I 116th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4921 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 30, 2019 Mr. Bera introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To amend the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to require a certain appointments of chiefs of mission to be from Foreign Service or Civil Service of the Department of State, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Strengthening Traditional American Diplomacy Act or the STAND Act . 2. Requirement relating to appointment as a chief of mission Paragraph (2) of section 304(a) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 ( 22 U.S.C. 3944(a) ) is amended— (1) by inserting or Civil Service of the Department of State after be accorded to career members of the Service ; and (2) by adding at the end the following new sentence: Not less than 70 percent of appointments and assignments under this section shall be of career members of Service or Civil Service of the Department, except that this requirement may be waived if the President certifies in writing, on a case by case basis, to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, that a reduction in such percentage is vital to the national security interests of the United States. .