[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4194 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4194

    To require the inclusion of an accessibility assessment during 
inspections of overseas diplomatic facilities by the Inspector General 
                      of the Department of State.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 25, 2026

 Ms. Duckworth (for herself and Mr. Sullivan) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To require the inclusion of an accessibility assessment during 
inspections of overseas diplomatic facilities by the Inspector General 
                      of the Department of State.

    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 ``Inspector General Accessibility 
Reporting Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Department of State aspires to ensure that its 
        buildings and facilities are accessible for individuals with 
        disabilities, including its facilities overseas.
            (2) The Department of State has provided successive annual 
        reports in 2024 (Department Report Number 006125) and 2025 
        (Department Report Number 006837) that provide a snapshot of 
        the self-reported status of Barrier-Free Accessibility at the 
        Department's overseas posts.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to continue enabling regular oversight 
and to ensure the Department of State meets its accessibility 
objectives and any associated statutory requirements by requiring 
additional, predictable data points from independent inspections of 
these posts, such as those regularly completed by the Department of 
State's Office of Inspector General.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 102 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3902) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (12) as 
        paragraphs (6) through (15), respectively;
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (4);
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) `Access Board' means the Architectural and 
        Transportation Barriers Compliance Board established under 
        section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 792);
            ``(3) `Accessibility Standards' means--
                    ``(A) standards (including guidelines) established 
                by the Access Board in compliance with the 
                Architectural Barriers Act;
                    ``(B) standards established by the Access Board in 
                compliance with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act 
                of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d); and
                    ``(C) such other standards as are deemed 
                appropriate by the Secretary of State to ensure 
                compliance with the Architectural Barriers Act and 
                title V of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 
                791 et seq.);''; and
            (4) by inserting after paragraph (4), as redesignated, the 
        following:
            ``(5) `Architectural Barriers Act' means the Act entitled 
        `An Act to ensure that certain buildings financed with Federal 
        funds are so designed and constructed as to be accessible to 
        the physically handicapped', approved August 12, 1968 (commonly 
        known as the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968) (42 U.S.C. 
        4151 et seq.);''.

SEC. 5. REQUIRING ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION IN OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR 
              GENERAL INVESTIGATIONS.

    Section 209(b) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 
3929(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) the extent to which the post, bureau, or other 
        operating unit under inspection meets the Accessibility 
        Standards, including the building and facility standards under 
        the Architectural Barriers Act.''.
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