STRENGTHENING THE ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP59-00224A000100590005-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 7, 2000
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: July 19, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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84TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES J REPORT
IstSCNon I No. L260
STRENGTHENING THE ORGANIZATION OF TIIE
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Jua.Y 19, 1955.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State
of the Union and ordered to be printed
Mr. RICHARDS, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the
following
REPORT
The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the bill
(S. 2237) to amend the act of May 26, 1949, to strengthen and improve
the organization of the Department of State, and for other purposes,
having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amend-
ment and recommend that the bill do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the following:
That section 1 of the Act of May 26, 1949 (63 Stat. 1.11; 5 U. S. C. 151 (a)), is
hereby amended to read as follows:
"There shall be in the Department of State in addition to the Secretary of State
and Under Secretary of State, three Deputy Under Secretaries of State, and ten
Assistant Secretaries of State."
SEC. 2. Section 2 of the said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:
"The Secretary of State and the officers referred to in section 1 of this Act, as
amended, shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and con-
sent of the Senate. The Counselor of the Department of State and the Legal
Adviser, who are required to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate, shall rank equally with and shall receive the sarr?
salary as the Assistant Secretaries of State. Any such officer holding office at
the time the provisions of this Act, as amended, become effective shall not be
required to be reappointed by reason of the enactment of this Act, as amended.
Unless otherwise provided for by law, the rate of basic compensation of the Deputy
Under Secretaries of State shall be the same as that of Assistant Secretaries of
State."
SEC. 3. The President may initially fill two of the Deputy Under Secretary
positions established in section 1 of this Act by appointing, without further
advice and consent of the Senate, the two Deputy Lnder Secretaries of State
who, on the date of the enactment of this Act, held that designation pursuant
to authority contained in section 2 of the Act of May 26, 1949 (63 Stat. 111),
SEC. 4. Section 412 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 999), as
amended (hereinafter referred to as "such Act"), is amended by striking the
first sentence of said section and by inserting in lieu thereof the following:
55006
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2 STRENGTHEN THE ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE
"There shall be eight classes of Foreign Service officers, including the classes
of career ambassador and of career minister. The. per .annum salary of a career
ambassador shall be the same as that for an Assistant Secretary of State.".
Sxc. 5. Section 501 (a) of such Act is amended by adding the phrase "career
ambassadors and" immediately following the word "including".
Stec. 6. Section 502 (a) of such Act is amended by inserting the phrase "class
of career ambassador and" immediately following the phrase "qualified for
appointment to the", and by adding the following sentence at the end of said
subsection:
No person shall be appointed into the class of career ambassador who has not
(1) served for at least fifteen years in a position of responsibility in a Government
agency, or agencies, including at least three years as a career minister; (2) rendered
exceptionally distinguished service to the Government; and (3) met such other
requirements as the Secretary shall prescribe."
Sae. 7. Section 518 of such Act is amended by inserting the words "career
ambassador or" immediately following the phrase "to the class of".
S:rc. 8. Section 631 of such Act is amended by inserting the words "a career
ambassador or" immediately after the words "who is".
S:ac. 9. Section 632 of such Act is amended by inserting the words "a career
ambassador or" immediately following the words "who is not".
Sac. 10. (a) Section 811 (a) of such Act is amended by striking out "811. (a)"
and inserting "811." in lieu thereof and by striking out the phrase "of all partici-
pants" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "received by each participant".
(b) 'Section 811 (b) of such Act is hereby repealed. ;
8 ac. 11. Section 821 (a) of such Act is amended by striking the phrases ", not
exceeding $13,500 per annum," and "five years next proceeding the date of his
retirement" and inserting the phrase "highest five consecutive years of service,
for which full contributions have been made to the fund," immediately preceding
the phrase ".multiplied by".
The main purposes of this bill are: (1) To increase the number (f
top-level statutory positions in the Department of State by three
officers at the level of Deputy Under Secretary of State; (2) to provide
for the rank of career ambassador as the highest class of Foreign
Service officer; and (3) to permit computations for retirement purposes
upon the actual salary received by an officer. The committee struck
out the Senate provision for increasing the salaries of the principal
officers of the Department of State.
S. 2237 was passed by the Senate on June 17 and referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs on June 20. The committee met on
July 12 to hear the testimony of Hon. Loy Henderson, Deputy-Under
Secretary of State for Administration. Upon the conclusion of Mr.
Henderson's testimony the committee ordered the bill reported favor-
ably with all after the, enacting clause stricken and the committee
amendment substituted.
Section 1
Public ]Law 73 of the 81st Congress provided for the top-level
positions of the Department of State. In addition to the Secretauy
of State, provision was made for an Under Secretary of State and 10
Assistant Secretaries of State. Two of the latter were authorized to
be designated by the Secretary of State as Deputy Under Secretaries
of State, but their compensation was, and is, the same as that for
Assistant Secretaries. These-two positions are presently held by Hon.
Robert G. Murphy, who is concerned primarily with political affairs,
a. d Ron. Lo Henderson, who handles administrative matters.
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Section 1 creates 3 positions of Deputy Under Secretaries of State
and leaves the number of Assistant. Secretaries at 10. At the present
time Assistant Secretaries are in charge of (1) European affairs; (2)
Near Eastern, South Asian, and African affairs;.. (3) Far Eastern
affairs; (4) Inter-American affairs; (5) congressional relations; (6) inter-
national organization affairs; (7) economic affairs; and (8) public
affairs. The other two Assistant Secretaries are designated as
Deputy Under Secretaries.
Testimony presented to the committee showed the urgent need for
an officer at the Deputy Under Secretary level to deal with economic
matters. As Mr. Henderson testified:
We have felt for some time the need for a high-ranking officer in the Department
who would look after our international economic policies at a high level; that is,
not operations of an economic nature which would still be under the Assistant
Secretary, but broad policies. We need a man who will be free from the day-to-
day work of operations. Our economic problems are assuming ever-increasing
importance. The Secretary is very anxious to be able to have a man free from
the responsibility of the day-to-day operations who can be his top economic
adviser.
The two Assistant Secretary posts that would become available
would be filled by the Director of the Policy Planning Staff and by the
Controller. The elevation of the former officer to an Assistant
Secretary is in keeping with. the importance of his position. In addi-
tion to accompanying the Secretary of State on many of his trips, he
attends meetings of the National Security Council planning staff.
The Controller was formerly an Assistant Secretary.. When the title
of Under Secretary for Administration expired by law in December
1954, the Secretary of State designated one of the Assistant Secretaries
as the Deputy Under Secretary for Administration. The incumbent
of the assistant-secretaryship was made Controller. This bill would
make available 1 of the 2 additional Assistant'Secretary positions for
the Controller. who would be the second ranking officer in the adminis-
trative area. The increased attention' given by the Department to
improved administration makes it imperative that the Deputy Under
Secretary for Administration be given adequate assistance in the dis-
charge of his duties.
Section 2
This section requires Senate confirmation of the individuals selected
by the President to hold the positions enumerated in section' 1.
Provision is made so that the present incumbents of the positions
listed in section 1, all of whom have been' confirmed by. the Senate,
may continue in their respective'offices without the necessity of being
reconfirmed. It also provides that the legal adviser shall receive the
same salary as an Assistant Secretary, thus restoring that officer to
a salary level that he had before the passage of Public. Law 359 of 1949.
At present, he is the only officer in the Department of State, appointed
by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, who re-
ceives a classified rate of $14,800. Under this section his salary would
be increased to $15,000.
This section also authorizes compensation for the statutory position
of Deputy Under Secretary of State at the same rate as that of the
Assistant Secretaries, namely $15,000. Thus, this bill carries an
authorization increase for one additional Deputy Under. Secretary at
$15,000, an increase of $200 for each of the two designated Deputy
Under Secretaries of State, and an increase of $200 for the Legal
Adviser-a total increase in authorization of $15,600.
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,Section 3
This section provides that the two individuals presently designated
ats Deputy Under Secretaries of State and who have already been con-
firmed by the Senate need not be reconfirmed. The position of the
third Deputy UnderSecretary of State will have to be filled in accord-
anoe with the usual appointment and confirmation procedure.
Section 4
The Foreign Service Act of 1946 makes provision for- six classes of
Foreign Service officers plus a class of career ministers. This seedon
adds an additional class, that of career ambassador, and provides that
the salary for the new class shall be the same as that for an Assistant
Secretary of State.
More than 40 Foreign Service officers are now serving as ambassa-
dors, although the highest rank under existing law is that of career
minister. The committee believes that the creation of a new rank
would givc,,additional prestige and dignity to the Service and make it
more attractive. as a career. Mr. Henderson stated that not more
than 8 or 1.0 would be appointed to this position. Since tlios o who
would be selected are for the most part already receiving a salary
equivalent to or greater than that of an Assistant Secretary, the
addition of this grade would result in little or no cost to the Govern-
ment.
Section 5
This section requires career ambassadors to be appointed by the
:President and confirmed by the Senate.
Section 6
This section sets forth the legislative criteria governing the appoint'
anent of Foreign Service officers as career ambassadors. It will be
noted that an individual, to qualify as a career ambassador, must have
served in a position of responsibility in a Government agency, or agen-
cies, for at least 15 years. Such service may include service in the
Armed Forces. At least 3 years of the 15 years must be in the class
of career minister. Service in the Government must be marked by
exceptional distinction. In addition,., the Secretary of State shall pre-
scribe additional requirements tai"assure the seletltion of only the most
qualified.
Section 7
This section amends existing law to assure that the class of career
ambassador will be limited only to Foreign Service officers.
;Section 8
This section permits career ambassadors who are not chiefs of mis-
sion to serve until age 65.
Section 9
The language of this section amend., existing law to assure the retire-
ment at age 60 of those Foreign Service" officers who are neither career
ambassadors nor career ministers.
Section 10
This section amends the Foreign Service Act of 1946 by removing
the salary ceiling upon which retirement contributions and computa-
tions are made.
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Section 11
This section also amends the 1946 act by using as a base for com-
puting retirement annuities the salary received for the highest 5
consecutive years of service for which full contributions have been
made to the retirement fund. Officers who have not yet retired may
retei,6e credit for their base salary previously earned in excess of the
,existing salary ceiling only by making contributions as necessary to
the retirement fund.
In compliance with clause 3 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, as passed
by the Senate, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be
omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics,
existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman):
[PUBLIC LAw 73-.81sT CONGRESS]
[CHAPTER 143-1sT SESSION]
[S. 1704]
AN ACT To strengthen and improve the organization and administration of the Department of State,
and for other purposes
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, [That there shall be in the Department of State
in addition to the Secretary of State an Under Secretary of State and ten Assistant
Secretaries of State.] There shall be in the Department of State in addition to the
Secretary of State an Under Secretary of State, three Deputy Under Secretaries of
State, and ten Assistant Secretaries of State.
SEc. 2. [The Secretary of State and the officers referred to in section 1 of this
Act shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate. The Counselor of the Department of State and the Legal Adviser
who are required to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, shall rank equally with the Assistant Secretaries of State.
Any such officer holding office at the time the provisions of this Act become effec-
tive shall not be required to he reappointed by reason of the enactment of this
Act. The Secretary may designate two of the Assistant Secretaries as Deputy
Under Secretaries.] The Secretary of ;State and the officers referred to in section 1 of
this Act, as amended, shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and
2cg"bryt`of the Senate. The Counselor ofthe~'Depa?rtment of State anal the Legal
A viser, who are required to be appointed?by the President, by and with the advice and
-consent of the Senate, shall rank equally with the Assistant Secretaries of State. Any
such officer holding once at the time the provisions of this Act, as amended, become
-effective shall not be required to be reappointed by reason of the enactment of this Act,
as amended. The rates of basic compensation of the Under Secretary of State shall
be $21,000 per annum, the Deputy Under Secretaries of State $20,500 per annum, the
Assistant Secretaries of State, the Counselor, and the Legal Adviser $20,000 per
-annum.
SEc. 3. The Secretary of State, or such person or persons designated by him,
notwithstanding the provisions of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 999)
or any other law, except where authority is inherent in or vested in the President
of the United States, shall administer, coordinate, and direct the Foreign Service
of the United States and the personnel of the State Department. Any provisions
in th, Foreign Service Aet`of 1946, or in"any'other law, vesting authority in the
"Assistant' Secretary of State for Administration", the "Assistant Secretary of
State in Charge of the Administration of the Department", the "Director Gen-
eral", or any other reference with respect thereto, are hereby amended to vest such
authority in the Secretary of State.
SEc. 4. The Secretary of State may promulgate such rules and regulations as
may be necessary to carry out the functions now or hereafter vested in the Secre-
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tary of State or the Department of State, and he may delegate authority to perform
an of such functions to officers and employees under his direction and supervision.
Ec. 5. The following statutes or. parts of statutes are hereby repealed:
Section 200-of the Revised Statutes, as amended and amplified by the Acts
authorizing the establishment of additional Assistant Secretaries of State, includ-
ing section 22 of the Act of May 24, 1924 (ch. 182, and the Act of December 8,
1944, R. S. 200; 43 Stat. 146; 58 Stat. 798; 5 U. S. C. 152, as amended by Public
Law 767, Eightieth Congress).
Section 202 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 1000) and any other
reference in such Act to the "Deputy Director General".
Section 1041 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 1032).
Approved May 26, 1949.
NOTE. -Section 3 of the pending legislation which does not amend
existing legislation is as follows:
SEc. 3. The President may initially .fill two of the Deputy Under Secretary
positions established in section 1 of this Act by appointing, without further advice
and consent of the Senate, the two Deputy Under Secretaries of State who, on the
date of the enactment of this Act held that designation pursuant to authority
contained in section 2 of the Act of May 26, 1949 (63" Stat. 111).
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