IB 
Union Calendar No. 423 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3774 
[Report No. 110–672] 
To provide for greater diversity within, and to improve policy direction and 
oversight of, the Senior Executive Service. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 9, 2007 
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
CUMMINGS, Mr. CLAY, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SARBANES, and Mr. GONZALEZ) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform 
MAY 22, 2008 
Additional sponsors: Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. COHEN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, 
Mr. MORAN of Virginia, and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia 
MAY 22, 2008 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 9, 2007] 
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, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Senior Executive Service 
Diversity Assurance Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) according to the Government Accountability 
Office— 
(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 in-
dividuals 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 representation of 
African-American men in the career Senior Ex-
ecutive Service declined during that same period 
from 5.5 percent to 5.0 percent; and 
(2) according to the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment— 
(A) black employees represented 6.1 percent 
of employees at the Senior Pay levels and 17.8 
percent of the permanent Federal workforce com-
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pared to 10.1 percent in the civilian labor force 
in 2007; 
(B) Hispanic employees represented 4.0 per-
cent of employees at the Senior Pay levels and 
7.8 percent of the permanent Federal workforce 
compared to 13.3 percent of the civilian labor 
force in 2007; and 
(C) women represented 28.2 percent of em-
ployees 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, established 
under section 4. 
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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 es-
tablish within the Office of Personnel Management an office 
to be known as the Senior Executive Service Resource Of-
fice. 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 Senior 
Executive Service reflective of the Nation’s diversity, 
recruitment is from qualified individuals from appro-
priate 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 Office 
considers necessary to manage and promote an effi-
cient, elite, and diverse corps of senior executives by— 
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(A) creating policies for the management 
and improvement of the Senior Executive Serv-
ice; 
(B) providing oversight of the performance, 
structure, and composition of the Senior Execu-
tive Service; and 
(C) providing guidance and oversight to 
agencies in the management of senior executives 
and candidates for the Senior Executive Service; 
(2) be responsible for the policy development, 
management, and oversight of the Senior Executive 
Service pay system; 
(3) develop standards for certification of each 
agency’s Senior Executive Service performance man-
agement system and evaluate all agency applications 
for certification; 
(4) be responsible for developing and monitoring 
programs for the advancement and training of senior 
executives, including the Senior Executive Service 
Federal Candidate Development Program; 
(5) provide oversight of, and guidance to, agency 
executive resources boards; 
(6) be responsible for the administration of the 
qualifications review board; 
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(8) make available to the public through the offi-
cial 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, including 
candidates who have been certified as having the exec-
utive qualifications necessary for initial appointment 
as a career appointee under a program established 
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 appointments 
process; and 
(12) evaluate and implement strategies to ensure 
that agencies conduct appropriate outreach to other 
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agencies to identify candidates for Senior Executive 
Service positions. 
(c) PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFIABLE IN-
FORMATION.—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 information. 
(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 re-
quire in order to carry out subsection (b)(7). 
SEC. 5. CAREER APPOINTMENTS. 
(a) PROMOTING DIVERSITY IN THE CAREER APPOINT-
MENTS 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: ‘‘Consideration should also be 
given to improving diversity by including members of 
racial and ethnic minority groups, women, and indi-
viduals with disabilities on qualifications review 
boards.’’. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—Within 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director shall promulgate regula-
tions to implement subsection (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 evalu-
ating 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 infor-
mation collected by the SES Resource Office under subpara-
graphs (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 of this Act, 
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each agency, in consultation with the Office of Personnel 
Management, shall submit to the Office of Personnel Man-
agement a plan to enhance and maximize opportunities for 
the advancement and appointment of minorities, women, 
and individuals with disabilities in the agency to the Sen-
ior Executive Service. Agency plans shall address how the 
agency is identifying and eliminating barriers that impair 
the ability of minorities, women, and individuals with dis-
abilities 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 development; 
(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. 
Agency plans shall be updated at least every 2 years during 
the 10 years following enactment of this Act. An agency 
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plan shall be reviewed by the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment and, if determined to provide sufficient assurances, 
procedures, and commitments to provide adequate opportu-
nities for the advancement and appointment of minorities, 
women, and individuals with disabilities to the Senior Ex-
ecutive 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 update 
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 Senate a report 
summarizing and evaluating the agency plans or updates 
(as the case may be) so submitted. 
(c) COORDINATION.—The Office of Personnel Manage-
ment shall, in carrying out subsection (a), evaluate existing 
requirements under section 717 of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-16) and section 501 of the Rehabili-
tation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791) and determine how 
agency reporting can be performed so as to be consistent 
with, but not duplicative of, such sections and any other 
similar requirements. 
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