Sec. 7108. Importance of foreign affairs training to national security
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/bill/117/hr/4350/eh/section-7108·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
It is the sense of Congress that— the Department is a crucial national security agency, whose employees, both Foreign and Civil Service, require the best possible training at every stage of their careers to prepare them to promote and defend United States national interests and the health and safety of United States citizens abroad; the Department of State’s investment of time and resources with respect to the training and education of its personnel is considerably below the level of other Federal departments and agencies in the national security field, and falls well below the investments many allied and adversarial countries make in the development of their diplomats; the Department faces increasingly complex and rapidly evolving challenges, many of which are science and technology-driven, and which demand the continual, high-quality training and education of its personnel; the Department must move beyond reliance on on-the-job training and other informal mentorship practices, which lead to an inequality in skillset development and career advancement opportunities, often particularly for minority personnel, and towards a robust professional tradecraft training continuum that will provide for greater equality in career advancement and increase minority participation in the senior ranks; the Department’s Foreign Service Institute and other training facilities should seek to substantially increase its educational and training offerings to Department personnel, including developing new and innovative educational and training courses, methods, programs, and opportunities; and consistent with existing Department gift acceptance authority and other applicable laws, the Department and Foreign Service Institute may accept funds and other resources from foundations, not-for-profit corporations, and other appropriate sources to help the Department and the Institute enhance the quantity and quality of training offerings, especially in the introduction of new, innovative, and pilot model courses.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall develop and submit to the appropriate congressional committees a strategy to establish a training float to allow for up to 15 percent of the Civil and Foreign Service to participate in long-term training at any given time. The strategy should identify steps necessary to ensure implementation of the training priorities identified in subsection (c), sufficient training capacity and opportunities are available to Civil and Foreign Service officers, equitable distribution of long-term training opportunities to Civil and Foreign Service officers, and any additional resources or authorities necessary to facilitate such a training float, including programs at the George P.
Schultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center, the Foreign Service Institute, the Foreign Affairs Security Training Center, and other facilities or programs operated by the Department of State. The strategy shall identify which types of training would be prioritized, the extent (if any) to which such training is already being provided to Civil and Foreign Service officers by the Department of State, any factors incentivizing or disincentivizing such training, and why such training cannot be achieved without Civil and Foreign Service officers leaving the workforce.
In addition to training opportunities provided by the Department, the strategy shall consider training that could be provided by the other United States Government training institutions, as well as non-governmental educational institutions. The strategy shall consider approaches to overcome disincentives to pursuing long-term training. In order to provide the Civil and Foreign Service with the level of education and training needed to effectively advance United States interests across the globe, the Department of State should— increase its offerings— of virtual instruction to make training more accessible to personnel deployed throughout the world; or at partner organizations to provide useful outside perspectives to Department personnel; offer courses utilizing computer-based or assisted simulations, allowing civilian officers to lead decision-making in a crisis environment; and consider increasing the duration and expanding the focus of certain training courses, including— the A-100 orientation course for Foreign Service officers, and the chief of mission course to more accurately reflect the significant responsibilities accompanying such role.
Other national security agencies should increase the enrollment of their personnel in courses at the Foreign Service Institute and other Department of State training facilities to promote a whole-of-government approach to mitigating national security challenges.