Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SR123 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	III
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. RES. 123
5	5	Recognizing the contributions of the Charles B. Rangel Graduate Fellowship
6	6	Program, the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship
7	7	Program, the William D. Clarke, Sr. Diplomatic Security Fellowship,
8	8	and the Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate Fellow-
9	9	ship Program in advancing the national security and the development
10	10	and diplomacy efforts of the United States.
11	11	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
12	12	MARCH11 (legislative day, MARCH10), 2025
13	13	Mr. B
14	14	OOKERsubmitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
15	15	Committee on Foreign Relations
16	16	RESOLUTION
17	17	Recognizing the contributions of the Charles B. Rangel Grad-
18	18	uate Fellowship Program, the Thomas R. Pickering For-
19	19	eign Affairs Graduate Fellowship Program, the William
20	20	D. Clarke, Sr. Diplomatic Security Fellowship, and the
21	21	Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate
22	22	Fellowship Program in advancing the national security
23	23	and the development and diplomacy efforts of the United
24	24	States.
25	25	Whereas the Department of State, the United States Agency
26	26	for International Development (USAID), and other for-
27	27	eign affairs agencies require a workforce with diverse tal-
28	28	ents, skills, and experiences to effectively protect United
29	29	States citizens abroad, expand commercial opportunities
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32	32	•SRES 123 IS
33	33	for United States businesses, and administer United
34	34	States foreign policy;
35	35	Whereas Congress has required in statute and the Depart-
36	36	ment of State and the USAID have committed to recruit,
37	37	hire, and retain employees on the basis of merit that re-
38	38	flect the diverse backgrounds of the American people that
39	39	they represent abroad;
40	40	Whereas, in 1990, Congress amended the State Department
41	41	Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a et seq.)
42	42	to authorize the Secretary of State to make grants to
43	43	postsecondary educational institutions or students to in-
44	44	crease knowledge of and interest in employment with the
45	45	Foreign Service, with a special focus on minority stu-
46	46	dents, broadening recruitment and retention efforts in
47	47	order to ensure equal opportunity and draw on the
48	48	strength of all United States citizens;
49	49	Whereas, pursuant to these authorities, the Department of
50	50	State launched the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs
51	51	Fellowship, the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs
52	52	Program, and the William D. Clarke, Sr. Diplomatic Se-
53	53	curity Fellowship in 1992, 2002, and 2023, respectively;
54	54	Whereas these programs increase the inclusion of Pell-eligible
55	55	and first-generation college graduates in the Foreign
56	56	Service, with a majority of current fellows having been
57	57	Pell grant recipients;
58	58	Whereas the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Grad-
59	59	uate Fellowship Program and the Thomas R. Pickering
60	60	Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program—the Department of
61	61	State’s flagship initiatives to recruit top-tier talent—are
62	62	merit-based, need-based, and highly competitive, with an
63	63	annual acceptance rate of less than 5 percent;
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66	66	•SRES 123 IS
67	67	Whereas all fellows pass the same rigorous selection, hiring,
68	68	and security clearance process as all other members of
69	69	the Foreign Service;
70	70	Whereas research shows that developing a workforce rep-
71	71	resenting all of the United States significantly contrib-
72	72	utes to better national security outcomes by providing a
73	73	wider range of perspectives, experiences, and cultural un-
74	74	derstanding, enabling more effective threat identification,
75	75	innovative solutions, and stronger diplomatic engagement
76	76	across the globe;
77	77	Whereas international affairs fellowships that promote the
78	78	employment of candidates who belong to historically ex-
79	79	cluded groups and who have financial needs, including
80	80	the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Graduate
81	81	Fellowship Program, the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign
82	82	Affairs Fellowship Program, the William D. Clarke, Sr.
83	83	Diplomatic Security Fellowship, and the Donald M.
84	84	Payne International Development Fellowship Program,
85	85	represent smart investments vital for building a strong,
86	86	merit-based, capable, and diverse national security work-
87	87	force;
88	88	Whereas Congress, on a bipartisan basis, has authorized each
89	89	of these fellowship programs, recognizing the importance
90	90	of these fellowship programs in expanding merit- and
91	91	need-based recruitment from a wide geographically and
92	92	economically diverse talent pool, including from all 50
93	93	States and more than 500 institutions of higher edu-
94	94	cation;
95	95	Whereas Historically Black Colleges and Universities, His-
96	96	panic-serving institutions, other minority-serving institu-
97	97	tions and other institutions of higher education, including
98	98	community colleges and trade schools, serve populations
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101	101	•SRES 123 IS
102	102	historically excluded from the Department of State and
103	103	the USAID and prepare the next generation of inter-
104	104	national affairs professionals with the core skills nec-
105	105	essary to meet the United States global diplomatic and
106	106	development imperatives; and
107	107	Whereas the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the
108	108	United States Agency for International Development are
109	109	required by law to consult with Congress before taking
110	110	steps to modify these programs: Now, therefore, be it
111	111	Resolved, That the Senate— 1
112	112	(1) recognizes the importance of efforts to re-2
113	113	cruit, hire, and retain for United States foreign af-3
114	114	fairs agencies employees from the broadest talent 4
115	115	pool, in order for the United States to be globally 5
116	116	competitive and ensure that the diplomatic and de-6
117	117	velopment agencies of the United States remain the 7
118	118	best in the world; 8
119	119	(2) reaffirms that the Charles B. Rangel Grad-9
120	120	uate Fellowship Program, the Thomas R. Pickering 10
121	121	Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship Program, the 11
122	122	William D. Clarke, Sr. Diplomatic Security Fellow-12
123	123	ship, and the Donald M. Payne International Devel-13
124	124	opment Graduate Fellowship Program are statu-14
125	125	torily mandated programs enacted into law on a bi-15
126	126	partisan basis to address recognized issues that have 16
127	127	plagued the Department of State and the United 17
128	128	States Agency for International Development for 18
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131	131	•SRES 123 IS
132	132	decades of exclusion of women, racial and ethnic mi-1
133	133	nority groups, and economically disadvantaged and 2
134	134	rural populations; 3
135	135	(3) underscores the importance to United 4
136	136	States national security and foreign policy of inter-5
137	137	national affairs fellowships and similar career entry 6
138	138	programs; and 7
139	139	(4) recognizes the substantial investment by 8
140	140	United States taxpayers in ensuring the Department 9
141	141	of State and the United States Agency for Inter-10
142	142	national Development can recruit top talent from 11
143	143	across the country, provide them with critical train-12
144	144	ing, and strengthen the development and diplomatic 13
145	145	capabilities of the United States—efforts that are 14
146	146	undermined by attempts to dismantle these pro-15
147	147	grams, wasting taxpayer resources and weakening 16
148	148	national security. 17
149	149	Æ
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