Bill Summary
The Foreign Service Families Act of 2019 is a bill that aims to increase employment opportunities for spouses of Foreign Service officers, who are often stationed overseas. The bill includes provisions for providing telecommuting opportunities, establishing employment and education programs for spouses, and creating a Foreign Service Family Reserve Corps. The bill also requires a report on the implementation of the Foreign Service Family Reserve Corps and ensures that family members of Foreign Service officers are treated equally when seeking employment in positions typically filled by Foreign Service officers or foreign national employees.
Possible Impacts
1. The Foreign Service Families Act of 2019 could provide expanded employment opportunities for spouses of Foreign Service officers, allowing them to work remotely from overseas locations. This could positively affect the career prospects and financial stability of these spouses.
2. The Act could also establish a program to assist spouses of Foreign Service officers in accessing employment and education opportunities. This could potentially lead to improved job prospects and career advancement for these spouses.
3. The Act could require the Secretary of State to submit a report on the implementation of the Foreign Service Family Reserve Corps, including an assessment of any impacts of the Department of State hiring freeze. This could provide transparency and accountability in the implementation of this program and could potentially influence hiring practices for the FSFRC in the future.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1293 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1293
To expand employment opportunities for spouses of Foreign Service
officers.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 2, 2019
Mr. Van Hollen (for himself and Mr. Sullivan) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To expand employment opportunities for spouses of Foreign Service
officers.
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 ``Foreign Service Families Act of
2019''.
SEC. 2. TELECOMMUTING OPPORTUNITIES.
(a) Updated Plan.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall revise Chapter 2360
of Volume 3 of the Foreign Affairs Manual to include an updated plan
for providing telecommuting opportunities for spouses of Foreign
Service officers who are stationed overseas. The Secretary of State may
revise the Personnel Operations Handbook and the International
Cooperative Administrative Support Services Handbook to reflect the
updated plan.
(b) Elements.--The updated plan developed under subsection (a)
shall include--
(1) arranging telecommuting options with Federal agencies
for spouses already employed at agencies as civilian employees
before moving overseas; and
(2) encouraging Federal contractors to make telecommuting
opportunities available to qualified eligible spouses.
SEC. 3. EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR SPOUSES OF FOREIGN
SERVICE OFFICERS.
Section 706(b)(1) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C.
4026(b)(1)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``The Secretary may'' and inserting ``The
Secretary shall'';
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (D);
and
(4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
``(C) establishing a program for assisting spouses
of Foreign Service officers to access employment and
education opportunities, which shall be modeled after
the programs authorized under sections 1784 and 1784a
of title 10, United States Code, and based on
regulations modeled after those prescribed pursuant to
subsection (b) of such section 1784; and''.
SEC. 4. REPORTING ON FOREIGN SERVICE FAMILY RESERVE CORPS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report on the status of
implementation of the Foreign Service Family Reserve Corps.
(b) Elements.--The report required under subsection (a) shall
include the following elements:
(1) A description of the status of implementation of the
Foreign Service Family Reserve Corps (FSFRC).
(2) An assessment of the extent to which implementation was
impacted by the Department of State hiring freeze and a
detailed explanation of the effect of any such impacts.
(3) A description of the status of implementation of a
hiring preference for the FSFRC.
(4) A detailed accounting of any individuals eligible for
membership in the FSFRC who were unable to begin working at a
new location as a result of being unable to transfer their
security clearance, including an assessment of whether they
would have been able to port their clearance as a member of the
FSFRC if the program had been fully implemented.
(5) An estimate of the number of individuals who are
eligible to join the FSFRC worldwide and which of the three
categories, as detailed in the Under Secretary for Management's
guidance dated May 3, 2016, under which those individuals would
enroll.
(6) An estimate of the number of individuals who are
enrolled in the FSFRC worldwide and which of the three
categories, as detailed in the Under Secretary for Management's
guidance dated May 3, 2016, under which those individuals
enrolled.
(7) An estimate of the number of individuals who were
enrolled in each phase of the implementation of the FSFRC as
detailed in guidance issued by the Under Secretary for
Management of the Department of State.
(8) An estimate of the number of individuals enrolled in
the FSFRC who have successfully transferred a security
clearance to a new post since implementation of the program
began.
(9) An estimate of the number of individuals enrolled in
the FSFRC who have been unable to successfully transfer a
security clearance to a new post since implementation of the
program began.
(10) An estimate of the number of individuals who have
declined in writing to apply to the FSFRC.
(c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section,
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
SEC. 5. TREATMENT OF FAMILY MEMBERS OF FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS SEEKING
POSITIONS CUSTOMARILY FILLED BY FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS
OR FOREIGN NATIONAL EMPLOYEES.
Section 311 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3951) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(e) The Secretary shall hold a family member of a government
employee described in subsection (a) seeking employment in a position
described in that subsection to employment standards not higher than
the employment standards applicable to Foreign Service officers,
Foreign Service personnel, or foreign national employees seeking the
same position.''.
<all>