[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2148 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2148

    To provide for greater diversity within, and to improve policy 
       direction and oversight of, the Senior Executive Service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 4, 2007

   Mr. Akaka introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide for greater diversity within, and to improve policy 
       direction and oversight of, the Senior Executive Service.

    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 ``Senior Executive Service Diversity 
Assurance Act''.

SEC. 2. SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE RESOURCE OFFICE.

    (a) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            (1) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office 
        of Personnel Management;
            (2) the term ``Senior Executive Service'' has the meaning 
        given such term by section 2101a of title 5, United States 
        Code;
            (3) the terms ``agency'', ``career appointee'', and 
        ``career reserved position'' have the meanings given them by 
        section 3132 of title 5, United States Code; and
            (4) the term ``SES Resource Office'' means the Senior 
        Executive Service Resource Office, established under subsection 
        (b).
    (b) Establishment.--Not later than January 1, 2009, the Director 
shall establish within the Office of Personnel Management an office to 
be known as the Senior Executive Service Resource Office. The mission 
of the SES Resource Office shall be--
            (1) to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and 
        productivity of the Senior Executive Service through policy 
        formulation and oversight;
            (2) to advance the professionalism of the Senior Executive 
        Service; and
            (3) to ensure that, in seeking to achieve a Senior 
        Executive Service reflective of the Nation's diversity, 
        recruitment is from qualified individuals from appropriate 
        sources.
    (c) Functions.--It shall be the function of the SES Resource Office 
to make recommendations to the Director with respect to regulations, 
and to provide guidance to agencies, concerning the structure, 
management, and diverse composition of the Senior Executive Service. In 
order to carry out the purposes of this section, the SES Resource 
Office shall--
            (1) take such actions as the SES Resource Office considers 
        necessary to manage and promote an efficient, elite, and 
        diverse corps of senior executives by--
                    (A) creating policies for the management and 
                improvement of the Senior Executive Service;
                    (B) providing oversight of the performance, 
                structure, and composition of the Senior Executive 
                Service; and
                    (C) providing guidance and oversight to agencies in 
                the management of senior executives and candidates for 
                the Senior Executive Service;
            (2) be responsible for the policy development, management, 
        and oversight of the Senior Executive Service pay system;
            (3) develop standards for certification of each agency's 
        Senior Executive Service performance management system and 
        evaluate all agency applications for certification;
            (4) be responsible for developing and monitoring programs 
        for the advancement and training of senior executives, 
        including the Senior Executive Service Federal Candidate 
        Development Program;
            (5) provide oversight of and guidance to agency executive 
        resources boards;
            (6) be responsible for the administration of the 
        qualifications review board;
            (7) establish and maintain lists (in a form that renders 
        them useful to appointing authorities and candidates) of--
                    (A) the total number of career reserved positions 
                at each agency;
                    (B) the total number of vacant career reserved 
                positions at each agency;
                    (C) whether candidates are being sought for each 
                such vacant position; and
                    (D) the names and (to the extent available) the 
                race, ethnicity, gender, and any disabilities of 
                individuals who have been certified, in accordance with 
                section 3393(d) of title 5, United States Code (as so 
                redesignated by section 3(a)), as having the executive 
                qualifications necessary for initial appointment as a 
                career appointee;
            (8) establish mentoring programs for individuals described 
        in paragraph (7)(D);
            (9) collect and maintain statistics relating to the 
        composition of the Senior Executive Service based on race, 
        ethnicity, gender, age, and persons with disabilities;
            (10) publish annually in the Federal Register statistics 
        relating to--
                    (A) the data collected by the SES Resource Office 
                under paragraph (7); and
                    (B) the composition of the Senior Executive Service 
                based on the factors listed in paragraph (7)(D); and
            (11) conduct a continuing program for the recruitment of 
        women, members of racial and ethnic minority groups, and the 
        disabled for Senior Executive Service positions, with special 
        efforts directed at recruiting from educational institutions, 
        professional associations, and other sources.
    (d) Public Access to Statistics.--The SES Resource Office shall 
make the statistics under subsection (c)(10) accessible to the public 
through an Internet website.

SEC. 3. CAREER APPOINTMENTS.

    (a) Establishment and Role of SES Evaluation Panels.--Section 3393 
of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (g) as 
        subsections (c) through (h), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b)(1)(A) Each agency shall establish one or more Senior 
Executive Service evaluation panels, as appropriate, the members of 
which shall be appointed by the head of the agency (or his or her 
designee)--
                    ``(i) from among senior executives of the agency or 
                commissioned officers of the uniformed services serving 
                on active duty in such agency; or
                    ``(ii) from among senior executives of or 
                commissioned officers of the uniformed services serving 
                on active duty in another agency, if--
                            ``(I) subparagraph (B) could not (but for 
                        this clause) otherwise be satisfied; and
                            ``(II) the consent of the head of the other 
                        agency is obtained.
    ``(B) Each panel shall consist of 3 members, of whom at least 1 
shall be a woman and 1 other shall be a member of a racial or ethnic 
minority group.
    ``(2) It shall be the function of a Senior Executive Service 
evaluation panel, with respect to any Senior Executive Service position 
for which a vacancy announcement is posted--
            ``(A) to review the executive qualifications of each 
        candidate for a position which is to be filled by a career 
        appointee; and
            ``(B) to certify to the appropriate executive resources 
        board the names of candidates who, in the judgment of the 
        panel, are best qualified for such position.
Nothing in subparagraph (A) shall be considered to apply in the case of 
any candidate who is already a career appointee.''.
    (b) Role of Executive Resources Boards.--Paragraph (1) of section 
3393(c) of title 5, United States Code (as so redesignated by 
subsection (a)), is amended to read as follows:
            ``(1) for each career reserved position for which a vacancy 
        is posted, review the executive qualifications of candidates 
        certified under subsection (b) with respect to such position; 
        and''.
    (c) Definition of Appointing Authority.--Section 3393 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by adding after subsection (h) (as so 
redesignated by subsection (a)) the following:
    ``(i) For purposes of this section, the term `appointing authority' 
means, with respect to a position within an agency, the head of such 
agency (or his or her designee).''.
    (d) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 3592(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is 
        amended by striking ``3393(d)'' and inserting ``3393(e)''.
            (2) Section 3593 of such title is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) in the matter before paragraph (1), by 
                        striking ``3393(b) and (c)'' and inserting 
                        ``3393(c) and (d)''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (1), by striking 
                        ``3393(d)'' and inserting ``3393(e)''; and
                    (B) in subsection (c)(1)--
                            (i) in the matter before subparagraph (A), 
                        by striking ``3393(b) and (c)'' and inserting 
                        ``3393(c) and (d)''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
                        ``3393(d)'' and inserting ``3393(e)''.
            (3) Section 3594 of such title is amended in subsections 
        (a) and (b) by striking ``3393(d)'' and inserting ``3393(e)''.
            (4) Section 3595(b)(1) of such title is amended by striking 
        ``3393(d)'' and inserting ``3393(e)''.
            (5) Section 7541(1)(A) of such title is amended by striking 
        ``3393(d)'' and inserting ``3393(e)''.
                                 <all>