[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4436 Received in Senate (RDS)]


109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4436


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 15, 2005

                                Received

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
  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,

SECTION 1. REDI CENTER.

    (a) Authorization.--The Secretary of State is authorized to provide 
for the participation by the United States in the Regional Emerging 
Diseases Intervention Center (in this section referred to as ``REDI 
Center'') in Singapore, as established by the Agreement described in 
subsection (c).
    (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 this section 
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.

SEC. 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. 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) and 
to the Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate.

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 PILOT PROGRAM.

    Section 504(c) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal 
Year 2003 (Public Law 107-228) is amended by striking ``December 31, 
2005'' and inserting ``December 31, 2006''.

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.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives December 14, 2005.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.