(a) Administrative disciplineNot later than 30 days after December 27, 2021, the Secretary of State shall make explicit in writing to all Department of State personnel, including the Secretary of State, Department employees, contractors, and political appointees, and shall consider updating the Foreign Affairs Manual and the Foreign Affairs Handbook to explicitly specify, that if any of such personnel does not comply within 60 days with a request for an interview or access to documents from the Office of the Inspector General of the Department, such personnel may be subject to appropriate administrative discipline including, when circumstances warrant, suspension without pay or removal.
(b) Report(1) In generalNot later than 180 days after December 27, 2021 and on a quarterly basis thereafter, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State and the United States Agency for Global Media shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and the Secretary of State a report in unclassified form detailing the following:(A) The number of individuals who have failed to comply within 60 days with a request for an interview or access to documents from the Office of the Inspector General pertaining to a noncriminal matter.
(B) The date on which such requests were initially made.
(C) Any extension of time that was voluntarily granted to such individual by the Office of the Inspector General.
(D) The general subject matters regarding which the Office of the Inspector General has requested of such individuals.
(2) FormAdditional information pertaining solely to the subject matter of a request described in paragraph (1) may be provided in a supplemental classified annex, if necessary, but all other information required by the reports required under such paragraph shall be provided in unclassified form.
(Pub. L. 117–81, div. E, title LIII, § 5323, Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 2369.)
Editorial Notes
Codification
Section was enacted as part of the Department of State Authorization Act of 2021 and also as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, and not as part of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 which comprises this chapter.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Definition
For definition of “appropriate congressional committees” as used in this section, see section 5002 of Pub. L. 117–81, set out as a note under section 263c of this title.