1.This Act may be cited as the &short-title1;
.
2.
(a)Congress finds that the resources of the United States Armed Forces have been burdened by having to undertake stabilization and reconstruction tasks in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries of the world that could have been performed by civilians, which has resulted in lengthy deployments for Armed Forces personnel.
(b)The purpose of this Act is to provide for the development, as a core mission of the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development, of an effective expert civilian response capability to carry out stabilization and reconstruction activities in a country or region that is in, or is in transition from, conflict or civil strife.
3.In this Act:
(1)The term Administrator means the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.
(2)Appropriate congressional committeesThe term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives.
(3)Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the term Department means the Department of State.
(4)The term Executive agency has the meaning given that term in section 105 of title 5, United States Code.
(5)Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Act, the term Secretary means the Secretary of State.
4.It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)the civilian element of United States joint civilian-military operations should be strengthened in order to enhance the execution of current and future stabilization and reconstruction activities in foreign countries or regions that are in, or are in transition from, conflict or civil strife;
(2)the capability of civilian agencies of the United States Government to carry out stabilization and reconstruction activities in such countries or regions should also be enhanced through a new rapid response corps of civilian experts supported by the establishment of a new system of planning, organization, personnel policies, and education and training, and the provision of adequate resources;
(3)the international community, including nongovernmental organizations, and the United Nations and its specialized agencies, should be further encouraged to participate in planning and organizing stabilization and reconstruction activities in such countries or regions;
(4)the President should establish a new directorate of stabilization and reconstruction activities within the National Security Council to oversee the development of interagency contingency plans and procedures, including plans and procedures for joint civilian-military operations, to address stabilization and reconstruction requirements in such countries or regions;
(5)the President should establish a standing committee to exercise responsibility for overseeing the formulation and execution of stabilization and reconstruction policy in order to ensure appropriate interagency coordination in the planning and execution of stabilization and reconstruction activities, including joint civilian-military operations, of the United States Government, and should provide for the committee—
(A)to be chaired by the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; and
(B)to include the heads of—
(i)the Department;
(ii)the United States Agency for International Development;
(iii)the Department of Labor;
(iv)the Department of Commerce;
(v)the Department of Justice;
(vi)the Department of the Treasury;
(vii)the Department of Agriculture;
(viii)the Department of Defense; and
(ix)other Executive agencies as appropriate;
(6)the Secretary and the Administrator should work with the Secretary of Defense to establish a personnel exchange program among the Department, the United States Agency for International Development, and the Department of Defense, including the regional commands and the Joint Staff, to enhance the stabilization and reconstruction skills of military and civilian personnel and their ability to undertake joint operations; and
(7)the heads of other Executive agencies should establish personnel exchange programs that are designed to enhance the stabilization and reconstruction skills of military and civilian personnel.
5.Authority to provide assistance for stabilization and reconstruction crisesChapter 1 of part III of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2351 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 617 the following new section:
618.Assistance for a stabilization and reconstruction crisis
(a)If the President determines that it is important to the national interests of the United States for United States civilian agencies or non-Federal employees to assist in stabilizing and reconstructing a country or region that is in, or is in transition from, conflict or civil strife, the President may, in accordance with the provisions set forth in section 614(a)(3), notwithstanding any other provision of law, and on such terms and conditions as the President may determine, furnish assistance to respond to the crisis and authorize the export of goods and services needed to respond to the crisis.
(b)To provide assistance authorized in subsection (a), the President may exercise the authorities contained in sections 552(c)(2), 610, and 614 of this Act without regard to the percentage and aggregate dollar limitations contained in such sections.
(c)
(1)There is authorized to be appropriated, without fiscal year limitation, $100,000,000 in funds that may be used to provide assistance authorized in subsection (a).
(2)There is authorized to be appropriated each fiscal year such sums as may be necessary to replenish funds expended as provided under paragraph (1). Funds authorized to be appropriated under this paragraph shall be available without fiscal year limitation for the same purpose and under the same conditions as are provided under paragraph (1)..
6.Office of International Stabilization and ReconstructionTitle I of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 is amended by adding after section 58 (22 U.S.C. 2730) the following new section:
59.International Stabilization and Reconstruction
(a)Office of International Stabilization and Reconstruction
(1)The Secretary shall establish within the Department of State an Office of International Stabilization and Reconstruction.
(2)Coordinator for International Stabilization and ReconstructionThe head of the Office shall be the Coordinator for International Stabilization and Reconstruction, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Coordinator shall report directly to the Secretary and shall have the rank and status of Ambassador-at-Large.
(3)The functions of the Office of International Stabilization and Reconstruction include the following:
(A)Monitoring, in coordination with relevant bureaus within the Department of State, political and economic instability worldwide to anticipate the need for mobilizing United States and international assistance for the stabilization and reconstruction of countries or regions that are in, or are in transition from, conflict or civil strife.
(B)Assessing the various types of stabilization and reconstruction crises that could occur and cataloging and monitoring the non-military resources and capabilities of Executive agencies that are available to address such crises.
(C)Planning to address requirements, such as demobilization, policing, human rights monitoring, and public information, that commonly arise in stabilization and reconstruction crises.
(D)Coordinating with relevant Executive agencies (as that term is defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code) to develop interagency contingency plans to mobilize and deploy civilian personnel to address the various types of such crises.
(E)Entering into appropriate arrangements with other Executive agencies to carry out activities under this section and the &short-title1;.
(F)Identifying personnel in State and local governments and in the private sector who are available to participate in the Response Readiness Corps or the Response Readiness Reserve established under subsection (b) or to otherwise participate in or contribute to stabilization and reconstruction activities.
(G)Ensuring that training of civilian personnel to perform such stabilization and reconstruction activities is adequate and, as appropriate, includes security training that involves exercises and simulations with the Armed Forces, including the regional commands.
(H)Sharing information and coordinating plans for stabilization and reconstruction activities with rapid response elements of the United Nations and its specialized agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and other foreign national and international organizations.
(I)Coordinating plans and procedures for joint civilian-military operations with respect to stabilization and reconstruction activities.
(J)Maintaining the capacity to field on short notice an evaluation team to undertake on-site needs assessment.
(b)Response to stabilization and reconstruction crisisIf the President makes a determination regarding a stabilization and reconstruction crisis under section 618 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the President may designate the Coordinator, or such other individual as the President may determine appropriate, as the coordinator of the United States response. The individual so designated, or, in the event the President does not make such a designation, the Coordinator for International Stabilization and Reconstruction, shall—
(1)assess the immediate and long-term need for resources and civilian personnel;
(2)identify and mobilize non-military resources to respond to the crisis; and
(3)coordinate the activities of the other individuals or management team, if any, designated by the President to manage the United States response..
7.
(a)Section 59 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (as added by section 6) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
(c)
(1)
(A)Establishment and purposeThe Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, is authorized to establish a Response Readiness Corps (hereafter referred to in this section as the Corps
) to provide assistance in support of stabilization and reconstruction activities in foreign countries or regions that are in, or are in transition from, conflict or civil strife.
(B)The Secretary and Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development should coordinate in the recruitment, hiring, and training of—
(i)up to 250 personnel to serve in the Corps; and
(ii)such other personnel as the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator, may designate as members of the Corps from among employees of the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development.
(C)The Secretary shall train the members of the Corps to perform services necessary to carry out the purpose of the Corps under subparagraph (A).
(D)Members of the Corps hired under subparagraph (B)(i) shall be compensated in accordance with the appropriate salary class for the Foreign Service, as set forth in sections 402 and 403 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3962 and 22 U.S.C. 3963), or in accordance with the relevant authority under sections 3101 and 3392 of title 5, United States Code.
(2)Response Readiness Reserve
(A)Establishment and purposeThe Secretary, in consultation with the heads of other relevant Executive agencies, is authorized to establish and maintain a roster of personnel who are trained and available as needed to perform services necessary to carry out the purpose of the Corps under paragraph (1)(A). The personnel listed on the roster shall constitute a Response Readiness Reserve to augment the Corps.
(B)The Response Readiness Reserve may include employees of the Department of State, including Foreign Service Nationals, employees of the United States Agency for International Development, employees of any other Executive agency (as that term is defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code), and employees from the legislative and judicial branches who—
(i)have the training and skills necessary to enable them to contribute to stabilization and reconstruction activities; and
(ii)have volunteered for deployment to carry out stabilization and reconstruction activities.
(C)The Response Readiness Reserve should also include at least 500 personnel, which may include retired employees of the Federal Government, contractor personnel, nongovernmental organization personnel, and State and local government employees, who—
(i)have the training and skills necessary to enable them to contribute to stabilization and reconstruction activities; and
(ii)have volunteered to carry out stabilization and reconstruction activities.
(3)
(A)The members of the Corps shall be available—
(i)if responding in support of stabilization and reconstruction activities pursuant to a determination by the President regarding a stabilization and reconstruction crisis under section 618 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, for deployment in support of such activities; and
(ii)if not responding as described in clause (i), for assignment in the United States, United States diplomatic missions, and United States Agency for International Development missions.
(B)Response Readiness ReserveThe Secretary may deploy members of the reserve under paragraph (2) in support of stabilization and reconstruction activities in a foreign country or region if the President makes a determination regarding a stabilization and reconstruction crisis under section 618 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961..
(b)The full-time personnel authorized to be employed in the Response Readiness Corps under section 59(b)(1)(B)(i) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (as added by subsection (a)) are in addition to any other full-time personnel of the Department or the United States Agency for International Development authorized to be employed under any other provision of law.
(c)Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the status of efforts to establish the Response Readiness Corps and the Response Readiness Reserve under this section. The report shall include recommendations—
(1)for any legislation necessary to implement subsection (a); and
(2)related to the regulation and structure of the Response Readiness Corps and the Response Readiness Reserve, including with respect to pay and employment security for, and benefit and retirement matters related to, such individuals.
8.Stabilization and reconstruction training and educationSection 701 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4021) is amended—
(1)by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and
(2)by inserting after subsection (f) the following new subsection:
(g)Stabilization and reconstruction curriculum
(1)Establishment and missionThe Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Army, is authorized to establish a stabilization and reconstruction curriculum for use in programs of the Foreign Service Institute, the National Defense University, and the United States Army War College.
(2)The curriculum shall include the following:
(A)An overview of the global security environment, including an assessment of transnational threats and an analysis of United States policy options to address such threats.
(B)A review of lessons learned from previous United States and international experiences in stabilization and reconstruction activities.
(C)An overview of the relevant responsibilities, capabilities, and limitations of various Executive agencies (as that term is defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code) and the interactions among them.
(D)A discussion of the international resources available to address stabilization and reconstruction requirements, including resources of the United Nations and its specialized agencies, nongovernmental organizations, private and voluntary organizations, and foreign governments, together with an examination of the successes and failures experienced by the United States in working with such entities.
(E)A study of the United States interagency system.
(F)Foreign language training.
(G)Training and simulation exercises for joint civilian-military emergency response operations..
9.Service related to stabilization and reconstruction
(a)Service in stabilization and reconstruction operations overseas, membership in the Response Readiness Corps under section 59(b) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (as added by section 7), and education and training in the stabilization and reconstruction curriculum established under section 701(g) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (as added by section 8) should be considered among the favorable factors for the promotion of employees of Executive agencies.
(b)Personnel training and promotionThe Secretary and the Administrator should take steps to ensure that, not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, at least 10 percent of the employees of the Department and the United States Agency for International Development in the United States are members of the Response Readiness Corps or are trained in the activities of, or identified for potential deployment in support of, the Response Readiness Corps. The Secretary should provide such training to Ambassadors and Deputy Chiefs of Mission.
(c)Other incentives and benefitsThe Secretary and the Administrator may establish and administer a system of awards and other incentives and benefits to confer appropriate recognition on and reward any individual who is assigned, detailed, or deployed to carry out stabilization or reconstruction activities in accordance with this Act.
10.Authorities related to personnel
(a)The Secretary, or the head of another Executive agency authorized by the Secretary, may, upon a determination by the President regarding a stabilization and reconstruction crisis under section 618 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, procure the services of individuals or organizations by contract to carry out the purposes of this Act. Individuals so performing such services shall not by virtue of performing such services be considered to be employees of the United States Government for purposes of any law administered by the Office of Personnel Management (except that the Secretary or other authorized Executive agency head may determine the applicability to such individuals of any law administered by the Secretary or other authorized Executive agency head concerning the performance of such services by such individuals).
(b)Upon a determination by the President regarding a stabilization and reconstruction crisis under section 618 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Secretary and Administrator may, to the extent necessary to obtain services without delay, employ experts and consultants under section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, without requiring compliance with any otherwise applicable requirements for that employment as the Secretary or Administrator may determine, except that such employment shall be terminated after 60 days if by that time the applicable requirements are not complied with.
(c)Authority to accept and assign detailsThe Secretary and the Administrator are authorized to accept details or assignments of employees of Executive agencies, members of the uniformed services, and employees of State or local governments on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis in order to meet the purposes of this Act. The assignment of an employee of a State or local government under this subsection shall be consistent with subchapter VI of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code.
(d)
(1)Annuitants under Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees Retirement SystemNotwithstanding sections 8344(i) and 8468(f) of title 5, United States Code, the Secretary and the Administrator may waive the application of the provisions of sections 8344 (a) through (h) and 8468 (a) through (e) of title 5, United States Code, with respect to annuitants under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees Retirement System who are assigned, detailed, or deployed to carry out stabilization and reconstruction activities in accordance with this Act during the period of their reemployment.
(2)Annuitants under Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System and Foreign Service Pension SystemThe Secretary may waive the application of subsections (a) through (d) of section 824 of the Foreign Service Act (22 U.S.C. 4064), for annuitants under the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System or the Foreign Service Pension System who are reemployed on a temporary basis in order to be assigned, detailed, or deployed to carry out stabilization and reconstruction activities in accordance with this Act.
(e)Extension of certain Foreign Service benefitsThe Secretary may extend to any individuals assigned, detailed, or deployed to carry out stabilization and reconstruction activities in accordance with this Act the benefits or privileges set forth in sections 412, 413, 704, and 901 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 972, 22 U.S.C. 3973, 22 U.S.C. 4024, and 22 U.S.C. 4081) to the same extent and manner that such benefits and privileges are extended to members of the Foreign Service.
(f)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary and the Administrator may, subject to the consent of an individual who is assigned, detailed, or deployed to carry out stabilization and reconstruction activities in accordance with this Act, grant such individual compensatory time off for an equal amount of time spent in regularly or irregularly scheduled overtime work. Credit for compensatory time off earned shall not form the basis for any additional compensation. Any such compensatory time not used within 26 pay periods shall be forfeited.
(g)Increase in premium pay capThe Secretary is authorized to compensate an employee detailed, assigned, or deployed to carry out stabilization and reconstruction activities in accordance with this Act without regard to the limitations on premium pay set forth in section 5547 of title 5, United States Code, to the extent that the aggregate of the basic pay and premium pay of such employee for a year does not exceed the annual rate payable for level II of the Executive Schedule.
(h)Acceptance of volunteer services
(1)The Secretary, or the head of an Executive agency authorized by the Secretary, may, upon a determination by the President regarding a stabilization and reconstruction crisis under section 618 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, accept volunteer services to carry out stabilization and reconstruction activities under this Act and section 59 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 without regard to section 1342 of title 31, United States Code.
(2)Donors of voluntary services accepted for purposes of this section may include—
(A)advisors;
(B)experts;
(C)consultants; and
(D)persons performing services in any other capacity determined appropriate by the Secretary.
(3)The Secretary, or the head of an Executive agency authorized by the Secretary, shall—
(A)ensure that each person performing voluntary services accepted under this section is notified of the scope of the voluntary services accepted;
(B)supervise the volunteer to the same extent as employees receiving compensation for similar services; and
(C)ensure that the volunteer has appropriate credentials or is otherwise qualified to perform in each capacity for which the volunteer’s services are accepted.
(4)Applicability of provisions relating to Federal Government employeesA person providing volunteer services accepted under this section shall not be considered an employee of the Federal Government in the performance of those services, except for the purposes of the following provisions of law:
(A)Chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, relating to compensation for work-related injuries.
(B)Chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, relating to tort claims.
(C)Chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, relating to conflicts of interest.
11.Authorization of appropriations
(a)There is authorized to be appropriated $80,000,000 for personnel, education and training, equipment, and travel costs for purposes of carrying out this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
(b)Office of International Stabilization and ReconstructionOf the amounts authorized to be appropriated in subsection (a), $8,000,000 is authorized to be made available to pay the salaries, overhead, travel, per diem, and related costs associated with establishing and operating the Office of International Stabilization described in section 59 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (as added by sections 6 and 7).