[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1527 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1527

  To enable more responsible and efficient spending on Department of 
                State activities and foreign operations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 8, 2015

 Mr. Perdue (for himself and Mr. Kaine) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To enable more responsible and efficient spending on Department of 
                State activities and foreign operations.

    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 at the ``Improving Department of State 
Oversight Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. COMPETITIVE HIRING STATUS FOR FORMER EMPLOYEES OF THE SPECIAL 
              INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any employee of the 
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction who completes at 
least 12 months of service at any time prior to the date of the 
termination of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, 
October 5, 2013, and was not terminated for cause shall acquire 
competitive status for appointment to any position in the competitive 
service for which the employee possesses the required qualifications.

SEC. 3. ASSURANCE OF INDEPENDENCE OF IT SYSTEMS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State, with the concurrence of 
the Inspector General of the Department of State, shall certify to the 
appropriate congressional committees that the Department has made 
reasonable efforts to ensure the integrity and independence of the 
Office of the Inspector General Information Technology systems.
    (b) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 4. PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF INTERNAL INVESTIGATIONS.

    Section 209(c)(5) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 
3929(c)(5)) is amended by inserting at the end the following new 
subparagraph:
                    ``(C) Required reporting of allegations and 
                investigations and inspector general authority.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Each bureau, post or 
                        other office (in this subparagraph, an 
                        `entity') of the Department of State shall, 
                        within five business days, report to the 
                        Inspector General any allegations of--
                                    ``(I) waste, fraud, or abuse in a 
                                Department program or operation;
                                    ``(II) criminal or serious 
                                misconduct on the part of a Department 
                                employee at the FS-1, GS-15, GM-15 
                                level or higher;
                                    ``(III) criminal misconduct on the 
                                part of any Department employee; and
                                    ``(IV) serious, noncriminal 
                                misconduct on the part of any 
                                individual who is authorized to carry a 
                                weapon, make arrests, or conduct 
                                searches, such as conduct that, if 
                                proved, would constitute perjury or 
                                material dishonesty, warrant suspension 
                                as discipline for a first offense, or 
                                result in loss of law enforcement 
                                authority.
                            ``(ii) Inspector general authority.--The 
                        Inspector General may, pursuant to existing 
                        authority, investigate matters covered by 
                        clause (i).
                            ``(iii) Limitation on investigations 
                        outside of office of inspector general.--No 
                        entity in the Department of State with 
                        concurrent jurisdiction over matters covered by 
                        clause (i), including the Bureau of Diplomatic 
                        Security, may initiate an investigation of such 
                        matter unless it has first reported the 
                        allegations to the Inspector General as 
                        required by clause (i), except as provided in 
                        clauses (v) and (vi).
                            ``(iv) Cooperation.--If an entity in the 
                        Department of State initiates an investigation 
                        of a matter covered in clause (i) the entity 
                        must, except as provided in clause (v), fully 
                        cooperate with the Inspector General, 
                        including--
                                    ``(I) by providing to the Inspector 
                                General all data and records obtained 
                                in connection with its investigation 
                                upon request of the Inspector General;
                                    ``(II) by coordinating, at the 
                                request of the Inspector General, such 
                                entity's investigation with the 
                                Inspector General; and
                                    ``(III) by providing to the 
                                Inspector General requested support in 
                                aid of the Inspector General's 
                                oversight and investigative 
                                responsibilities.
                            ``(v) Exceptions.--The Inspector General 
                        may prescribe general rules under which any 
                        requirement of clause (iii) or clause (iv) may 
                        be dispensed with.
                            ``(vi) Exigent circumstances.--Compliance 
                        with clauses (i), (iii), and (iv) of this 
                        subparagraph may be dispensed with by an entity 
                        of the Department of State if complying with 
                        them in an exigent circumstance would pose an 
                        imminent threat to human life, health or 
                        safety, or result in the irretrievable loss or 
                        destruction of critical evidence or witness 
                        testimony, in which case a report of the 
                        allegation shall be made not later than 48 
                        hours after an entity begins an investigation 
                        under the authority of this clause and 
                        cooperation required under clause (iv) shall 
                        commence not later than 48 hours after the 
                        relevant exigent circumstance has ended.
                            ``(vii) Rule of construction.--Nothing in 
                        this subparagraph may be interpreted to affect 
                        any duty or authority of the Inspector General 
                        under any provision of law, including the 
                        Inspector General's duties or authorities under 
                        the Inspector General Act.''.

SEC. 5. REPORT ON INSPECTOR GENERAL INSPECTION AND AUDITING OF FOREIGN 
              SERVICE POSTS AND BUREAUS AND OPERATING UNITS DEPARTMENT 
              OF STATE.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to 
Congress on the requirement under section 209(a)(1) of the Foreign 
Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3929(a)(1)) that the Inspector General 
of the Department of State inspect and audit, at least every 5 years, 
the administration of activities and operations of each Foreign Service 
post and each bureau and other operating unit of the Department of 
State.
    (b) Consideration of Multi-Tier System.--The report required under 
subsection (a) shall assess the advisability and feasibility of 
implementing a multi-tier system for inspecting Foreign Service posts 
featuring more (or less) frequent inspections and audits of posts based 
on risk, including security risk, as may be determined by the Inspector 
General.
    (c) Composition.--The report required under subsection (a) shall 
include separate portions prepared by the Inspector General of the 
Department of State, and the Comptroller General of the United States, 
respectively.
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