Bill Summary
This bill, titled the "Office of International Disability Rights Act," aims to establish an Office of International Disability Rights within the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. This Office will serve as the principal advisor to the Department of State on matters related to international disability rights and will work to ensure that disability inclusive practices and empowerment of persons with disabilities are integrated into all foreign operations. The bill also requires mandatory disability inclusion training for all civil service and foreign service personnel, and requires the Secretary of State to develop and adopt a formal policy for disability inclusion within the Department of State. Annually, the Secretary of State must provide a report and briefing to Congress on the steps taken to implement the Act and the progress made on the realization of disability rights.
Possible Impacts
1. The establishment of the Office of International Disability Rights could potentially impact people with disabilities around the world by providing them with greater support and resources to help them participate fully in society and improve their overall quality of life.
2. The mandatory disability inclusion training for all civil service and foreign service personnel and chiefs of mission could affect people by promoting a greater understanding and awareness of disability rights and needs, potentially leading to more inclusive and accessible policies and programs.
3. The requirement for the Secretary of State to develop and adopt a formal policy for disability inclusion in the Department of State could have a significant impact on the government's approach to disability rights, potentially leading to more comprehensive and effective policies and programs for people with disabilities both domestically and internationally.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3373 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3373
To establish the Office of International Disability Rights, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 20, 2019
Ms. Titus (for herself and Mr. Young) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Office of International Disability Rights, 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 ``Office of International Disability
Rights Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States has shown leadership domestically on
disability rights with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and
this leadership should be leveraged to support international
disability rights.
(2) There are more than one billion persons with
disabilities around the world, and 80 percent live in
developing countries.
(3) 60 percent of persons with disabilities are women.
(4) Women with disabilities are more likely to experience
sexual violence than women without disabilities.
(5) There are more than 90 million children with
disabilities worldwide.
(6) Children with disabilities are more likely to be
malnourished than children without disabilities.
(7) Persons with disabilities are subject to economic and
social marginalization. The World Bank has estimated the Gross
Domestic Product loss due to disability to be between $1.71
trillion and $2.23 trillion annually.
(8) The inclusion of persons with disabilities is a
fundamental part of democracy and essential to the full
realization of human rights.
(9) The political participation and leadership of persons
with disabilities, including those who acquired a disability
through conflict, is crucial to sustaining democratic
institutions.
(10) Persons with disabilities face disadvantages in
educational attainment, labor market outcomes, financial
stability, housing, and standard of living conditions.
(11) Issues related to disability rights cut across all
sectors, including democracy, human rights, labor, global
health, education, and disaster relief.
(12) Persons with disabilities are members of all
marginalized groups, including women, young people, the LGBTI
community, ethnic and religious minorities, internally
displaced people, and refugees.
(13) The public presence of the Special Advisor for
International Disability Rights at the Department of State,
first appointed in 2010, helped raise the visibility of persons
with disabilities in Department policies and programs and
improved the inclusion of disabilities in the Department's
annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and
Trafficking in Persons reports.
(14) There is currently no mandate that all Department of
State programming be disability inclusive and the Department
does not have a formal, publicly available disability policy.
SEC. 3. OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY RIGHTS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall establish an Office
of International Disability Rights (referred to in this section as the
``Office''), which should be placed within the Bureau for Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor (DRL).
(b) Purpose.--The Office shall coordinate efforts of the United
States Government, as directed by the Secretary, regarding human rights
for persons with disabilities and advancing the status of persons with
disabilities in United States foreign policy.
(c) Duties.--The Office shall carry out the following:
(1) Serve as the principal advisor to the Department of
State on all matters related to international rights for
persons with disabilities.
(2) Represent the United States in diplomatic and
multilateral fora on matters relevant to the rights of persons
with disabilities and work to raise the profile of disability
across a broader range of organizations contributing to
international development efforts.
(3) Work to ensure that disability inclusive practices and
empowerment of persons with disabilities are fully integrated
into all United States foreign operations.
(4) Conduct regular consultation with civil society
organizations working to advance international disability
rights and empower persons with disabilities internationally.
(5) Consult with other relevant offices at the Department
of State that are responsible for drafting annual reports
documenting progress on human rights to include references to
instances of discrimination, prejudice, or abuses of persons
with disabilities wherever applicable.
(6) Advise the Department of State's Bureau of Human
Resources Development on the hiring and recruitment and
overseas practices of civil service employees and foreign
service officers with disabilities and their family members
with chronic medical conditions or disabilities.
(d) Supervision.--The Office shall be headed by a Special Advisor
for International Disability Rights. The Special Advisor should be a
person of recognized distinction in the field of disability rights.
(e) Consultation.--The Secretary shall direct Ambassadors at Large,
Representatives, Special Envoys, and coordinators working on human
rights to consult with the Office to promote the human rights and full
participation in international development activities of all persons
with disabilities.
SEC. 4. TRAINING.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall require online or in-
person mandatory disability inclusion training for all civil service
and foreign service personnel of the Department of State and chiefs of
mission, including on--
(1) how to develop solicitations, programming, budgets, and
policies that are inclusive;
(2) how to ensure a disability-inclusive work environment;
(3) how to conduct disability-inclusive analyses of laws
and programming;
(4) how to support local disabled people's organizations;
and
(5) how to ensure nongovernmental organizations that
receive funding from the Department mainstream disability
rights throughout all programs.
(b) Foreign Service Officers.--The Secretary shall ensure that
training for foreign service officers under subsection (a) should
include country-specific and cultural considerations.
SEC. 5. DISABILITY INCLUSION IN FOREIGN POLICY.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, since
international disability rights is foundational to development,
national security, and economic outcomes, disability inclusion should
be mainstreamed through all foreign assistance and programming.
(b) Formal Policy for Disability Inclusion.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall develop
and adopt a formal policy for disability inclusion in the
Department of State.
(2) Matters to be included.--Such policy should include
information and guidance on the Department's approach to
disability inclusion in United States foreign assistance
programming, including--
(A) recruiting and hiring, employment, overseas
assignments, accessibility, foreign assistance, program
monitoring and evaluation, and reporting; and
(B) access and inclusion at the Department's
headquarters and United States diplomatic posts.
(3) Consultation.--In developing and adopting such policy,
the Secretary shall consult with--
(A) disabled person's organizations and
international nongovernmental organizations working on
disability rights; and
(B) the Administrator of the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID) to promote
coherence of such policy with USAID's formal disability
policy.
(4) Public availability.--The Secretary shall publish such
policy on a publicly available website of the Department.
SEC. 6. REPORT AND BRIEFING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State
shall submit a report and provide a briefing to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate on the steps taken to implement this
Act.
(b) Matters To Be Included.--The report and briefing required by
subsection (a) shall include--
(1) an explanation of policies and programs to fulfill--
(A) the duties of the Office of International
Disability Rights under section 3; and
(B) the training requirements under section 4;
(2) the status of efforts to mainstream disability rights
throughout Department of State programming without regard to
whether such programming is specifically directed toward
persons with disabilities;
(3) explanation of disability-specific programming across
the Department;
(4) any policy, programming, or human resources gaps to
mainstreaming disability rights throughout the Department and
plans to address gaps through appropriate mechanisms;
(5) progress made on the realization of the rights of
persons with disabilities as a result of Department policies
and programming; and
(6) recommendations for legislative actions to fully
implement the matters described in paragraphs (1) through (5).
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