On November 13, the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia held a hearing on the underrepresentation of women and minorities in the senior executive service (SES) of legislative branch agencies. The hearing coincided with the subcommittee’s release of a report assessing the gender and racial diversity of six legislative branch agencies: the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Library of Congress (LOC), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Government Printing Office (GPO), the Capitol Police, and the Architect of the Capitol. The report’s findings were based on information provided to the subcommittee by the various agencies.
Chair Danny Davis (D-IL) said, “Democratic legislatures are traditionally supposed to represent a broad spectrum of the national population to assure that they will reflect the interests and outlooks of all people…Skilled persons reflecting all of the American people should have a hand in supporting the legislative process — whether it is to assist the Congress in making laws or in overseeing the operations of the executive branch. Diversity in the senior levels of executive and legislative branch agencies brings a variety of perspectives and approaches to policy development and implementation…All of these agencies take pride in saying that they hire the best and the brightest. If that is the case, what is preventing minorities and women from moving into their top ranks?”
Christopher Copeland, a specialist in American National Government for the Congressional Research Service at the LOC, said, “The SES represents the most experienced and senior segment of the federal government’s career workforce, and provides needed continuity as presidential administrations and Congress change. Racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in federal agencies’ SES ranks can bring a variety of perspectives and approaches to policy development and implementation. Many observers have found diversity in the leadership of public organizations to be a key organizational component for executing agencies’ missions, ensuring accountability to the American people, and achieving results.” Mr. Copeland highlighted several findings from the report:
Aware of the absence of diversity in the SES, all of the agencies cited outreach efforts to attract more female and minority applicants. The LOC, for example, conducts a Leadership Development Program for “library staff in [employment] grades GS-11 through GS-13 from diverse backgrounds [who] are selected to participate in a year-long training and development program designed to prepare them to compete for leadership and management positions in the Library.” Dennis Hanratty, director of Human Services at LOC, noted, “Since the program’s inception in 1995, six Leadership Development classes have graduated 57 staff. Of those, 64.9 percent have been minorities and 70 percent of the graduates have been women.”
Teresa Bailey, director of the Office of Equal Opportunity/Conciliation Programs at the Office of the Architect of the Capitol; William Bransford, general counsel for the Senior Executives Association; Nadine Elzy, director of Equal Employment Opportunity at the GPO; Shirley Jones, president of the GAO chapter of Blacks in the Government; Sharon Blackmon-Malloy, president of the U.S. Capitol Black Police Association; Daniel Nichols, assistant chief of police of the U.S. Capitol Police; and Ronald Stroman, managing director of the Office of Opportunity and Inclusiveness at the GAO, also testified.