I know that you are genuinely interested in the implementation and
maintenance of an effective Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) program. As far as we can tell, no
Secretary of State has ever issued a message on this subject to the
Department. Since much depends on the perception of your support for
this program, I believe such a message is desirable. A draft, which has
been worked on by Mike Janeway,2 is attached. I recommend that you
approve it.
Attachment
Message From Secretary of State Vance3
Washington, March 15, 1977
TO MY COLLEAGUES IN THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE
In my arrival message of January 24, 1977,4 I
assured the employees of the Department of State—men and women,
Civil Service and Foreign Service, all functional specialties—of my
intention to pay personal attention to their professional concerns.
I am also on record expressing deep concern about human rights,
abroad and at home. These commitments will find expression in a
variety of ways during my tenure, including dedication to and
involvement in Equal Employment Opportunity within the Department as
dictated by ethics and law.
As head of this agency, I shall exercise personal leadership in
prohibiting discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex,
national origin, age, or handicap. I shall also exercise personal
leadership in carrying out a continuing affirmative action program
designed to promote equal opportunity for all applicants and all
employees. I would hope that my own concern about these issues is
evident in my selection of appointees for various senior positions
in the Department. And, in turn, I have asked senior appointees to
be similarly concerned in their own selection of personnel to aid
them. But that is only a start.
As head of this agency, I expect all employees to join in active
fulfillment of these commitments. Your support of moral and legal
equal employment opportunity principles is assumed. I now look to
your active involvement and participation in equal employment
opportunity activities. The degree of your contribution will relate
to the position you occupy in the Department’s workforce. I shall,
therefore, expect the most of Under Secretaries, Assistant
Secretaries and Chiefs of Mission. But there is no employee at any
level exempt from making a contribution to our overall EEO effort. To colleagues in
leadership positions, I emphasize that the practice of equal
employment opportunity is a vital factor in good personnel
management.
Responsibility for administration of the EEO program rests with the Deputy Under Secretary for
Management and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Equal Employment
Opportunity who will speak for me
[Page 741]
on day-to-day EEO matters. That delegation of authority, however, in
no way absolves me of leadership responsibility and I will on a
regular basis monitor our efforts to make our workforce at all
levels more representative of the U.S. population. We of the
Department of State, working at home and abroad, are obliged to set
an example of equality and human dignity for all peoples.
To assist me in initiating and carrying through affirmative action
programs for equal employment, I am establishing an executive level
Task Force. Its Chairman will be the Deputy Under Secretary for
Management. Members of the Task Force will be the Coordinator for
Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, the Assistant Secretary for
Administration, the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, the
Director General of the Foreign Service, the Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Equal Employment Opportunity, the Administrator of the
Agency for International Development, and the Director of the United
States Information Agency.
