[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2397 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2397

  To amend title 10, United States Code, to deny Federal educational 
assistance funds to local educational agencies that deny the Department 
of Defense access to secondary school students or directory information 
 about secondary school students for military recruiting purposes; and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 11, 2000

Mr. Hutchinson (for himself, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Craig, Mr. 
Smith of New Hampshire, and Mr. Inhofe) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 10, United States Code, to deny Federal educational 
assistance funds to local educational agencies that deny the Department 
of Defense access to secondary school students or directory information 
 about secondary school students for military recruiting purposes; and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 ``Military Recruiter Access 
Enhancement Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The combined effects of the strongest economy in 40 
        years, the lowest unemployment rate since the establishment of 
        an all-volunteer force for the Armed Forces, and a declining 
        propensity on the part of America's youth to serve in the 
        military make the recruitment of persons for the Armed Forces 
        unusually challenging.
            (2) For the recruitment of high quality men and women, each 
        of the Armed Forces face intense competition from the other 
        branches of the Armed Forces, the private sector, and 
        postsecondary educational institutions.
            (3) It is becoming increasingly difficult for the Armed 
        Forces to meet their respective recruiting goals. Despite a 
        variety of innovative approaches taken by recruiters and the 
        extensive programs of benefits that are available for recruits, 
        recruiters have to devote extraordinary time and effort to fill 
        monthly requirements for immediate accessions.
            (4) Unfortunately, a number of high schools have denied 
        recruiters for the Armed Forces access to the students, or to 
        student directory information, of those high schools. In 1999, 
        there were 4,515 instances of denial of access to the Army, 
        4,364 instances in the case of the Navy, 4,884 instances in the 
        case of the Marine Corps, and 5,465 instances in the case of 
        the Air Force.
            (5) As of the beginning of 2000, nearly one-fourth of all 
        high schools nationwide did not release student directory 
        information to Armed Forces recruiters.
            (6) In testimony presented to the Committee on Armed 
        Services of the Senate, recruiters of the Armed Forces state 
        that the single biggest obstacle to carrying out their 
        recruiting mission is the denial of access to directory 
        information about students, for a directory listing of high 
        school students is the recruiter's basic prospecting tool. When 
        directory information is not provided by schools, recruiters 
        must spend valuable time (otherwise available for pursuing 
        recruiting contacts) to construct such a list from school 
        yearbooks and other sources. This dramatically reduces both the 
        number of students each recruiter can reach and the time 
        available for communicating with the students that the 
        recruiters can eventually locate.
            (7) The denial of direct access to students and the denial 
        of access to directory information unfairly hurts America's 
        youth. High schools that deny access by military recruiters 
        prevent students from receiving all of the information on the 
        educational and training incentives offered by the Armed 
        Forces, thus impairing the career decisionmaking process for 
        the students by limiting the availability of complete 
        information on their options.
            (8) The denial of access for Armed Forces recruiters to 
        students or to directory information ultimately undermines our 
        national defense by making it harder for our Armed Forces to 
        recruit young Americans in the quantity and of the quality 
        necessary for maintaining the readiness of the Armed Forces to 
        provide national defense.

SEC. 3. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES DENYING ACCESS TO SECONDARY SCHOOLS 
              FOR MILITARY RECRUITING PURPOSES.

    (a) Denial of Educational Assistance Funds.--Section 503 of title 
10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Denial of Educational Assistance Funds to Uncooperative Local 
Educational Agencies.--(1) Section 983 of this title (other than 
subsection (a) of such section) shall apply to each local educational 
agency listed under paragraph (2) as if the local educational agency 
were an institution of higher education described in subsection (b) of 
that section.
    ``(2) The Secretary of Defense shall maintain a list of local 
educational agencies that are required under paragraph (3) to be listed 
as local educational agencies that deny recruiting access to the armed 
forces.
    ``(3)(A) If a local educational agency denies a request for 
recruiting access that is made by a representative of an armed force, 
an officer of that armed force designated by the Secretary concerned 
shall visit the local educational agency for the purpose of arranging 
for recruiting access. The visit shall occur within 120 days after the 
date of the denial of the request. An officer designated under this 
subparagraph shall be a general or flag officer.
    ``(B) Upon a determination by the Secretary of Defense that, after 
the actions under subparagraph (A) have been taken with respect to a 
local educational agency, the agency continues to deny recruiting 
access, the Secretary shall transmit to the Chief Executive of the 
State in which the local educational agency is located a notification 
of the denial of access and a request for assistance in obtaining the 
requested access. The notification shall be transmitted within 60 days 
after the date of the determination. The Secretary shall provide copies 
of communications between the Secretary and a Chief Executive under 
this subparagraph to the Secretary of Education.
    ``(C) If a local educational agency continues to deny recruiting 
access one year after the date of the transmittal of a notification 
regarding that agency under subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall 
determine whether the agency denies recruiting access to at least two 
of the armed forces (other than the Coast Guard when it is not 
operating as a service in the Navy) and, upon making an affirmative 
determination, shall include the agency on the list maintained under 
paragraph (2).
    ``(4) In this subsection:
            ``(A) The term `local educational agency' includes the 
        governing body of any person owning a private secondary 
        educational institution.
            ``(B) The term `recruiting access' means access requested 
        under subsection (c).
            ``(C) The term `State' includes the District of Columbia, 
        American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the 
        Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Commonwealth of the 
        Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        Republic of Palau, and the United States Virgin Islands.''.
    (b) Transition Provisions.--(1) In the case of a local educational 
agency that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, is listed by 
the Department of Defense as an educational agency that denies 
recruiting access--
            (A) the local educational agency shall be deemed to have 
        first denied recruiting access on that date;
            (B) the visit required under paragraph (3)(A) of section 
        503(d) of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection 
        (a)), shall be made by a general or flag officer of any armed 
        force that is appropriate under that paragraph, as determined 
        by the Secretary of Defense;
            (C) any notification required under paragraph (3)(B) of 
        such section 503(d) shall be transmitted within 90 days 
        (instead of 60 days) after the Secretary of Defense makes a 
        determination under that paragraph; and
            (D) paragraph (1) of such section 503(d) shall not apply to 
        the agency unless and until the date on which the Secretary of 
        Defense is required under paragraph (3)(C) of that section to 
        include the agency on the list of local educational agencies 
        that deny recruiting access to the Armed Forces.
    (2) In this subsection, the terms ``local educational agency'' and 
``recruiting access'' have the meanings given those terms in section 
503(d)(4) of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)).
    (c) Technical Amendments.--Section 503 of title 10, United States 
Code, as amended by subsection (a), is further amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``Recruiting 
        Campaigns.--'' after ``(a)'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ``Compilation of 
        Directory Information.--'' after ``(b)''; and
            (3) in subsection (c), by inserting ``Recruiting Access to 
        Secondary Schools.--'' after ``(c)'';
    (d) Repeal of Duplicative Authority Regarding Grants and Contracts 
to Uncooperative Institutions of Higher Education.--Section 8120 of the 
Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2000 (Public Law 106-79; 113 
Stat. 1260; 10 U.S.C. 983 note) is repealed.
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