Title: LOVE Act of 2017
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Lavender Offense Victim Exoneration Act of 2017 or the LOVE Act of 2017
This bill requires the Department of State to review employee terminations at the State Department in the 1950s and 1960s to determine who was wrongfully terminated due to their actual or perceived sexual orientation (known as the Lavender Scare).
The bill contains an apology from Congress for its role in encouraging the termination of State Department employees based on sexual orientation.
The State Department is required to:

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1420 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1420

      To direct the Secretary of State to review the termination 
characterization of former members of the Department of State who were 
  fired by reason of the sexual orientation of the official, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 22, 2017

 Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. 
Schatz, Mr. Booker, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Coons, Mr. Whitehouse, 
    Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. 
   Feinstein, Mr. Murphy, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Udall) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To direct the Secretary of State to review the termination 
characterization of former members of the Department of State who were 
  fired by reason of the sexual orientation of the official, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Lavender Offense Victim Exoneration 
Act of 2017'' or the ``LOVE Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) During the so-called ``Lavender Scare'', at least 1,000 
        people were wrongfully dismissed from the Department of State 
        for alleged homosexuality during the 1950s and well into the 
        1960s.
            (2) According to the Department of State's Bureau of 
        Diplomatic Security, Department of State employees were forced 
        out of the Department on the grounds that their sexual 
        orientation ostensibly rendered them vulnerable to blackmail 
        and made them security risks.
            (3) In addition to those wrongfully dismissed, many other 
        patriotic Americans were prevented from joining the Department 
        due to a screening process that was put in place to prevent the 
        hiring of those who, according to the findings of the Bureau of 
        Diplomatic Security, ``seemed like they might be gay or 
        lesbian''.
            (4) Congress bears a special measure of responsibility as 
        the Department's actions were in part in response to 
        congressional investigations into ``sex perversion of Federal 
        employees'', reports on the employment of ``moral perverts by 
        Government Agencies'', hearings and pressure placed on the 
        Department through the appropriations process and congressional 
        complaints that Foggy Bottom was ``rampant with homosexuals who 
        were sympathetic to Communism and vulnerable to blackmail''.
            (5) Between 1950 and 1969, the Department of State was 
        required to report on the number of homosexuals fired each year 
        as part of their annual appeals before Committees on 
        Appropriations.
            (6) Although the worst effects of the ``Lavender Scare'' 
        are behind us, as recently as the early 1990s, the Department 
        of State's security office was investigating State personnel 
        thought to be gay and driving them out of government service as 
        ``security risks''.
            (7) In 1994, Secretary of State Warren Christopher issued a 
        prohibition against discrimination in the Department of State, 
        including that based on sexual orientation.
            (8) In 1998, President William Jefferson Clinton signed 
        Executive Order 13087 barring discrimination on the basis of 
        sexual orientation.
            (9) On January 9, 2017, Secretary of State John Kerry 
        issued a statement regarding the ``Lavender Scare'', saying, 
        ``On behalf of the Department, I apologize to those who were 
        impacted by the practices of the past and reaffirm the 
        Department's steadfast commitment to diversity and inclusion 
        for all our employees, including members of the LGBTI 
        community.''.

SEC. 3. DIRECTOR GENERAL REVIEW.

    (a) Review.--The Director General of the Foreign Service and 
Director of Human Resources of the Department of State, in consultation 
with the Historian of the Department of State, shall review all 
employee terminations that occurred after January 1, 1950, to determine 
who was wrongfully terminated owing to their sexual orientation, 
whether real or perceived.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director General shall, consistent with 
applicable privacy regulations, compile the information compiled under 
subsection (a) in a publicly available report. The report shall include 
historical statements made by officials of the Department of State and 
Congress encouraging and implementing policies and tactics that led to 
the termination of employees due to their sexual orientation.

SEC. 4. REPORTS ON REVIEWS.

    (a) Reviews.--The Secretary of State shall conduct reviews of the 
consistency and uniformity of the reviews conducted by the Director 
General under section 3.
    (b) Reports.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 2 years, the 
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the reviews conducted 
under section 3. Each report shall include any comments or 
recommendations for continued actions.

SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF RECONCILIATION BOARD.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of State shall establish, within 
the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of State, an independent 
Reconciliation Board to review the reports released by the Director 
General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Services under 
section 3(b).
    (b) Duties.--The Reconciliation Board shall--
            (1) consistent with applicable privacy regulations, contact 
        all employees found to be fired due to the ``Lavender Scare'' 
        or, in the case of deceased former employees, the family 
        members of the employees, to inform them that their termination 
        from the Department of State has been deemed inappropriate and 
        that, if they wish, their employment record can be changed to 
        reflect these findings;
            (2) designate a point of contact at a senior level position 
        within the Office of the Director General of the Foreign 
        Service and Director of Human Resources to receive oral 
        testimony of any employees or family members of deceased 
        employees mentioned in the report who personally experienced 
        discrimination and termination because of the actual or 
        perceived sexual orientation in order that such testimony may 
        serve as an official record of these discriminatory policies 
        and their impact on United States lives; and
            (3) provide an opportunity for any former employee not 
        mentioned in the report to bring forth a grievance to the Board 
        if they believe they were terminated due to their sexual 
        orientation.
    (c) Review of Claims.--
            (1) In general.--The Board shall review each claim 
        described in subsection (b) within 150 days of receiving the 
        claim. Lack of paperwork may not be used as a basis for 
        dismissing any claims.
            (2) Cooperation.--The Department of State shall be 
        responsible for producing pertinent information regarding each 
        claim to prove the employee was not wrongfully terminated.
    (d) Termination.--The Board shall terminate 5 years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF APOLOGY.

    (a) Finding.--Secretary of State Kerry delivered the following 
apology on January 9, 2017:
    ``Throughout my career, including as Secretary of State, I have 
stood strongly in support of the LGBTI community, recognizing that 
respect for human rights must include respect for all individuals. 
LGBTI employees serve as proud members of the State Department and 
valued colleagues dedicated to the service of our country. For the last 
several years, the Department has pressed for the families of LGBTI 
officers to have the same protections overseas as families of other 
officers. In 2015, to further promote LGBTI rights throughout the 
world, I appointed the first ever Special Envoy for the Human Rights of 
LGBTI Persons.
    ``In the past--as far back as the 1940s, but continuing for 
decades--the Department of State was among many public and private 
employers that discriminated against employees and job applicants on 
the basis of perceived sexual orientation, forcing some employees to 
resign or refusing to hire certain applicants in the first place. These 
actions were wrong then, just as they would be wrong today.
    ``On behalf of the Department, I apologize to those who were 
impacted by the practices of the past and reaffirm the Department's 
steadfast commitment to diversity and inclusion for all our employees, 
including members of the LGBTI community.''
    (b) Congressional Apology.--Congress hereby offers a formal apology 
for its responsibility in encouraging the ``Lavender Scare'' and 
similar policies at the Department of State, as these policies were in 
part a response to congressional investigations into ``sex perversion 
of Federal employees'', reports on the employment of ``moral perverts 
by Government Agencies'', and hearings or pressure otherwise placed on 
the Department of State through the appropriations process.

SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF PERMANENT EXHIBIT ON THE LAVENDER SCARE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall work with the current 
public-private partnership associated with the Department of State's 
new United States Diplomacy Center to establish a permanent exhibit on 
the ``Lavender Scare'' in the museum to assure that the history of this 
unfortunate episode is not brushed aside.
    (b) Specifications.--The exhibit--
            (1) shall be installed at the museum not later than one 
        year after the date of enactment of this Act;
            (2) should provide access to the reports compiled by the 
        Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human 
        Resources under section 3(b); and
            (3) shall readily display material gathered from oral 
        testimony received pursuant to section 5(b)(2) from employees 
        or family members of deceased employees who were subject to 
        these discriminatory policies during the ``Lavender Scare''.

SEC. 8. GUIDANCE ON ISSUING VISAS.

    To demonstrate the Department of State's commitment to ensuring 
fairness for current employees, not later than 100 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to 
Congress a report on countries not issuing visas to the spouses of all 
Foreign Service personnel posted overseas due to their sexual 
orientation. This report shall include any comments or recommendations 
for actions, including eliminating visa reciprocity with countries 
found to be instituting these practices against the spouses of Foreign 
Service personnel, that will lead to ensuring that all spouses of 
Foreign Service personnel receive visas for the country their spouse is 
assigned, regardless of sexual orientation.

SEC. 9. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVANCEMENT BOARD.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of State shall establish, within 
the Office of the Director General of the Department of State, a board 
comprised of senior-level officials to address the issues faced by 
LGBTQI Foreign Service employees and their families.
    (b) Hearing of Testimony.--The Advancement Board shall hear 
testimony from any willing LGBTQI Foreign Service employees and their 
families regarding any discrimination they have faced due to their 
sexual orientation.
    (c) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 100 days after completing 
        collection of testimony described under subsection (b), and 
        annually thereafter for 5 years, the Advancement Board shall 
        submit to Congress a report based on the testimony.
            (2) Content.--The report required under paragraph (1) shall 
        include any comments or recommendations for continued actions 
        to improve the Department of State to ensure that no employee 
        or their family members experience discrimination due to their 
        sexual orientation.
            (3) Privacy.--The report required under paragraph (1) shall 
        remain private and will only be accessible to Members of 
        Congress, their appropriate staff, and members of the 
        Advancement Board.
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