[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6237 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6237

 To allow Federal State Department employees to file a confidential or 
 open report on any fiscal waste that they come across and establishes 
  an award program for exemplary employees who file non-confidential 
                     reports on wasteful spending.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 6, 2023

  Mr. Baird introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To allow Federal State Department employees to file a confidential or 
 open report on any fiscal waste that they come across and establishes 
  an award program for exemplary employees who file non-confidential 
                     reports on wasteful spending.

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

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF FISCAL WASTE SELF-REPORTING PROGRAM AND 
              FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY AWARD.

    (a) Fiscal Waste Self-Reporting Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Department of State Under Secretary 
        for Management shall work with the Director of the Budget and 
        Planning Bureau and the Director of Global Talent in the Global 
        Talent Management Bureau, among other persons, to establish a 
        program for employees to self-report fiscal waste they observe 
        in their course of employment. Within 60 days of receiving a 
        report, the Under Secretary for Management shall--
                    (A) investigate the substance of the report and 
                determine if it identifies fiscal waste; and
                    (B) rectify all instances of fiscal waste 
                identified by the report.
            (2) Confidentiality.--Employees shall have the opportunity 
        to mark their submissions to the fiscal waste self-reporting 
        program as confidential. Information in reports marked as 
        confidential shall--
                    (A) be accessible only to staff responsible for 
                administering the fiscal waste self-reporting program 
                and be shared only insofar as is necessary to 
                investigate or rectify the report. Staff administering 
                the program shall not share the name or other 
                identifying information of the submitting employee; and
                    (B) not be used in the promotion, demotion, or 
                termination of or other employment decisions relating 
                to the submitting employee.
            (3) Annual report.--The Under Secretary for Management 
        shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an 
        annual report detailing--
                    (A) all submissions to the fiscal waste self-
                reporting program that year;
                    (B) the findings of all investigations into those 
                submissions; and
                    (C) all rectifying actions taken in response to 
                those submissions.
    (b) Fiscal Responsibility Award.--
            (1) In general.--The Under Secretary for Management shall 
        work with the Director of the Budget and Planning Bureau and 
        the Director of Global Talent in the Global Talent Management 
        Bureau, among other persons, to establish a departmental award 
        for any exemplary employee who--
                    (A) recommends or adopts significant cost saving 
                measures in program implementation;
                    (B) identifies instances of fiscal waste within a 
                program;
                    (C) cancels, or recommends cancellation of, 
                programs resulting in fiscal waste; and
                    (D) proposes a plan for reallocation of resources 
                in lieu of requesting greater appropriations.
            (2) Self-reports.--An employee's non-confidential 
        submissions to the fiscal waste self-reporting program, 
        particularly those resulting in rectification, shall be 
        considered in determining that employee's eligibility for this 
        award.
            (3) Frequency.--Eligibility for this award shall be 
        determined on at least a quarterly basis.
    (c) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the House 
        Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on 
        Foreign Relations.
            (2) Fiscal waste.--The term ``fiscal waste'' means--
                    (A) any inefficiency in the spending patterns or 
                objectives of a program;
                    (B) any program which consistently does not 
                adequately achieve its stated objectives; and
                    (C) any program which no longer holds relevance or 
                has become obsolete.
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