[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2721 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2721
To provide for greater diversity within, and to improve policy
direction and oversight of, the Senior Executive Service.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 4, 2009
Mr. Davis of Illinois (for himself, Mr. Cummings, Ms. Norton, Mr.
Gonzalez, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, and Mr. Clay) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
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. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) according to the Government Accountability Office--
(A) minorities made up 22.5 percent of the
individuals serving at the GS-15 and GS-14 levels and
15.8 percent of the Senior Executive Service in 2007;
(B) women made up 34.3 percent of the individuals
serving at the GS-15 and GS-14 levels and 29.1 percent
of the Senior Executive Service in 2007; and
(C) although the number of career Senior Executive
Service members increased from 6,110 in 2,000 to 6,555
in 2007, the representation of African-American men in
the career Senior Executive Service declined during
that same period from 5.5 percent to 5.0 percent; and
(2) according to the Office of Personnel Management--
(A) black employees represented 6.1 percent of
employees at the Senior Pay levels and 17.8 percent of
the permanent Federal workforce compared to 10.1
percent in the civilian labor force in 2007;
(B) Hispanic employees represented 4.0 percent of
employees at the Senior Pay levels and 7.8 percent of
the permanent Federal workforce compared to 13.3
percent of the civilian labor force in 2007; and
(C) women represented 28.2 percent of employees at
the Senior Pay levels and 43.9 percent of the permanent
Federal workforce compared to 45.7 percent of the
civilian labor force in 2007.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act--
(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 section 4.
SEC. 4. SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE RESOURCE OFFICE.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, 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.
(b) 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 annual statistics (in a form
that renders them useful to appointing authorities and
candidates) on--
(A) the total number of career reserved positions
at each agency;
(B) the total number of vacant career reserved
positions at each agency;
(C) of the positions under subparagraph (B), the
number for which candidates are being sought;
(D) the number of individuals who have been
certified in accordance with section 3393(c) of title
5, United States Code, and the composition of that
group of individuals with regard to race, ethnicity,
sex, age, and individuals with disabilities;
(E) the composition of the Senior Executive Service
with regard to race, ethnicity, sex, age, and
individuals with disabilities;
(F) the composition of executive resources boards
with regard to race, ethnicity, sex, and individuals
with disabilities; and
(G) the composition of qualifications review boards
with regard to race, ethnicity, sex, and individuals
with disabilities;
(8) make available to the public through the official
public internet site of the Office of Personnel Management, the
data collected under paragraph (7);
(9) establish mentoring programs for potential candidates
for the Senior Executive Service, including candidates who have
been certified as having the executive qualifications necessary
for initial appointment as a career appointee under a program
established pursuant to section 3396(a) of title 5, United
States Code;
(10) conduct a continuing program for the recruitment of
women, members of racial and ethnic minority groups, and
individuals with disabilities for Senior Executive Service
positions, with special efforts directed at recruiting from
educational institutions, professional associations, and other
sources;
(11) advise agencies on the best practices for an agency in
utilizing or consulting with an agency's equal employment or
diversity office or official (if the agency has such an office
or official) with regard to the agency's Senior Executive
Service appointments process; and
(12) evaluate and implement strategies to ensure that
agencies conduct appropriate outreach to other agencies to
identify candidates for Senior Executive Service positions.
(c) Protection of Individually Identifiable Information.--For
purposes of subsection (b)(8), the SES Resource Office may combine data
for any agency that is not named in section 901(b) of chapter 31,
United States Code, to protect individually identifiable information.
(d) Cooperation of Agencies.--The head of each agency shall provide
the Office of Personnel Management with such information as the SES
Resource Office may require in order to carry out subsection (b)(7).
SEC. 5. CAREER APPOINTMENTS.
(a) Promoting Diversity in the Career Appointments Process.--
Section 3393 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (b), by inserting after the first
sentence the following: ``In establishing an executive
resources board, the head of the agency shall, to the extent
practicable, ensure diversity of the board and of any subgroup
thereof or other evaluation panel related to the merit staffing
process for career appointees, by including members of racial
and ethnic minority groups, women, and individuals with
disabilities.''; and
(2) in subsection (c)(1), by adding after the last sentence
the following: ``Notwithstanding the preceding sentence,
consideration should also be given to improving diversity by
including members of racial and ethnic minority groups, women,
and individuals with disabilities on such boards.''.
(b) Regulations.--Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Director shall promulgate regulations to implement the
amendments made by subsection (a) and to improve diversity in executive
resources boards and qualifications review boards.
(c) Report.--Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Director shall submit to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report
evaluating agency efforts to improve diversity in executive resources
boards and of the members designated by agencies to serve on
qualifications review boards, based on the information collected by the
SES Resource Office under subparagraphs (F) and (G) of section 4(b)(7).
SEC. 6. ENCOURAGING A MORE DIVERSE SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE.
(a) Senior Executive Service Diversity Plans.--Within 1 year after
the date of the enactment of this Act, each agency, in consultation
with the Office of Personnel Management, shall submit to the Office of
Personnel Management a plan to enhance and maximize opportunities for
the advancement and appointment of minorities, women, and individuals
with disabilities in the agency to the Senior Executive Service. Agency
plans shall address how the agency is identifying and eliminating
barriers that impair the ability of minorities, women, and individuals
with disabilities to obtain appointments to the Senior Executive
Service and any actions the agency is taking to provide advancement
opportunities, including--
(1) conducting outreach to minorities, women, and
individuals within the agency and outside the agency;
(2) establishing and maintaining training and education
programs to foster leadership development;
(3) identifying career enhancing opportunities for agency
employees;
(4) assessing internal availability of candidates for
Senior Executive Service positions; and
(5) conducting an inventory of employee skills and
addressing current and potential gaps in skills and the
distribution of skills.
Agency plans shall be updated at least every 2 years during the 10
years following enactment of this Act. An agency plan shall be reviewed
by the Office of Personnel Management and, if determined to provide
sufficient assurances, procedures, and commitments to provide adequate
opportunities for the advancement and appointment of minorities, women,
and individuals with disabilities to the Senior Executive Service,
shall be approved by such Office. An agency may, in updating its plan,
submit to the Office of Personnel Management an assessment of the
impacts of the plan.
(b) Summary and Evaluation.--Within 180 days after the deadline for
the submission of any report or update under subsection (a), the
Director shall transmit to the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report summarizing
and evaluating the agency plans or updates (as the case may be) so
submitted.
(c) Coordination.--The Office of Personnel Management shall, in
carrying out subsection (a), evaluate existing requirements under
section 717 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-16) and
section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791) and
determine how agency reporting can be performed so as to be consistent
with, but not duplicative of, such sections and any other similar
requirements.
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