Title: Represent America Abroad Act of 2020
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Represent America Abroad Act of 2020
This bill requires the Department of State to establish the Represent America Mid-Career Foreign Service Entry Program to increase diversity in the Foreign Service by recruiting mid-career professionals who are from minority groups.
As part of the program, the State Department shall (1) establish and publish eligibility criteria for participation; (2) carry out recruitment efforts to attract highly qualified, mid-career professionals from minority groups; and (3) include appropriate mentorship and other career development opportunities for program participants.
The State Department must submit an annual report on the status of the program.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7673 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7673

To ensure the United States diplomatic workforce at all levels reflects 
             the diverse composition of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 2020

Ms. Bass (for herself, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Sires, Ms. 
 Judy Chu of California, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Evans, Ms. Jayapal, 
 Ms. Haaland, Mrs. Hayes, and Ms. Omar) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To ensure the United States diplomatic workforce at all levels reflects 
             the diverse composition of the United States.

    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 ``Represent America Abroad Act of 
2020''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) As the United States becomes more racially and 
        ethnically diverse, the Department of State must continue to 
        invest in policies to recruit, retain, and develop the best and 
        brightest from the full spectrum of American society in order 
        to be better positioned to advance United States interests 
        abroad.
            (2) Foreign Service officers are America's face to the 
        world. Thus, the workforce must represent the United States 
        commitment to inclusion and diversity in order to effectively 
        advance American values on the world stage.
            (3) The Department of State must embrace policies that 
        recruit professionals from the broadest possible pool of talent 
        and retain them in order to significantly increase diversity in 
        the Foreign Service. Timely action to increase diversity at the 
        mid-levels is crucial, as it takes approximately nine years for 
        an entry level Foreign Service officer (class 6, 5, 4) to rise 
        to the mid-ranks of the Foreign Service (class 3, 2, or 1).
            (4) A February 2020 report by the Government Accountability 
        Office found barriers to a diverse and inclusive workforce at 
        the Department of State, especially at the mid-career and 
        senior levels. Individuals who are racial or ethnic minorities 
        comprise only 24 percent of Foreign Service officers as a 
        whole. At the executive level, individuals who are racial or 
        ethnic minorities comprise only 13 percent. This means that the 
        leadership is the least diverse level within the Foreign 
        Service.
            (5) In the past, the Department of State has acknowledged 
        its lack of workforce diversity and pledged to take concrete 
        steps to address the problem. In 2017, then-Secretary of State 
        Rex Tillerson recognized a great diversity gap in the 
        Department of State and former Secretary of State John Kerry 
        noted that in order to represent the United States, the 
        Department of State must have a workforce that reflects the 
        rich composition of its citizenry. Yet there has been no 
        concrete plan to address the lack of diversity at the mid-
        career and senior levels.

SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF NATIONAL INTEREST; STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    (a) Declaration of National Interest.--Congress declares that it is 
in the national interest of the United States to ensure that the 
members of the United States Foreign Service workforce be 
representative of the American people.
    (b) Statement of Policy.--It shall be the policy of the Department 
of State--
            (1) to strengthen the Foreign Service workforce by 
        bolstering the diversity of those who represent Americans 
        abroad;
            (2) to treat the people of the Foreign Service as its 
        primary asset, and as such, hold as a central tenet making 
        strides in increasing minority representation at all levels of 
        the Foreign Service workforce to secure the country's national 
        interests; and
            (3) in accordance with the Foreign Service Act of 1980, to 
        attract highly qualified, mid-career professionals who are also 
        American minorities, through a pathway program for entry into 
        the Foreign Service.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall establish a 
program, which shall be known as the ``Represent America Mid-Career 
Foreign Service Entry Program'' (in this section referred to as the 
``Program''), to be administered jointly by the Director General of the 
Foreign Service and the Director of Global Talent Management, to 
identify, attract, and welcome mid-career professionals who are from 
minority groups into the Foreign Service.
    (b) Elements of Program.--
            (1) Program requirements.--The Secretary of State shall 
        carry out the following with respect to the Program:
                    (A) Establish and publish on the Department's 
                website eligibility criteria for candidates to 
                participate in the program.
                    (B) Carry out countrywide recruitment efforts to 
                attract highly qualified, mid-career professionals from 
                minority groups, such as the following:
                            (i) Community agencies and organizations.
                            (ii) Faith-based organizations.
                            (iii) Community events.
                            (iv) Professional associations.
                            (v) Colleges and universities, including 
                        historically Black colleges and universities 
                        and other minority-serving institutions such as 
                        Hispanic-serving institutions, Asian American 
                        and Native American Pacific Islander-serving 
                        institutions, American Indian Tribally 
                        controlled colleges and universities, Alaska 
                        Native and Native Hawaiian-serving 
                        institutions, Tribal colleges and universities, 
                        Predominantly Black Institutions, and Native 
                        American-serving, Nontribal institutions.
                            (vi) Diplomats in residence.
                            (vii) Job fairs.
                            (viii) Newspaper/magazines/journals.
                            (ix) Radio stations and programs.
                            (x) Websites, webcasts, podcasts, and other 
                        online channels.
                    (C) Recruit eligible candidates for the Program.
                    (D) Develop a structured program that includes as 
                part of the initial training, a class or module that 
                specifically prepares participants for life in the 
                Foreign Service, including conveying to such 
                participants essential elements of the practical 
                knowledge that is normally acquired during a Foreign 
                Service Officer's initial assignments.
                    (E) Include appropriate mentorship and other career 
                development opportunities, such as leadership training, 
                for Program participants.
            (2) Overall qualifications.--In recruiting, training, and 
        assigning members of the Program, the Secretary of State should 
        seek highly qualified minority individuals who are mid-career 
        professionals--
                    (A) with diverse work experience who have 
                capabilities, insights, techniques, and experiences 
                that would serve to enrich the Foreign Service 
                workforce and empower it to perform more effectively;
                    (B) with demonstrated knowledge of, experience 
                with, and interest in United States foreign policy and 
                national security and international affairs, including 
                knowledge of the affairs, cultures, and languages of 
                other countries;
                    (C) with demonstrable leadership skills and the 
                potential for further growth;
                    (D) that demonstrate a track record of 
                collaboration, team-building, and stakeholder 
                management skills;
                    (E) with demonstrated capacity for critical 
                thinking and analytical skills, including the ability 
                to synthesize information into clear and concise 
                recommendations;
                    (F) with strategic thinking, and ability to solve 
                complex problems;
                    (G) with flexibility, adaptability, and 
                determination; and
                    (H) who are United States citizens with worldwide 
                service availability and who are able to obtain 
                appropriate security and medical clearances.
    (c) Advancement From Program.--Candidates who are accepted into the 
Program in accordance with the qualifications and requirements of this 
section shall have the opportunity to advance to the Foreign Service 
oral assessment for potential entry as the appropriate class of mid-
level Foreign Service officer in accordance with the candidate's 
professional qualifications.
    (d) Mid-Career Professional Defined.--For purposes of the Program, 
the term ``mid-career professional'' means an individual who has the 
skills and experience to serve as a mid-level Foreign Service officer 
(class 3, 2, or 1) and who meets any of the following criteria, 
consistent with the merit-based principles and core precepts set forth 
in the Foreign Affairs Manual and Handbook and in accordance with 
applicable requirements of the Foreign Service Act of 1980:
            (1) An individual with 8+ years of professional experience 
        and a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or 
        university in selected fields of study representing the needs 
        of the Department of State, including public policy, public 
        administration, international law, international relations, 
        political science, foreign languages, business administration, 
        economics, history, sociology, geography, social or cultural 
        anthropology, statistics, or the humanities.
            (2) An individual with 7+ years of professional experience 
        and a master's degree from an accredited college or university 
        in selected fields of study representing the needs of the 
        Department of State, including any field listed in paragraph 
        (1).
            (3) An individual with 5+ years of professional experience 
        and doctoral degree from an accredited college or university in 
        selected fields of study representing the needs of the 
        Department of State, including any field listed in paragraph 
        (1).

SEC. 5. REPORTS.

    (a) Initial Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on a plan to establish the 
Represent America Mid-Career Foreign Service Entry Program.
    (b) Annual Update.--Annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on the status 
of the Represent America Mid-Career Foreign Service Entry Program. Each 
such report shall include the following information with respect to the 
previous year:
            (1) The number of candidates approved for the program.
            (2) The number of candidates who began participating, 
        including anonymized information on such candidates' 
        backgrounds with respect to education and prior work experience 
        and grade level at which the candidate entered the Foreign 
        Service.
            (3) A breakdown of the number of participants recruited 
        into and advancing from the program by ethnicity and sex.
            (4) A disaggregation by Foreign Service cone and post 
        (including identifying whether the post is hard-to-fill) 
        assigned to each participant advancing from the program.
            (5) Program attrition rates and retention data, including 
        information on how such data compares to the data reported in 
        the most recent prior submission of such report.
            (6) Information on the Department's recruiting efforts for 
        the program, including an outreach strategy detailing resources 
        allocated to outreach, as well as where, how, and when outreach 
        will be carried out.
            (7) Information on the Department's efforts to improve the 
        efficacy of the program and promote retention of program 
        participants.
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