I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 193 
To improve the design and construction of diplomatic posts, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 3, 2019 
Mr. MCCAUL (for himself and Ms. KELLY of Illinois) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To improve the design and construction of diplomatic posts, 
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 ‘‘Improving Embassy 
Design and Security Act’’. 
SEC. 2. STANDARDIZATION IN CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas 
Building Operations (OBO) or successor office should 
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prioritize the standardization of embassy design and keep 
customization to a minimum. 
(b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of State shall 
carry out any new embassy compound project or new con-
sulate compound project that utilizes a non-standard de-
sign, including those projects that are in the design phase 
or pre-design phase as of the date of the enactment of 
this Act, only in consultation with the appropriate con-
gressional committees. The Secretary shall provide such 
committees, for each such project, the following docu-
mentation: 
(1) A comparison of the estimated full lifecycle 
costs of the project at issue to the estimated full 
lifecycle costs of such project if such project were to 
use a standard design. 
(2) A comparison of the estimated completion 
date of such project to the estimated completion 
date of such project if such project were to use a 
standard design. 
(3) A comparison of the security of such com-
pleted project to the security of such completed 
project if such completed project were to use a 
standard design. 
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(4) A justification for the Secretary’s selection 
of a non-standard design over a standard design for 
such project. 
(5) A written explanation if any of the docu-
mentation necessary to support the comparisons and 
justification, as the case may be, described in para-
graphs (1) through (4) cannot be provided. 
(c) SUNSET.—The consultation requirement under 
subsection (b) shall expire on September 30, 2023. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States that the Bureau 
of Overseas Building Operations of the Department of 
State or its successor office shall continue to balance 
functionality and security with accessibility as defined by 
guidelines established by the United States Access Board 
in constructing embassies and consulates and shall ensure 
compliance with the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 
(42 U.S.C. 4151 et seq.) to the fullest extent possible. 
SEC. 4. CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION TRANSPARENCY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 118 of the Department of 
State Authorities Act, Fiscal Year 2017 (22 U.S.C. 304) 
is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AN-
NUAL
REPORT
ON
EMBASSY
CONSTRUCTION 
COSTS’’ and inserting ‘‘QUARTERLY REPORT ON 
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OVERSEAS
CAPITAL
CONSTRUCTION 
PROJECTS’’; and 
(2) by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this subsection, and every 
90 days thereafter until September 30, 2023, the Sec-
retary shall submit to the appropriate congressional com-
mittees a comprehensive report regarding all ongoing over-
seas capital construction projects and major embassy secu-
rity upgrade projects. 
‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Each report required under sub-
section (a) shall include the following with respect to each 
ongoing overseas capital construction project and major 
embassy security upgrade project: 
‘‘(1) The initial cost estimate as specified in the 
proposed allocation of capital construction and main-
tenance funds required by the Committees on Appro-
priations for Acts making appropriations for the De-
partment of State, foreign operations, and related 
programs. 
‘‘(2) The current cost estimate. 
‘‘(3) The value of each request for equitable ad-
justment received by the Department of State to 
date. 
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‘‘(4) The value of each certified claim received 
by the Department of State to date. 
‘‘(5) The value of any usage of the project’s 
contingency fund to date and the value of the re-
mainder of the project’s contingency fund. 
‘‘(6) An enumerated list of each request for ad-
justment and certified claim that remains out-
standing or unresolved. 
‘‘(7) An enumerated list of each request for eq-
uitable adjustment and certified claim that has been 
fully adjudicated or that the Department has settled, 
and the final dollar amount of each adjudication or 
settlement. 
‘‘(8) The date of estimated completion specified 
in the proposed allocation of capital construction 
and maintenance funds required by the Committees 
on Appropriations not later than 45 days after the 
date of the enactment of an Act making appropria-
tions for the Department of State, foreign oper-
ations, and related programs. 
‘‘(9) The current date of estimated comple-
tion.’’. 
(b) INITIAL REPORT.—The first report required 
under subsection (a) of section 118 of the Department of 
State Authorities Act, Fiscal Year 2017 (as amended by 
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this section) shall include an annex regarding all overseas 
capital construction projects and major embassy security 
upgrade projects completed during the 10-year period end-
ing on December 31, 2018, including, for each such 
project, the elements specified in subsection (b) of such 
section 118 (as amended by this section). 
SEC. 5. CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE INFORMATION. 
(a) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION.—The Secretary of 
State shall complete by October 1, 2021, all contractor 
performance evaluations required by subpart 42.15 of the 
Federal Acquisition Regulation. 
(b) PRIORITIZATION SYSTEM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of State shall develop a prioritization system for 
clearing the current backlog of required evaluations 
referred to in subsection (a). 
(2) ELEMENTS.—The system required under 
paragraph (1) should prioritize such evaluations as 
follows: 
(A) Project completion evaluations should 
be prioritized over annual evaluations. 
(B) Evaluations for relatively large con-
tracts should have priority. 
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(C) Evaluations that would be particularly 
informative for the awarding of government 
contracts should have priority. 
(c) BRIEFING.—Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 
brief the appropriate congressional committees on the De-
partment of State’s plan for completing all evaluations by 
October 1, 2021, and the prioritization system developed 
pursuant to this section. 
(d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) contractors deciding whether to bid on De-
partment of State contracts would benefit from 
greater understanding of the Department as a client; 
and 
(2) the Department should develop a forum 
through which contractors can rate the Depart-
ment’s project management performance. 
SEC. 6. GROWTH PROJECTIONS FOR NEW EMBASSIES AND 
CONSULATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—For each new embassy compound 
project (NEC) and new consulate compound project 
(NCC) in or not yet in the design phase as of the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Office of Management 
Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation of the Department of 
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State shall project growth over the estimated life of the 
facility at issue using all available and relevant data, in-
cluding the following: 
(1) Relevant historical trends for Department 
personnel and personnel from other agencies rep-
resented at the NEC or NCC that is to be con-
structed. 
(2) An analysis of the tradeoffs between risk 
and the needs of United States Government policy 
conducted as part of the most recent Vital Presence 
Validation Process, if applicable. 
(3) Reasonable assumptions about the strategic 
importance of the NEC or NCC, as the case may be, 
over the life of the building at issue. 
(4) Any other data that would be helpful in pro-
jecting the future growth of NEC or NCC. 
(b) OTHER AGENCIES.—Each Federal agency rep-
resented at an embassy or consulate shall provide to the 
Department of State, upon request, growth projections for 
the personnel of such agency over the estimated life of 
such embassy or consulate, as the case may be. 
(c) BASIS
FOR ESTIMATES.—The Department of 
State shall base growth assumption for all NECs and 
NCCs on the estimates required under subsections (a) and 
(b). 
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(d) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Any congres-
sional notification of site selection for a NEC or NCC sub-
mitted after the date of the enactment of this Act shall 
include the growth assumption used pursuant to sub-
section (c). 
SEC. 7. LONG-RANGE PLANNING PROCESS. 
(a) PLANS REQUIRED.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act and an-
nually thereafter for five years, the Secretary of 
State shall develop— 
(A) a comprehensive six-year Long-Range 
Overseas Buildings Plan (LROBP) docu-
menting the Department of State’s overseas 
building program for the replacement of over-
seas diplomatic facilities taking into account se-
curity factors under the Secure Embassy Con-
struction and Counterterrorism Act of 1999 (22 
U.S.C. 4865 note) and other relevant statutes 
and regulations, as well as occupational safety 
and health factors pursuant to the Occupational 
Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 
et seq.) and other relevant statutes and regula-
tions, including environmental factors such as 
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indoor air quality that impact employee health 
and safety; and 
(B) a comprehensive six-year plan detailing 
the Department’s long-term planning for the 
maintenance and sustainment of completed fa-
cilities, known as a Long-Range Overseas Main-
tenance Plan (LROMP), which takes into ac-
count security factors under the Secure Em-
bassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act of 
1999 and other relevant statutes and regula-
tions, as well as occupational safety and health 
factors pursuant to the Occupational Safety 
and Health Act of 1970 and other relevant 
statutes and regulations, including environ-
mental factors such as indoor air quality that 
impact employee health and safety. 
(2) INITIAL REPORT.—The first plan developed 
pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) shall also include a 
one-time status report on existing small diplomatic 
posts and a strategy for establishing a physical dip-
lomatic presence in countries in which there is no 
current physical diplomatic presence. The report, 
which may include a classified annex, shall include 
the following: 
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(A) A description of the extent to which 
each small diplomatic post furthers the national 
interest of the United States. 
(B) A description of how each small diplo-
matic post provides American Citizen Services, 
including data on specific services provided and 
the number of Americans receiving services over 
the previous year. 
(C) A description of whether each small 
diplomatic post meets current security require-
ments. 
(D) A description of the full financial cost 
of maintaining each small diplomatic post. 
(E) Input from the relevant chiefs of mis-
sion on any unique operational or policy value 
the small diplomatic post provides. 
(3) UPDATED INFORMATION.—The annual up-
dates of the plans developed pursuant to paragraph 
(1) shall highlight any changes from the previous 
year’s plan to the ordering of construction and 
maintenance projects. 
(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) SUBMISSION OF PLANS TO CONGRESS.—Not 
later than 60 days after the completion of the 
LROBP and the LROMP, the Secretary of State 
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