FOREIGN COMMERCE SERVICE-PERSONNEL AND RETIREMENT FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 1938 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE, Washington, D. C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2 p. m., in the committee room, New House Office Building, Hon. Robert Crosser presiding. Mr. CROSSER. The committee will come to order. The committee has up for consideration this afternoon S. 988. (The bill, S. 988, is printed in the record as follows:) [S. 988, 75th Cong., 1st sess.] AN ACT To amend an Act entitled "An Act to establish in the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the Department of Commerce a Foreign Commerce Service of the United States, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1927, as amended Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembed, That the Act approved March 3, 1927, entitled "An Act to establish in the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the Department of Commerce a Foreign Commerce Service of the United States, and for other purposes," as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: That there is hereby established in the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the Department of Commerce the Foreign Commerce Service of the United States (hereinaffer referred to as the Foreign Commerce Service), consisting of officers to be graded in the following order and to be known as commercial attachés, assistant commercial attachés, trade commissioners, and assistant trade commissioners. "This Act may be cited as the Foreign Commerce Service Act. "SEC. 2. Under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the Secretary, the officers of the Foreign Commerce Service shall "(a) Promote the foreign commerce of the United States; "(b) Investigate and report upon commercial and industrial conditions and activities in foreign countries which may be of interest to the United States; "(c) Perform such other duties as the Secretary may direct in connection with the promotion of the industries, trade, or commerce of the United States; "(d) Make such inspections of the Foreign Commerce Service as the Secretary may direct. "SEC. 3. (a) The Secretary is authorized to appoint officers of the Foreign Commerce Service, but only after eligibility has been determined by examina, tions held by the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Commerce in coordination, under regulations approved by the Civil Service Commission, except that the Secretary may, with the approval of the Civil Service Commission, appoint without such examination any person who, prior to the date on which this Act takes effect, has served, or has passed an examination for appointment, as commercial attaché, assistant commercial attaché, trade commissioner, assistant trade commissioner, commercial agent, or special agent in the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce: Provided, That the Secretary is anthorized to appoint officers of the Foreign Commerce Service, under such rules 1 and regulations as he may prescribe, after five years of satisfactory service in an executive or quasi-executive position in the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce or one of its district offices by transfer therefrom: Provided further, That no candidate shall be eligible for examination for appointment to the Foreign Commerce Service who is not an American citizen and who shall not have been such at least fifteen years. "(b) The Secretary shall appoint each officer of the Foreign Commerce Service to a grade specified in section 1, and to one of the following classes, and shall fix his compensation within the salary range specified for such class: Class 1, $8,000 to $10,000; class 2, $6,000 to $8,000; class 3, $4,000 to $6,000; class 4, $3,000 to $4,000; class 5, below $3,000. In making appointments to a grade and class and in fixing compensation the Secretary shall take into consideration the examination and record of the officer and the post to which assigned, and the various commercial interests of the different sections of the country. "(c) There shall be in the Department of Commerce a Board of Foreign Commerce Personnel for the Foreign Commerce Service, whose duty it shall be to submit recommendations to aid the Secretary of Commerce in making promotions and demotions and other changes in the Foreign Commerce Service. The Board shall be composed of the Assistant Directors of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. The efficiency ratings and recommendations for promotion made by the Board shall be subject to the approval of the Director of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. "(d) The Foreign Service Division of the Bureau shall assemble, record. and be the custodian of all available information in regard to the character, ability, conduct, quality of work, industry, experience, dependability, and general availability of Foreign Commerce Service officers, including reports of inspecting officers and efficiency reports of supervising officers. All such information shall be appraised at least once in two years by the Board of Foreign Commerce Personnel, and the result of such appraisal expressed in terms of "good," "satisfactory," or "unsatisfactory," accompanied, by a concise statement of the considerations upon which they are based, shall. when approved by the Director of the Bureau, be entered upon records to be known as the efficiency records of the officers, and shall constitute their efficiency ratings for the period. No charges against an officer that would adversely affect his efficiency rating or his value to the service, if true, shall be taken into consideration in determining his efficiency rating except after the officer shall have had an opportunity to reply thereto: Provided, That the official appraisal of the officer concerned by officials of the Department of Commerce who are responsible for the administration of the Foreign Commerce Service shall not be considered as such a charge. The rulings of the Secretary of Commerce on any charges and replies thereto shall be final. The Chief of the Foreign Service Division of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce shall be responsible for the keeping of accurate and impartial efficiency records of Foreign Commerce Service officers and shall take all measures necessary to insure their accuracy and impartiality. Not later than November 1, at least every two years, the Board of Foreign Commerce Personnel shall prepare a list in which all Foreign Commerce Service officers shall be graded in accordance with their relative efficiency and value to the service. This list shall be submitted to the Director of the Bureau for his approval and when approved by him shall be transmitted to the Secretary of Commerce with recommendations to serve as an aid to the Secretary in making promotions to the next higher class or for salary increases provided for under subdivision (e) of this section. The aforesaid correspondence and records shall be confidential except to the President, the Secretary of Commerce, the Director of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, the members of the Board of Foreign Commerce Personnel, and such employees as may be assigned to work on such correspondence and records. "(e) Subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, all officers of the Foreign Commerce Service having a rating of satisfactory or better who shall have been in classes 4 or 5 for a continuous period of nine months or more shall on the first day of each fiscal year be eligible for an increase of salary of $100 per annum, except that no officer shall receive under the provisions of this section a salary above the maximum of his class and all such officers in classes 1. 2, or 3 shall in the same circumstances be eligible for an increase of $200: Provided, That increases in salary under the terms of this section shall be paid to Foreign Commerce Service officers only as the right to such increases accrues after July 1, 1937. |