY.—Paragraph 
(1) of section 105(a) of the Diplomatic Security Act (22 
U.S.C. 4804(a)) is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 
by striking ‘‘any plans to open or reopen a high risk, 
high threat post’’ and inserting ‘‘progress towards 
opening or reopening high risk, high threat posts, 
and the risk to national security of the continued 
closure and remaining barriers to doing so’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘the type 
and level of security threats such post could encoun-
ter’’ and inserting ‘‘the risk to national security of 
the post’s continued closure’’; and 
(3) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘the type 
and level of security threats such post could encoun-
ter, and’’ before ‘‘security ‘tripwires’ ’’. 
SEC. 4. INVESTIGATION OF SERIOUS SECURITY INCIDENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301 of the Diplomatic Se-
curity Act (22 U.S.C. 4831) is amended— 
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(1) in the section heading, by striking the head-
ing and inserting ‘‘INVESTIGATION OF SERIOUS 
SECURITY INCIDENTS’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(1) CONVENING THE SERIOUS SECURITY INCI-
DENT
INVESTIGATION
PERMANENT
COORDINATING 
COMMITTEE PROCESS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In any case of an inci-
dent involving loss of life, serious injury, or sig-
nificant destruction of property at, or related 
to, a United States Government (USG) mission 
abroad, and in any case of a serious breach of 
security involving intelligence activities of a for-
eign government directed at a USG mission 
abroad, an investigation, to be referred to as a 
‘Serious Security Incident Investigation’ (SSII), 
into such incident shall be convened by the De-
partment of State and a report produced for 
the Secretary of State providing a full account 
of such incident, including— 
‘‘(i) whether security provisions perti-
nent to such incident were in place and 
functioning; 
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Coordinating Committee’ (SSII/PCC) es-
tablished pursuant to such section’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘for the convening of 
the Board’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Board’’ 
each place it appears and inserting ‘‘SSII/ 
PCC’’; and 
(4) in subsection (c)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘Board’’ the first place 
such term appears and inserting ‘‘Serious Secu-
rity Incident Investigation and begins the SSII/ 
PCC process’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘chairman’’ and inserting 
‘‘chair and ranking member’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘Speaker’’ and all that fol-
lows through the period at the end of para-
graph (3) and inserting ‘‘chair and ranking 
member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in section 2 of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and 
Antiterrorism Act of 1986 is amended by striking the item 
relating to section 301 and inserting the following new 
item: 
‘‘Sec. 301. Investigation of serious security incidents.’’. 
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SEC. 5. SERIOUS SECURITY INCIDENT INVESTIGATION PER-
MANENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Diplomatic Se-
curity Act of 1986 (22 U.S.C. 4832) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 302. SERIOUS SECURITY INCIDENT INVESTIGATION 
PERMANENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE. 
‘‘(a) BUREAU OF DIPLOMATIC SECURITY RESPONSI-
BILITY FOR INVESTIGATIONS.—The Diplomatic Security 
Service of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security of the De-
partment of State shall be responsible for conducting the 
investigation of an incident involving loss of life, serious 
injury, or significant destruction of property at, or related 
to, a United States Government (USG) mission abroad 
that may be determined to be a serious security incident 
and providing investigative personnel and other resources 
as may be necessary. The results of every investigation 
of all such incidents shall be referred to the Serious Secu-
rity Incident Investigation Permanent Coordinating Com-
mittee established and convened pursuant to subsection 
(b) for final determinations regarding whether such inci-
dents are serious security incidents. 
‘‘(b) SERIOUS SECURITY INCIDENT PERMANENT CO-
ORDINATING COMMITTEE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of State 
shall establish and convene a committee, referred to 
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as a ‘Serious Security Incident Investigation Perma-
nent Coordinating Committee’ (in this title referred 
to as the ‘SSII/PCC’), to review each incident de-
scribed in subsection (a) to determine, in accordance 
with section 304, if each such incident is a serious 
security incident. The SSII/PCC shall review the Re-
port of Investigation prepared under section 303(c) 
and any other available reporting and evidence, in-
cluding video recordings, and shall prepare the SSII/ 
PCC Report under section 304(b). 
‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The SSII/PCC shall be 
composed primarily of Assistant Secretary-level per-
sonnel or their designated representatives in the De-
partment of State, and shall at a minimum include 
the following personnel: 
‘‘(A) A representative of the Under Sec-
retary of State for Management, who shall 
serve as chair of the SSII/PCC. 
‘‘(B) The Assistant Secretary or des-
ignated representative responsible for the region 
in which the serious security incident occurred. 
‘‘(C) The Assistant Secretary or des-
ignated representative for Diplomatic Security. 
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‘‘(D) The Assistant Secretary or des-
ignated representative for the Bureau of Intel-
ligence and Research. 
‘‘(E) An Assistant Secretary-level or des-
ignated representative from any involved United 
States Government department or agency. 
‘‘(F) Other personnel as determined nec-
essary or appropriate. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘des-
ignated representative’ means an official of the Depart-
ment of State with a rank and status not lower than a 
Deputy Assistant Secretary-level or equivalent relevant to 
the office in which the Assistant Secretary referred to in 
paragraph (2) is a part and who is acting on behalf of 
the Assistant Secretary and with respect to whom the As-
sistant Secretary is responsible for the conduct and ac-
tions during the investigation process.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in section 2 of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and 
Antiterrorism Act of 1986 is amended by striking the item 
relating to section 302 and inserting the following new 
item: 
‘‘Sec. 302. Serious Security Incident Investigation Permanent Coordinating 
Committee.’’. 
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SEC. 6. SERIOUS SECURITY INCIDENT INVESTIGATION 
PROCESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Diplomatic Se-
curity Act of 1986 (22 U.S.C. 4833) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 303. SERIOUS SECURITY INCIDENT INVESTIGATION 
PROCESS. 
‘‘(a) INVESTIGATION PROCESS.— 
‘‘(1) INITIATION.—The Serious Security Inci-
dent Investigation process shall commence when a 
United States Government (USG) mission reports to 
the Secretary of State information relating to an in-
cident involving loss of life, serious injury, or signifi-
cant destruction of property at, or related to, a USG 
mission abroad, including detailed information about 
such incident, not later than 72 hours after the oc-
currence of such incident. 
‘‘(2) INVESTIGATION.—The Diplomatic Security 
Service of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security of the 
Department of State shall assemble an investigative 
team to carry out the investigation of an incident re-
ported under paragraph (1). The investigation shall 
cover the following matters with respect to such inci-
dent: 
‘‘(A) An assessment of what occurred, an 
identification, if known, of the perpetrator sus-
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pected of having carried out such incident, and 
whether applicable security procedures were fol-
lowed. 
‘‘(B) If such incident was an attack on a 
USG mission abroad, a determination regarding 
whether security systems, security counter-
measures, and security procedures operated as 
intended. 
‘‘(C) If such incident was an attack on an 
individual or group of officers, employees, or 
family members under chief of mission author-
ity conducting approved operations or move-
ments outside a USG mission, a determination 
regarding whether proper security briefings and 
procedures were in place and whether security 
systems, security countermeasures, and security 
procedures operated as intended, and whether 
such systems, countermeasures, and procedures 
worked to materially mitigate such attack or 
were inadequate to mitigate any threat associ-
ated with such attack. 
‘‘(D) An assessment of whether any offi-
cials’ or employees’ failure to follow procedures 
or perform their duties contributed to such inci-
dent. 
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