H.R. 9086
Foreign Service Modernization Act
Sponsor: Michael Lawler
3 cosponsors
Official summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
Foreign Service Modernization Act
This bill requires or authorizes certain actions related to U.S. Foreign Service (FS) management and operations, including an increased focus on expeditionary diplomacy (a concept that emphasizes diplomats conducting direct diplomacy in high-risk environments outside of the embassy), expanded hiring pathways, and additional training requirements.
For example, the bill requires the Department of State to establish
- a team to develop a plan to improve the capability and willingness of FS members and leaders to engage in expeditionary diplomacy;
- a program to recruit qualified veterans and separating military personnel into the FS, including by integrating FS recruitment into military transition programs; and
- a Diplomatic Reserve Corps pilot program to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a trained reserve cadre providing a surge workforce to support foreign affairs contingencies.
Additionally, the State Department is authorized to establish a structured training framework that is integrated into normal career progression with protected training periods (similar to the Armed Forces' professional military education model).
The bill specifies that FS members
- must successfully complete specified leadership and management training prior to assuming leadership assignments;
- who participate in approved external training, education, or details shall have certain employment protections (such as eligibility for promotions and pay increases on the same basis as those not on such assignments); and
- who undergo full-time, department-funded language training for more than six months must serve at least three consecutive tours in positions requiring proficiency in that language, with assignments beginning immediately after such language training.
Text of the bill
I General provisions
II Management of Service
III Appointments
IV Classification of Positions and Assignments
V Promotion and retention
VI Career development, training, and orientation
(a) Antisemitism training. Section 708(a) (22 U.S.C. 4028(a)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting before the semicolon , including instruction on identifying and addressing antisemitism, including contemporary forms of antisemitism and Holocaust distortion and denial; and
(2) in paragraph (2)(B), in the first sentence, by inserting , the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, the Office of the Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, after Training Center.
(b) AUKUS training. Section 708 (22 U.S.C. 4028) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(f) AUKUS training. The Secretary, with the assistance of other relevant Federal officials, shall ensure that any member of the Service who is assigned to a position in Australia or the United Kingdom or that may be called upon to work on issues related to the enhanced trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (referred to as the AUKUS partnership, as that term is defined in section 1321(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (Public Law 118–31; 22 U.S.C. 10401(2))) have access to training and briefings needed to coordinate on the AUKUS partnership, including training on—
(1) Australia, United Kingdom, and United States governance infrastructure and policies related to the sale, development, production, and co-production of advanced defense technology;
(2) overview of AUKUS security pact Pillar I and Pillar II technologies, capabilities, and their strategic impetus; and
(3) workforce challenges and needs in the host country related to the AUKUS partnership.
(c) International narcotics and law enforcement training. Section 708 (22 U.S.C. 4028), as amended by subsection (b), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
(g) International narcotics and law enforcement training
(1) In general. The Secretary, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and such other officials as the Secretary considers appropriate, may establish training courses on—
(A) international narcotics control, including the mechanisms, legal authorities, and programmatic requirements applicable to assistance provided under INL’s statutory authorities relating to international narcotics control and law enforcement assistance;
(B) international law enforcement cooperation, including the use of bilateral and multilateral legal assistance frameworks;
(C) countering transnational organized crime, money laundering, and other tools of illicit finance; and
(D) anti-corruption efforts, including most effective methods of countering corruption and promoting the rule-of-law abroad.
(2) Required training. Any member of the Service who is directly responsible for the administration, oversight, or management of assistance described in paragraph (1)(A) should receive training in the areas described in paragraph (1) prior to the beginning of service in such assignment or, if receiving such training prior to the beginning of service is not practicable, not later than one year after beginning such assignment.
(3) Consultation. In developing the curriculum required under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult with—
(A) the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs;
(B) the Office of the Legal Adviser; and
(C) other relevant bureaus and offices of the Department as the Secretary determines appropriate.
(d) Foreign scam syndicates training. Section 708 (22 U.S.C. 4028), as amended by subsections (b) and (c), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
(h) Foreign scam syndicates training
(1) In general. The Secretary may establish training for chiefs of mission, deputy chiefs of mission, and Foreign Service officers who will be assigned to a country that, as determined by the Secretary, is home to significant online scam activity targeting Americans, on appropriate training on matters related to online scam activity.
(2) Matters to be included. The training required under paragraph (1)—
(A) should address—
(i) transnational criminal organizations conducting the scams;
(ii) online scam centers and human trafficking inside such centers; and
(iii) foreign government complicity and corruption; and
(B) should identify diplomatic methods to identify, prevent, and respond to such activities.
(e) Training for chiefs of mission on defense cooperation authorities. Section 708 (22 U.S.C. 4028), as amended by subsections (b), (c), and (d), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
(i) Training for chiefs of mission on defense cooperation authorities
(1) In general. The Secretary shall establish a training course for chiefs of mission on the authorities, requirements, and limitations applicable to defense cooperation programs that do not fall under the authority of the chief of mission.
(2) Matters to be included. The training course required under paragraph (1) shall include instruction on—
(A) the role of the chief of mission in providing concurrence for programs conducted under the authorities described in paragraph (1), including the scope of the chief of mission’s role and procedures to request information from the Department of Defense prior to providing or withholding such concurrence;
(B) the foreign policy implications of defense cooperation programs, including risks of mission creep and adverse effects on bilateral relationships; and
(C) the relationship between defense cooperation programs and the chief of mission’s responsibility for the direction, coordination, and supervision of all United States Government Executive branch activities, operations, and employees in the country to which such chief of mission exercises authority, pursuant to section 207.
(3) Pre-assignment training. Any chief of mission assigned to a post at which a defense cooperation program described in paragraph (1) is in effect or proposed, as determined by the Secretary, should complete the training course established under paragraph (1) prior to the beginning of service at such post or, if completing such training prior to the beginning of service is not practicable, not later than 180 days after beginning such service.
(4) Consultation. In developing the curriculum required under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall consult with—
(A) the Office of the Legal Adviser of the Department;
(B) the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs of the Department; and
(C) other offices and bureaus of the Department, as appropriate.
(f) Clerical amendment. The table of contents in section 2 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 707 the following:
Sec. 708. Training for foreign service officers.
VII Other matters