22 U.S.C. § 3921 — Administration by Secretary of State

Page 1425 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE § 3921 (2) are free from reprisal for— (A) a disclosure of information by a mem- ber or applicant which the member or appli- cant reasonably believes evidences— (i) a violation of any law, rule, or regula- tion, or (ii) mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substan- tial and specific danger to public health or safety, if such disclosure is not specifically prohib- ited by law and if such information is not specifically required by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national de- fense or the conduct of foreign affairs; or (B) a disclosure to the Special Counsel of the Merit Systems Protection Board, or to the Inspector General of an agency (includ- ing the Inspector General of the Department of State and the Foreign Service) or another employee designated by the head of the agency to receive such disclosures, of infor- mation which the member or applicant rea- sonably believes evidences— (i) a violation of any law, rule, or regula- tion, or (ii) mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substan- tial and specific danger to public health or safety; (3) are free to submit to officials of the Serv- ice and the Department any report, evalua- tion, or recommendation, including the right to submit such report, evaluation, or rec- ommendation through a separate dissent channel, whether or not the views expressed therein are in accord with approved policy, un- less the report, evaluation, or recommenda- tion was submitted with the knowledge that it was false or with willful disregard for its truth or falsity; and (4) are free from any personnel practice pro- hibited by section 2302 of title 5. (c) Withholding or disclosure of information to Congress This section shall not be construed as author- izing the withholding of information from the Congress or the taking of any action against a member of the Service who discloses informa- tion to the Congress. (d) Minority recruitment program (1) The Secretary shall establish a minority recruitment program for the Service consistent with section 7201 of title 5. (2) Omitted. (e) Applicability to other judicial or statutory rights or remedies This section shall not be construed to extin- guish or lessen any effort to achieve equal em- ployment opportunity through affirmative ac- tion or any right or remedy available to any em- ployee or applicant for employment in the civil service under— (1) section 2000e–16 of title 42, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, reli- gion, sex, or national origin; (2) sections 631 and 633a of title 29, prohib- iting discrimination on the basis of age; (3) section 206(d) of title 29, prohibiting dis- crimination on the basis of sex; (4) sections 791 and 794a of title 29, prohib- iting discrimination on the basis of disability; or (5) any provision of law, rule, or regulation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of marital status or political affiliation. (Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 105, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2077; Pub. L. 100–204, title I, § 185(a), Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1365; Pub. L. 101–246, title I, § 153(d), Feb. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 43; Pub. L. 117–263, div. I, title XCII, § 9219(2), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3879.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Subsec. (d)(2) of this section, which required the Sec- retary to transmit at least once annually to the Chair- man of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen- ate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives the Department’s reports on equal employment oppor- tunity, affirmative action, and minority recruitment programs, which reports are required by law, regula- tion, or directive to be submitted to the Equal Employ- ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), terminated, effective May 15, 2000, pursuant to section 3003 of Pub. L. 104–66, as amended, set out as a note under section 1113 of Title 31, Money and Finance. See, also, page 129 of House Document No. 103–7. AMENDMENTS 2022—Subsecs. (b)(1), (e)(4). Pub. L. 117–263 substituted ‘‘disability’’ for ‘‘handicapping condition’’. 1990—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 101–246 inserted ‘‘geo- graphic or educational affiliation within the United States,’’ after ‘‘marital status,’’. 1987—Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 100–204 amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: ‘‘Not later than January 31 of each year, the Secretary shall transmit to each House of the Congress a report, signed by the Secretary, on the activities of the Sec- retary under paragraph (1). Such report shall include any affirmative action plans submitted by the Sec- retary under section 2000e–16 of title 42 and any data necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the program under paragraph (1) for the preceding fiscal year, to- gether with recommendations for administrative or legislative action the Secretary considers appropriate.’’ SUBCHAPTER II—MANAGEMENT OF SERVICE § 3921. Administration by Secretary of State (a) Under the direction of the President, the Secretary of State shall administer and direct the Service and shall coordinate its activities with the needs of the Department of State and other agencies. (b) The Secretary of State alone among the heads of agencies utilizing the Foreign Service personnel system shall perform the functions ex- pressly vested in the Secretary of State by this chapter. (Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 201, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2078.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original ‘‘this Act’’, meaning Pub. L. 96–465, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2071, known as the Foreign Service Act of Page 1426 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE § 3922 1980, which is classified principally to this chapter (§ 3901 et seq.). For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 3901 of this title and Tables. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CURTAILMENTS, REMOVALS FROM POST, AND WAIVERS OF PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES Pub. L. 117–263, div. I, title XCII, § 9209, Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3873, provided that: ‘‘(a) CURTAILMENTS REPORT.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 23, 2022], and every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary [of State] shall submit a report to the appropriate congres- sional committees [Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives] regarding curtailments of Department [of State] personnel from overseas posts. ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The Secretary shall include in the report required under paragraph (1)— ‘‘(A) relevant information about any post that, during the 6-month period preceding the report— ‘‘(i) had more than 5 curtailments; or ‘‘(ii) had curtailments representing more than 5 percent of Department personnel at such post; and ‘‘(B) for each post referred to in subparagraph (A), the number of curtailments, disaggregated by month of occurrence. ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL CONTENTS FOR INITIAL REPORT.— The initial report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall identify— ‘‘(i) the number of curtailments at the Deputy Chief of Mission or Principal Officer level for each of the previous 5 years; and ‘‘(ii) to the extent practicable— ‘‘(I) the number of such curtailments that were voluntary and the number of such curtail- ments that were involuntary; and ‘‘(II) the number of those curtailed who left the service within 1 year after such curtail- ment. ‘‘(b) REMOVAL OF DIPLOMATS.—Not later than 20 days after the date on which any United States personnel under Chief of Mission authority is declared persona non grata by a host government, the Secretary shall— ‘‘(1) notify the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Represent- atives of such declaration; and ‘‘(2) include with such notification— ‘‘(A) the official reason for such declaration (if provided by the host government); ‘‘(B) the date of the declaration; and ‘‘(C) whether the Department responded by de- claring a host government’s diplomat in the United States persona non grata. ‘‘(c) WAIVER OF PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Not later than 15 days after any waiver of privileges and immunities pursuant to the Vienna Convention on Dip- lomatic Relations, done at Vienna April 18, 1961, that is applicable to an entire diplomatic post or to the major- ity of United States personnel under Chief of Mission authority, the Secretary shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of such waiver and the rea- son for such waiver. ‘‘(d) TERMINATION.—This section shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.’’ MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENTS AT DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS Pub. L. 117–263, div. I, title XCII, § 9212, Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3874, provided that: ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 23, 2022], the Secretary [of State] shall annually conduct, at each diplomatic and consular post, a voluntary sur- vey, which shall be offered to all staff assigned to that post who are citizens of the United States (excluding the Chief of Mission) to assess the management and leadership of that post by the Chief of Mission, the Dep- uty Chief of Mission, and the Charge d’Affaires. ‘‘(b) ANONYMITY.—All responses to the survey shall be— ‘‘(1) fully anonymized; and ‘‘(2) made available to the Director General of the Foreign Service. ‘‘(c) SURVEY.—The survey shall seek to assess— ‘‘(1) the general morale at post; ‘‘(2) the presence of any hostile work environment; ‘‘(3) the presence of any harassment, discrimina- tion, retaliation, or other mistreatment; and ‘‘(4) effective leadership and collegial work environ- ment. ‘‘(d) DIRECTOR GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS.—Upon compilation and review of the surveys, the Director General of the Foreign Service shall issue recommenda- tions to posts, as appropriate, based on the findings of the surveys. ‘‘(e) REFERRAL.—If the surveys reveal any action that is grounds for referral to the Inspector General of the Department of State and the Foreign Service, the Di- rector General of the Foreign Service may refer the matter to the Inspector General of the Department of State and the Foreign Service, who shall, as the Inspec- tor General considers appropriate, conduct an inspec- tion of the post in accordance with section 209(b) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3929(b)). ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Director General of the Foreign Service shall submit an annual report to the appropriate congressional committees [Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and Committee on For- eign Affairs of the House of Representatives] that in- cludes— ‘‘(1) any trends or summaries from the surveys; ‘‘(2) the posts where corrective action was rec- ommended or taken in response to any issues identi- fied by the surveys; and ‘‘(3) the number of referrals to the Inspector Gen- eral of the Department of State and the Foreign Service, as applicable. ‘‘(g) INITIAL BASIS.—The surveys and reports required under this section shall be carried out on an initial basis for the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.’’ THIRD PARTY VERIFICATION OF PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION (PCS) ORDERS Pub. L. 117–263, div. I, title XCII, § 9214, Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3875, provided that: ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 23, 2022], the Secretary [of State] shall establish a mecha- nism for third parties to verify the employment of, and the validity of permanent change of station (PCS) or- ders received by, members of the Foreign Service, in a manner that protects the safety, security, and privacy of sensitive employee information.’’ § 3922. Utilization of Foreign Service personnel system by other agencies (a)(1) The Broadcasting Board of Governors and the Administrator of the Agency for Inter- national Development may utilize the Foreign Service personnel system with respect to their respective agencies in accordance with this chapter. (2) The Secretary of Agriculture may utilize the Foreign Service personnel system in accord- ance with this chapter— (A) with respect to personnel of the Foreign Agricultural Service, and