Media Contact: 202-224-8467

First State Department Authorization Bill to Clear the House since 2013 

 

Washington—Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), Lead Republican of the House Committee of Foreign Affairs, and Representative Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), Chairman of the Committee, today welcomed unanimous House passage of their legislation authorizing the Department of State for 2020. This authorization bill, H.R. 3352, is the first such legislation to pass the House of Representatives since 2013. 

 

“In the 16 years since authorization lapsed, we have seen too many taxpayer dollars wasted on inefficient hiring and procurements, an expanding bureaucracy, and an outdated IT system that left us vulnerable to cyber-attacks from foreign Nation States and hackers,” Lead Republican McCaul said in his floor speech. “It is a fundamental duty of the Foreign Affairs Committee to pass an annual authorization bill.  This is necessary to fulfill our Constitutional Article I oversight responsibilities, and our obligation to be good stewards of the people’s money. I am proud to have worked with Chairman Engel to draft this critical and overdue authorization bill.” 

 

“If we’re serious about diplomacy and development as critical parts of our foreign policy and essential to our national security, then there is absolutely no reason that a State Department authorization bill shouldn’t be part of Congress’s regular work,” said Chairman Engel on the House floor. “Our Committee has shown again and again that we can work together in a bipartisan way to advance our country’s security. We pass a lot of legislation, often small fixes around the edges to get at a particular challenge. With an authorization bill, we’re sending a stronger message to our diplomats: as you carry out your critical—and often dangerous—work, we’re going to have your backs.” 

 

The Department of State Authorization Act of 2019 includes provisions to strengthen the management and operations of the Department of State. This includes measures to recruit and retain a diverse workforce, bolster embassy and information security, and improve the Department’s capacity to carry out public diplomacy, anti-corruption activities, and security assistance. 

 

The bill authorizes activities and positions in a number of key Department bureaus and offices, and authorizes funding for Embassy Security, Construction, and Maintenance account. Among other things, this bill also streamlines and improves the Department’s management structure, providing cost-saving measures in embassy construction while maintaining security and eliminating duplicative programs and outdated reports.  

 

Additionally, it ensures the efficiency of various programs by mandating rigorous planning processes and evaluation metrics. 

 

Click here for a section-by-section summary of the bill.

Click on the image above to watch McCaul’s full floor speech, or read the transcript below:

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the State Department Authorization Act of 2019, which I was proud to draft with my friend, Chairman Eliot Engel.

“And I thank him for his strong bipartisanship. The last State Department reauthorization was signed into law in 2002.  Imagine that – 2002, one year after 9/11. In the 16 years since that authority lapsed, we have seen too many taxpayer dollars wasted on inefficient hiring and procurements, an expanding bureaucracy, and an outdated IT system that left us vulnerable to cyber-attacks from foreign nation-states and hackers. 

“It is a fundamental duty of the Foreign Affairs Committee to pass an annual authorization bill.  This is necessary to fulfill our Constitutional Article I oversight responsibilities, and our obligation to be good stewards of the people’s money.

“For these reasons, I am proud of this bipartisan bill that our Committee has produced.  It will address numerous long-standing difficulties.  It will also fortify the Department and our diplomats with the tools they need to fulfill their missions and to promote America overseas and enhance our national security.

“Among other important reforms, the bill before us will modernize the workforce, eliminate outdated reports and special offices, prohibit expensive and unnecessary construction practices, impose rigorous monitoring and evaluation metrics, save taxpayer dollars, and reassert, as I mentioned before, our Article I prerogatives of Congress.

“And as the United States faces growing challenges from nation-states around the world, like Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, we need our Secretary and diplomats to know that Congress fully supports them.  And this bill does just that.

“I want to thank Chairman Engel and his team for working with my staff and our Members to ensure that this is a strongly bipartisan product. Otherwise it could not pass the House, Senate and be signed into law. The chairman knows that and I want to thank him again for working with me on this important legislation that we really haven’t seen in over a decade. This type of collaboration has been a hallmark of our work on this committee. 

“I, for one, am very proud of that work and I know Chairman Engel is as well. So I ask my colleagues to vote in favor of this long overdue bill, which deserves our unanimous support.

“I reserve the balance of my time.

###