Sec. 6402. HARD-TO-FILL POSTS

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## SEC. 6402 HARD-TO-FILL POSTS ###

(a)Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— ####

(1)the number of hard-to-fill vacancies at United States diplomatic missions is far too high, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa; ####

(2)these vacancies— #####

(A)adversely impact the Department’s execution of regional strategies; #####

(B)hinder the ability of the United States to effectively compete with strategic competitors, such as the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation; and #####

(C)present a clear national security risk to the United States; and ####

(3)if the Department is unable to incentivize officers to accept hard-to-fill positions, the Department should consider directed assignments, particularly for posts in Africa, and other means to more effectively advance the national interests of the United States. ###

(b)Report on Development of Incentives for Hard-to-fill Posts Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this division, the Secretary shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees on efforts to develop new incentives for hard-to-fill positions at United States diplomatic missions. The report shall include a description of the incentives developed to date and proposals to try to more effectively fill hard-to-fill posts. ###

(c)Study on Feasibility of Allowing Non-Consular Foreign Service Officers Given Directed Consular Posts to Volunteer for Hard-to-fill Posts in Understaffed Regions ####

(1)Study #####

(A)In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this division, the Secretary shall conduct a study on— ######

(i)the number of Foreign Service positions vacant for six months or longer at overseas posts, including for consular, political, and economic positions, over the last five years, broken down by region, and a comparison of the proportion of vacancies between regions; and ######

(ii)the feasibility of allowing first-tour Foreign Service generalists in non-Consular cones, directed for a consular tour, to volunteer for reassignment at hard-to-fill posts in understaffed regions. #####

(B)Matters to be considered The study conducted under subparagraph

(A)shall consider whether allowing first-tour Foreign Service generalists to volunteer as described in such subparagraph would address current vacancies and what impact the new mechanism would have on consular operations. ####

(2)Report Not later than 60 days after completing the study required under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report containing the findings of the study.