US Codex
Bill
Notes

Title I — Foreign Service Officer Staffing Levels

S. 1113 · 116th Congress · Apr 10, 2019 · Lineage

I Foreign Service Officer Staffing Levels

Sec. 101 Policy of hiring sufficient numbers of entry-level members of the Foreign Service to meet long-term needs

Section 303 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3943) is amended—
(1)
by striking “The Secretary” and inserting “(a) In general.—The Secretary”; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(b) Long-Term projections of personnel flows and needs—Decisions by the Secretary on the numbers of individuals to be appointed as entry-level members of the Service shall be based upon a systematic long-term projection of personnel flows and needs designed to provide—

“(1) a regular, predictable flow of recruitment in the Service;

“(2) effective career development patterns to meet the needs of the Service; and

“(3) a regular, predictable flow of talent upward through the ranks of the Service.”

Sec. 102 Minimum number of Foreign Service Officers

(a)
In general— The Secretary of State shall take all practicable measures to maintain within the Foreign Service a minimum number of Foreign Service officers, based on staffing levels as of September 30, 2016, as follows:
(1)
905 Senior Foreign Service officers.
(2)
4,598 Foreign Service officers, in aggregate, at the levels of FS–01, FS–02, and FS–03.
(3)
2,662 Foreign Service officers, in aggregate, at the levels of FS–04, FS–05, and FS–06.
(4)
Quarterly report— Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the size of the Foreign Service workforce. In the event that the current workforce is below the minimum levels set forth in subsection (a), the report shall include an explanation of the reasons for the deficiency and a plan for meeting such levels.

Sec. 103 Sense of Congress on damage from year-to-year reductions in entry-level hiring

It is the sense of Congress that significant year-to-year reductions in the levels of entry-level hiring for the Foreign Service, including levels below projected rates of attrition, will inevitably result in shortages of appropriately experienced personnel at specific grades in future years and, therefore, are not in the interest of the Service and should not be used to carry out reductions in the overall size of the Service.