§4141a Foreign Service Internship Program

Summary

The Secretary of State must create a Foreign Service internship program with other agencies that use the Foreign Service. The program introduces interns to diplomacy through three summer internships. Each summer must be at least eight weeks long, and the three internships must be finished within four years. At least 10 interns must start the program each year. Eligible students are full-time college students from groups that are underrepresented in the Foreign Service and where past recruitment has not fixed the gap. Interns must have completed at least one academic year before joining and must finish another year of study each time they return, keeping excellent grades. Selection must focus on the strongest students with proven achievement and promise. The first internship takes place in Washington, D.C., to study international relations and State Department work, and may use the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center. The second is mostly inside a State bureau with economic and political focus. The third is at a U.S. mission overseas in a political or economic role. The first two may include a detail to Congress. The Secretary sets the rules, assigns each intern a career Foreign Service officer as a mentor, and runs the program. Interns must be paid at least the same as comparable State summer interns and are treated as Foreign Service employees for travel, housing, health insurance, and other benefits. The Secretary must study whether the Foreign Service exam can be given in parts over several years and report the results within 180 days after February 16, 1990 to the House and Senate committees named.