Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013 - Transfers statutory responsibility for performing actuarial duties related to the Department of State's retirement systems from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Secretary of State (Secretary).
Authorizes Department and Foreign Service special agents to investigate: (1) illegal passport or visa issuance or use, (2) Department-related identity theft and document fraud, and (3) federal offenses committed in the special maritime and territorial jurisdictions (nonmilitary) of the United States.
Authorizes the Department to use uniformed guards to protect buildings and areas in the United States for which the Department provides protective services.
Revises provisions regarding local guard contracts abroad.
Extends the U.S. reimbursement period with respect to seized commercial fishermen.
Increases the Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund maximum.
Provides Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty employees with federal service parity of pay.
Extends the International Broadcasting Bureau personal services contractor program. Eliminates the "pilot program" designation.
Extend civil liability immunity to members of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) increase the number of scientific, medicine, research, educational, and cultural exchange activities; and (2) establish science and technology fellowship programs.
Revises provisions regarding the Vietnam Education Foundation.
Revises adjustment of refugee status to permanent resident status provisions.
Authorizes a two-year pilot program that uses secure remote videoconferencing technology to conduct tourist visa interviews.
Extends visa ineligibility for aliens involved in U.S. child abductions to situations in which the child is located in a foreign state that is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
Provides for Foreign Service officer training in conflict resolution, and in the ability to function in unstable areas or areas without civil authority.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) submit to Congress an assessment of current methods to monitor indicators of potential mass atrocities, and (2) establish a diplomatic facilities task force.
Foreign Service Overseas Pay Equity Act of 2011 - Extends comparability pay adjustments on a phased-in schedule to (non-Senior) Foreign Service members assigned abroad. Treats such payments as basic pay.
The summary continues for 23 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on July 27, 2011. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 27, 2011: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
JOHN KERRY (D-MA) introduced it on July 27, 2011. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 27, 2011, 5524 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5524 days ago, on July 27, 2011.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers