BROADENING THE CULTURAL, GEOGRAPHIC. AND ETHNIC REPRESENTATION OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

SEC. 153. BROADENING THE CULTURAL, GEOGRAPHIC. AND ETHNIC REPRESENTATION OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (a) Findings.— The Congress finds that a primary role of the Department of State is to represent the interests of the American people in foreign affairs and, as such, should strive to represent and include, among its policy and professional employees, the great diversity of the American people. (b) Recruitment.— (1) Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall provide the Congress with a plan to assure that equal efforts are undertaken in each of the regions of the United States to recruit policy and professional Government Service employees and Foreign Service officers for the Department of State and each of its affiliated agencies. (2) Not later than January 1, 1990, the Secretary of State shall implement the plan provided for in paragraph (1). (c) Report by the Inspector General.— Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of State shall submit to the Congress a report documenting, with respect to geographic distribution, race, ethnicity, gender and handicapping conditions, the composition of the workforce of the policy and professional Government Service employees and Foreign Service officers of the Department and each of its affiliated agencies. The report shall include— (1) a breakdown of current policy and professional Government Service employees and Foreign Service officers of the Department and each of its affiliated agencies by age, race, gender, undergraduate institution, graduate institution, and place of birth; (2) a breakdown by age, race, gender, ethnic background, undergraduate institution, graduate institution, and place of birth of those persons who during 1988 passed the written portion of the Foreign Service examination but failed the interview portion; and (3) a breakdown by age, race, gender, ethnic background, undergraduate institution, graduate institution, and place of birth of those persons who during 1989 passed the Foreign Service examination. (d) Prohibition on Discrimination Based on Geographic or Educational Affiliation.— Section 105(b)(1) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3905(b)(1)) is amended by inserting “geographic or educational affiliation within the United States,” after “marital status,”. (e) Task Force and Report on Hispanic Recruitment.— The Secretary of State shall appoint a task force comprised of high-ranking officials to conduct a study and make recommendations concerning improvements in the recruitment and promotion of His panic Americans at the Department of State and within the Foreign Service. Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the task force shall submit a report of the findings of such study to the Secretary of State and the appropriate committees of the Congress. 104 STAT. 44 (f) Report to Congress on Status of Underrepresented Groups at the Department of State.— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall prepare and submit to the Congress a report concerning efforts of the Department of State to improve the percentage of individuals who are at the assistant secretary and head of bureau level at the Department of State from groups which are underrepresented in the Foreign Service in terms of the cultural and ethnic diversity of the Foreign Service. (g) Study of Foreign Service Examination.— The Secretary of State shall enter into a contract with a private organization for a comprehensive review and evaluation of the Foreign Service examination. Such review and evaluation shall— (1) identify any cultural, racial, ethnic, and sexual bias; (2) evaluate the ability of the examination to measure an individual’s aptitude for and potential in the Foreign Service; (3) consider the relevance of the Foreign Service examination to the work of a Foreign Service officer; (4) make recommendations for the removal of any element of bias in the examination; and (5) make recommendations for improvements to achieve an examination free of any bias. Not more than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall prepare and submit a report to the Congress which contains the findings of such review and evaluation, together with the comments of the Secretary and measures which the Secretary has initiated to respond to any adverse findings of such review. Such report shall take into consideration the current efforts by the Department of State to review its Foreign Service examination. (h) Foreign Service Fellowships.— The Secretary of State is authorized to establish a Foreign Service fellowship program at the Department of State. The Foreign Service fellowship program shall provide a fellowship, for not less than 4 months, for academics in the area of international affairs who are members of the faculty of institutions of higher education. Such program shall give priority consideration in the award of fellowships to individuals teaching in programs in international affairs which serve significant numbers of students who are from cultural and ethnic groups which are underrepresented in the Foreign Service.