REPS LIEU, CASTRO AND KIM INTRODUCE BILL ON TRANSPARENCY AROUND SECURITY CLEARANCE DENIALS AT STATE DEPARTMENT
WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County), Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Congressman Andy Kim (D-NJ) introduced legislation to help determine whether the Department of State is denying security clearances solely because of an individual’s racial, cultural or ethnic background. In 2023, the State Department announced that it would end its assignment restrictions policy, which had previously enabled the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) to preclude some employees who otherwise hold Top Secret clearances from serving in a particular country or working on issues related to that country in Washington. These restrictions had sometimes been discriminatory, biased, and counterproductive to the goals of diversity, inclusion, and retention of talent at the State Department. Reps. Lieu, Castro and Kim had previously pressed State Department to make these changes, citing that the policy hurt U.S. diplomacy by implying some State employees were a potential national security risk because of their heritage, ethnicity or race.
The Transparency in Security Clearance Denials Act will help assess whether the State Department is denying more security clearances overall, and whether those denials are impacting individuals of certain ethnic or racial backgrounds. The bill will require the Secretary of State to provide an annual report with disaggregated data on security clearance denials with respect to initial background investigations, periodic investigations, and continuous vetting. It would also require a report on the number of individuals who appealed these findings and the success rate for these appeals.
Upon introduction, the Members said:
“Ending assignment restrictions was the right call by the Biden Administration,” Rep. Lieu said. “We cannot have a practice in place that harms U.S. national security and penalizes hardworking diplomats and government workers based on their ethnicity or racial backgrounds. My colleagues and I have been pushing this issue because we recognize the value that diversity has in strengthening our diplomatic efforts abroad. Our bill, the Transparency in Security Clearance Denials Act, seeks to prevent the pretext that made assignment restrictions problematic from being used to justify security clearance denials. The language and cultural capabilities that a diverse workforce brings are invaluable and should not be limited without just cause. I’m grateful to get to continue to work alongside the Biden Administration on ways to strengthen our national security in our government workforce.”
“Within the last several years, the State Department has taken important steps – including the end of the assignment restrictions policy – to build a diverse diplomatic workforce that is prepared to respond to the global challenges of the 21st century. The Transparency in Security Clearance Denials Act will give Congress more tools to evaluate bias within the security clearance process and underscore our commitment to building a federal workforce that harnesses the full strength of the American people. I thank Congressman Lieu for his leadership on this bill and look forward to working to see it enacted as soon as possible," said Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20).
“I know the demoralizing impact of assignment restrictions from my time at the State Department and am grateful that Secretary Blinken ended this practice last year,” said Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-03). “I am proud to help introduce this legislation today to further address such discriminatory practices, and help protect hardworking public servants from unfair security clearance denials based on their heritage, ethnicity, or racial background. We say our diversity is our strength. This legislation would help us live up to those words, root out bias, and as we face real challenges around the world, strengthen and uplift our national security workforce.”
This bill has been endorsed by: Asian American Foreign Affairs Association, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, American Foreign Service Association.
“AFSA remains concerned that the State Department's elimination of assignment restrictions and its use of the assignment review process could result in disqualifying some Foreign Service applicants and preventing some members from serving at certain posts,” AFSA President Tom Yazdgerdi said. “ We welcome this bill’s effort to closely monitor the department’s process for approving security clearances and to mandate regular reporting on those affected.”
“If enacted, this bill would serve as an extension of the good work that lawmakers have already pushed through with respect to State insofar as reforming the security clearance adjudication process,” said Joanna YangQing Derman, AAJC Director, Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights and National Security. “It represents a strong first step in ensuring that no one is discriminated against or denied a security clearance based on how they look, where they were born, or other protected classes.”
Additional Background:
This bill builds on other efforts Congressman Lieu has made to reform the assignment restrictions process at the State Department. In 2023, the House passed Congressman Lieu’s bill, the Accountability in Assignment Restrictions and Reviews Act, as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act. This legislation addresses potential loopholes that enabled the State Department to use assignment reviews, also known as pass-throughs, as a way to skirt formal assignment restrictions
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