S. 4680

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4680 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4680

To authorize the Secretary of State to extend limited consular 
appointments to eight years, with an additional two-year extension for 
needs of the Foreign Service.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 4, 2026

Ms. Rosen (for herself and Mr. Ricketts) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of State to extend limited consular 
appointments to eight years, with an additional two-year extension for 
needs of the Foreign Service.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Expanded Consular Fellows Act of 
2026''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Consular services provided at United States embassies 
and consulates worldwide, and in the United States, are 
critical to protecting the safety and security of Americans 
abroad, safeguarding United States borders, supporting American 
families pursuing international adoptions, and facilitating 
legitimate travel to the United States.
(2) Foreign Service posts process millions of visa 
applications each year, conducting rigorous security vetting of 
each application to detect fraud, mitigate security risks, 
prevent unlawful migrations, and protect the homeland.
(3) Travel and tourism is the United States largest single 
services export, accounting for 22 percent of services exports 
and 7 percent of total exports in 2023. In 2022, the travel and 
tourism industry contributed $2,300,000,000,000 to the United 
States economy--approximately 2.97 percent of gross domestic 
product--and supported 9,500,000 United States jobs.
(4) Demand for consular services will continue to increase 
as the United States enters an American decade of sports as the 
host of major international events between 2024 and 2034--
including the Copa America, Club World Cup, FIFA World Cup, 
Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Rugby World Cups--which are 
expected to draw millions of international visitors and 
significantly increasing workloads for consular staff while 
simultaneously requiring enhanced security screening and 
adjudicative rigor.
(5) Expanding limited non-career appointments for 
Department of State personnel performing consular functions, 
including through the Consular Fellows Program, is essential to 
increasing staffing capacity, reducing recruitment costs and 
delays, and ensuring the continued efficient delivery of 
consular services.

SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF LIMITED CONSULAR APPOINTMENT AUTHORITY.

Section 309 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3949) is 
amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``, or 8 years in 
duration for personnel performing consular services,'' after 
``may not exceed 5 years in duration''; and
(2) in subsection (b)(6)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``or'';
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph:
``(C) a limited noncareer appointment for a period 
not to exceed 2 years, in the case of personnel 
performing consular services.''.
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