[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4436 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4436

  To provide certain authorities for the Department of State, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 6, 2005

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition 
to the Committee on Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide certain authorities for the Department of State, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SEC. 1. REDI CENTER.

    (a) Authorization.--The Secretary of State is authorized to provide 
for the participation by the United States in the Regional Emerging 
Disease Intervention Center (in this section referred to as ``REDI 
Center'') in Singapore.
    (b) Consultation and Report.--
            (1) Consultation.--Prior to the review required under 
        Article 6.3 of the Agreement described in subsection (c), the 
        Secretary shall consult with the Committee on International 
        Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Foreign Relations of the Senate.
            (2) Report.--In connection with the submission of the 
        annual congressional budget justification, the Secretary shall 
        report on efforts undertaken at the REDI Center with regard to 
        bioterrorism concerns.
    (c) Agreement Described.--The Agreement referred to in subsection 
(b)(1) is the Agreement between the Governments of the United States of 
America and the Republic of Singapore Establishing the Regional 
Emerging Diseases Intervention Center, done at Singapore, November 22, 
2005.

SECTION 2. RETENTION OF MEDICAL REIMBURSEMENTS.

    Section 904 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4084) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(g) Reimbursements paid to the Department of State for funding 
the costs of medical care abroad for employees and eligible family 
members shall be credited to the currently available applicable 
appropriation account. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, such 
reimbursements shall be available for obligation and expenditure during 
the fiscal year in which they are received or for such longer period of 
time as may be provided in law.''.

SEC. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY REVIEW BOARDS.

    Section 301(a) of the Diplomatic Security Act (22 U.S.C. 4831(a)) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``paragraph (2)'' and 
        inserting ``paragraphs (2) and (3)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Facilities in afghanistan and iraq.--
                    ``(A) Limited exemptions from requirement to 
                convene board.--The Secretary of State is not required 
                to convene a Board in the case of an incident that--
                            ``(i) involves serious injury, loss of 
                        life, or significant destruction of property 
                        at, or related to, a United States Government 
                        mission in Afghanistan or Iraq; and
                            ``(ii) occurs during the period beginning 
                        on October 1, 2005, and ending on September 30, 
                        2009.
                    ``(B) Reporting requirements.--In the case of an 
                incident described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
                shall--
                            ``(i) promptly notify the Committee on 
                        International Relations of the House of 
                        Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
                        Relations of the Senate of the incident;
                            ``(ii) conduct an inquiry of the incident; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) upon completion of the inquiry 
                        required by clause (ii), submit to each such 
                        Committee a report on the findings and 
                        recommendations related to such inquiry and the 
                        actions taken with respect to such 
                        recommendations.''.

SEC. 4. INCREASED LIMITS APPLICABLE TO POST DIFFERENTIALS AND DANGER 
              PAY ALLOWANCES.

    (a) Repeal of Limited-Scope Effective Date for Previous Increase.--
Subsection (c) of section 591 of the Foreign Operations, Export 
Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2004 (division D of 
Public Law 108-199) is repealed.
    (b) Post Differentials.--Section 5925(a) of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended in the third sentence by striking ``25 percent of the 
rate of basic pay or, in the case of an employee of the United States 
Agency for International Development,''.
    (c) Danger Pay Allowances.--Section 5928 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended by striking ``25 percent of the basic pay of the 
employee or 35 percent of the basic pay of the employee in the case of 
an employee of the United States Agency for International Development'' 
both places that it appears and inserting ``35 percent of the basic pay 
of the employee''.
    (d) Criteria.--The Secretary of State shall inform the Committee on 
International Relations of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate of the criteria to be used 
in determinations of appropriate adjustments in post differentials 
under section 5925(a) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by 
subsection (b), and danger pay allowances under section 5928 of title 
5, United States Code, as amended by subsection (c).
    (e) Study and Report.--Not later than two years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall conduct a study 
assessing the effect of the increases in post differentials and danger 
pay allowances made by the amendments in subsections (b) and (c), 
respectively, in filling ``hard-to-fill'' positions and shall submit a 
report of such study to the Committees specified in subsection (d).

SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF FOREIGN SERVICE GRIEVANCE BOARD PROCEDURES.

    Section 1106(8) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 
4136(8)) is amended in the first sentence--
            (1) by inserting ``the involuntary separation of the 
        grievant (other than an involuntary separation for cause under 
        section 610(a)),'' after ``considering''; and
            (2) by striking ``the grievant or'' and inserting ``the 
        grievant, or''.

SEC. 6. PERSONAL SERVICES CONTRACTING PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 504 of the Foreign Relations Authorization 
Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-228) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``pilot''; and
                    (B) by striking ``broadcasters, producers, and 
                writers'' and inserting ``broadcasters and other 
                broadcasting specialists'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(4), by striking ``60'' and inserting 
        ``100''; and
            (3) by striking subsection (c).
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Such Act is amended--
            (1) in section 504, by striking ``pilot'' in the section 
        heading; and
            (2) in the table of contents in section 2(b), by amending 
        the item related to section 504 to read as follows:

``Sec. 504. Personal services contracting program.''.

SEC. 7. OFFICIAL RESIDENCE EXPENSES.

    Section 5913 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) Funds made available under subsection (b) may be provided in 
advance to persons eligible to receive reimbursements.''.

SEC. 8. COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS EDUCATION 
              BENEFITS.

    Section 305(a) of the United States International Broadcasting Act 
of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6204(a)) is amended by inserting after paragraph 
(18) the following new paragraph:
            ``(19)(A) To provide for the payment of primary and 
        secondary school expenses for dependents of personnel stationed 
        in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) at a 
        cost not to exceed expenses authorized by the Department of 
        Defense for such schooling for dependents of members of the 
        Armed Forces stationed in the Commonwealth, if the Board 
        determines that schools available in the Commonwealth are 
        unable to provide adequately for the education of the 
        dependents of such personnel.
            ``(B) To provide transportation for dependents of such 
        personnel between their places of residence and those schools 
        for which expenses are provided under subparagraph (A), if the 
        Board determines that such schools are not accessible by public 
        means of transportation.''.
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