[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3210 Engrossed Amendment Senate (EAS)]

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                  In the Senate of the United States,

                                                        March 15, 2018.
    Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 
3210) entitled ``An Act to require the Director of the National 
Background Investigations Bureau to submit a report on the backlog of 
personnel security clearance investigations, and for other purposes.'', 
do pass with the following

                               AMENDMENT:

            Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
      following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Securely Expediting Clearances 
Through Reporting Transparency Act of 2018'' or the ``SECRET Act of 
2018''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``Bureau'' means the National Background 
        Investigations Bureau of the Office;
            (2) the term ``Director'' means the Director of National 
        Intelligence acting as the Security Executive Agent; and
            (3) the term ``Office'' means the Office of Personnel 
        Management acting as the Suitability and Credentialing 
        Executive Agent.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON BACKLOG OF PERSONNEL SECURITY CLEARANCE 
              INVESTIGATIONS.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
quarterly thereafter for 5 years, the Director of the Bureau, in 
coordination with the Director, shall submit to Congress a report on 
the backlog of personnel security clearance investigations at the 
Bureau for the most recent full calendar quarter, which shall include--
            (1) the size of the backlog of personnel security clearance 
        investigations of the Bureau, including, for each sensitivity 
        level--
                    (A) the number of interim clearances granted;
                    (B) the number of initial investigations for 
                Federal employees;
                    (C) the number of periodic reinvestigations for 
                Federal employees;
                    (D) the number of initial investigations for 
                employees of Federal contractors;
                    (E) the number of periodic reinvestigations for 
                employees of Federal contractors;
                    (F) the number of initial investigations for 
                employees of, and employees of contractors of, the 
                Department of Defense;
                    (G) the number of periodic reinvestigations for 
                employees of and employees of contractors of the 
                Department of Defense;
                    (H) the number of employees of the Bureau 
                conducting background investigations for the Bureau; 
                and
                    (I) the number of employees of contractors of the 
                Bureau conducting background investigations for the 
                Bureau;
            (2) the average length of time, for each sensitivity level, 
        for the Bureau to carry out an initial investigation and a 
        periodic reinvestigation;
            (3) a discussion of the factors contributing to the average 
        length of time to carry out an initial investigation and a 
        periodic reinvestigation;
            (4) a backlog mitigation plan, which shall include--
                    (A) the identification of the cause of, and 
                recommendations to remedy, the backlog at the Bureau;
                    (B) the steps the Director of the Bureau shall take 
                to reduce the backlog;
                    (C) process reforms to improve efficiencies in, and 
                the quality of, background investigations by the 
                Bureau; and
                    (D) a projection of when the backlog at the Bureau 
                will be sufficiently reduced to meet required 
                timeliness standards; and
            (5) a description of improvements in the information and 
        data security of the Bureau.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON SECURITY CLEARANCE INVESTIGATIONS OF PERSONNEL OF THE 
              EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Director of the Office of Administration of the Executive Office of the 
President, in coordination with the Director and the Director of the 
Office, shall submit to Congress a report that explains the process for 
conducting and adjudicating security clearance investigations for 
personnel of the Executive Office of the President, including personnel 
of the White House Office.

SEC. 5. REPORT ON COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH BIFURCATED BACKGROUND 
              INVESTIGATION SYSTEMS.

    Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Director of the Office, in consultation with the other members of 
the Suitability and Security Clearance Performance Accountability 
Council established under Executive Order 13467 (73 Fed. Reg. 38103) 
and the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, shall submit to 
Congress a report on the cost of maintaining comprehensive background 
investigations capability within the Office under the control or 
direction of the Bureau and a background investigations capability for 
Department of Defense personnel under the control or direction of the 
Department of Defense for implementation of the plan referenced in 
section 925 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2018 (Public Law 115-91), as compared to the cost of sustaining a 
single Government-wide background investigations enterprise.

SEC. 6. REPORTS ON CONTINUOUS EVALUATION, RECIPROCITY, AND TIMELINESS 
              MEASURES.

    Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Director shall submit to Congress reports that provide--
            (1) the status of implementing continuous evaluation 
        Government-wide, including--
                    (A) the number of agencies with continuous 
                evaluation programs and how many of those programs are 
                currently conducting automated records checks of the 
                required data sources as identified by the Director; 
                and
                    (B) a discussion of the barriers for agencies to 
                implement continuous evaluation programs, including any 
                requirement under a statute, regulation, Executive 
                Order, or other administrative requirement;
            (2) a detailed explanation of efforts by agencies to meet 
        requirements for reciprocal recognition to access classified 
        information, including--
                    (A) the range of the length of time for agencies to 
                grant reciprocal recognition to access classified 
                information;
                    (B) additional requirements for reinvestigations or 
                readjudications, by agency; and
                    (C) any other barriers to the timely granting of 
                reciprocity, by agency, including any requirement under 
                a statute, regulation, Executive Order, or other 
                administrative requirement; and
            (3) a review of whether the schedule for processing 
        security clearances under section 3001 of the Intelligence 
        Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (50 U.S.C. 3341) 
        should be modified.

SEC. 7. REVIEW AND UPDATE OF POSITION DESIGNATION GUIDANCE.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``agency'' has the meaning given the term in 
        Executive Order 13467 (73 Fed. Reg. 38103), or any successor 
        thereto;
            (2) the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
        means--
                    (A) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs and the Select Committee on 
                Intelligence of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Oversight and Government 
                Reform and the Permanent Select Committee on 
                Intelligence of the House of Representatives;
            (3) the term ``background investigation'' means any 
        investigation required for the purpose of determining the--
                    (A) eligibility of a covered individual for logical 
                and physical access to Federally controlled facilities 
                or information systems;
                    (B) suitability or fitness of a covered individual 
                for Federal employment;
                    (C) eligibility of a covered individual for access 
                to classified information or to hold a national 
                security sensitive position; or
                    (D) fitness of a covered individual to perform work 
                for or on behalf of the United States Government as a 
                contractor employee; and
            (4) the term ``covered individual''--
                    (A) means a person who performs work for or on 
                behalf of the executive branch or seeks to perform work 
                for or on behalf of the executive branch;
                    (B) is not limited to Federal employees;
                    (C) includes all persons, not excluded under 
                subparagraph (D), who require eligibility for access to 
                classified information or eligibility to hold a 
                sensitive position, including, but not limited to, 
                contractors, subcontractors, licensees, certificate 
                holders, grantees, experts, consultants, and government 
                employees; and
                    (D) does not include--
                            (i) the President;
                            (ii) employees of the President under 
                        section 105 or 107 of title 3, United States 
                        Code (except to the extent otherwise directed 
                        by the President);
                            (iii) the Vice President; or
                            (iv) employees of the Vice President under 
                        section 106 of title 3, United States Code, or 
                        an annual legislative branch appropriations Act 
                        (except to the extent otherwise directed by the 
                        Vice President).
    (b) Review and Updating.--
            (1) Initial review and update of guidance.--Not later than 
        180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 
        and the Director of the Office shall review and make 
        recommendations to Congress and the President as appropriate to 
        issue guidance to assist agencies in determining--
                    (A) position sensitivity designation; and
                    (B) the appropriate background investigation to 
                initiate for each position designation.
            (2) Reviews and revisions of position designations.--Not 
        less frequently than every 4 years, the President, acting 
        through relevant agencies (as determined by the President) and 
        in accordance with the guidance described in paragraph (1), 
        shall review and, if necessary, revise the position designation 
        of positions within agencies.
    (c) Reports to Congress.--Not later than 30 days after completing a 
review under subsection (b)(2), the President shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a report on--
            (1) any issues identified in the review; and
            (2) the number of position designations revised as a result 
        of the review.
    (d) No Change in Authority.--Nothing in this section limits or 
expands the authority of any agency to designate a position as 
sensitive or as requiring its occupant to have access to classified 
information.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
115th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H.R. 3210

_______________________________________________________________________

                               AMENDMENT