[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 92 (Wednesday, May 26, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3529-S3530]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2070. Mr. BENNET submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 1260, to establish a new Directorate for Technology
and Innovation in the National Science Foundation, to establish a
regional technology hub program, to require a strategy and report on
economic security, science, research, innovation, manufacturing, and
job creation, to establish a critical supply chain resiliency program,
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. ___. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL RESERVE DIGITAL CORPS.
(a) In General.--Subpart I of part III of title 5, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``CHAPTER 103--NATIONAL RESERVE DIGITAL CORPS
``Sec.
``10301. Establishment.
``10302. Definitions.
``10303. Organization.
``10304. Work on behalf of Executive agencies.
``10305. Digital Corps Scholarship Program.
``10306. Duration of pilot program.
``Sec. 10301. Establishment
`` For the purposes of attracting, recruiting, and training
a corps of world-class digital talent to serve the national
interest and enable the Federal Government to become a
digitally proficient enterprise, there is established within
the Office of Management and Budget a pilot program for a
civilian National Reserve Digital Corps, the members of whom
shall serve as special Government employees, working not
fewer than 30 days per year as short-term advisors,
instructors, or developers in the Federal Government.
``Sec. 10302. Definitions
``In this chapter:
``(1) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget.
``(2) Node.--The term `node' means a group of persons, or a
team, organized under the direction of a node leader to
provide digital service to not less than 1 Executive agency
pursuant to an agreement between the Director and the
Executive agency.
``(3) Node leader.--The term `node leader' means a full-
time employee who--
``(A) is selected under this chapter to lead not less than
1 node; and
``(B) reports to the Director or the designee of the
Director.
``(4) Node member.--The term `node member' means a special
Government employee, as that term is defined in section 202
of title 18, who is selected under this division to work not
fewer than 38 days per fiscal year and report to a node
leader in furtherance of the mission of a node.
``Sec. 10303. Organization
``(a) Nodes and Node Leaders.--The National Reserve Digital
Corps shall be organized into nodes, each of which shall be
under the supervision of a node leader.
``(b) Administrative Support.--The National Reserve Digital
Corps shall receive funding and administrative support from
the Director, who shall be responsible for selecting node
leaders, establishing standards, ensuring that nodes meet
Executive agency client requirements, maintaining security
clearances, establishing access to an agile development
environment and appropriate tools, and facilitating
appropriate technical exchange meetings.
``(c) Appointment Authority.--
``(1) Direct appointment authority of node members.--
``(A) In general.--The Director, on the recommendation of a
node leader, may appoint, without regard to the provisions of
subchapter I of chapter 33 (other than sections 3303 and 3328
of such chapter), a qualified candidate to a position in the
competitive service in the Office of Management and Budget to
serve as a node member.
``(B) Rule of construction.--Nothing in subparagraph (A)
may be construed to preclude the Director from appointing
additional employees, including full-time employees for the
purposes described in that subparagraph.
``(2) Term and temporary appointments of node members.--The
Director, on the recommendation of a node leader, may make a
noncompetitive temporary appointment or term appointment, for
a period of not more than 18 months, of a qualified candidate
to serve as a node member in a position in the competitive
service for which a critical hiring need exists, as
determined under section 3304, without regard to sections
3327 and 3330.
``Sec. 10304. Work on behalf of Executive agencies
``(a) Purpose.--Each node shall undertake projects to
assist Executive agencies by--
``(1) providing digital education and training;
``(2) performing data triage and providing acquisition
assistance;
``(3) helping to guide digital projects and frame technical
solutions;
``(4) helping to build bridges between public needs and
private sector capabilities; and
``(5) performing related tasks.
``(b) Authorities.--A node may undertake a project--
``(1) on behalf of an Executive agency--
``(A) by direct agreement between the Director and the
Executive agency; or
``(B) at the direction of the Director at the request of
the Executive agency; or
``(2) to address a digital service need encompassing more
than 1 Executive agency--
``(A) at the direction of the Director; or
``(B) on the initiative of a node leader.
[[Page S3530]]
``Sec. 10305. Digital Corps Scholarship Program
``(a) In General.--The Director shall establish a National
Reserve Digital Corps scholarship program to provide full
scholarships to competitively selected students who commit to
study specific disciplines relating to national security
digital technology.
``(b) Service Obligation.--Each student, before commencing
the program established under subsection (a), shall sign an
agreement with respect to the student's commitment to the
United States, which shall provide that the student agree to
the following:
``(1) A commitment to serve as an intern at an Executive
agency for not less than 6 weeks during each of the summers
before the junior and senior years of the undergraduate
studies of the student.
``(2) A commitment to serve in the National Reserve Digital
Corps for 6 years after graduation.
``(c) Program Elements.--In establishing the program under
subsection (a), the Director shall determine the following:
``(1) Eligibility standards for program participation.
``(2) Criteria for establishing the dollar amount of a
scholarship, including tuition, room, and board.
``(3) Repayment requirements for students who fail to
complete their service obligation.
``(4) An approach to ensuring that qualified graduates of
the program are promptly hired and assigned to node leaders.
``(5) Resources required for the implementation of the
program.
``(d) Continuing Education.--The Director shall establish a
training and continuing education program to fund educational
opportunities for members of the National Digital Reserve
Corps, including conferences, seminars, degree and
certificate granting programs, and other training
opportunities that are expected to increase the digital
competencies of the participants.
``(e) Implementation.--In carrying out this chapter, the
Director shall have the following responsibilities:
``(1) Establishing the administrative support function and
issuing guidance for the National Reserve Digital Corps,
which shall include the identification of points of contact
for node leaders at Executive agencies.
``(2) Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment
of this chapter, appointing not fewer than 5 node leaders
under the National Reserve Digital Corps program and
authorizing those node leaders to begin recruiting reservists
and undertaking projects for Executive agencies.
``(3) Beginning 2 years after the date of enactment of this
chapter, reporting annually to Congress on the progress of
the National Reserve Digital Corps, each of which shall
address, at a minimum, the following measures of success:
``(A) The number of technologists who participate in the
National Reserve Digital Corps.
``(B) Identification of the Executive agencies that
submitted work requests, the nature of the work requests,
which work requests were assigned a node, and which work
requests were completed or remain in progress.
``(C) Evaluations of results of National Reserve Digital
Corps projects by Executive agencies.
``(D) Evaluations of results of National Reserve Digital
Corps projects by reservists.
``Sec. 10306. Duration of pilot program
``The pilot program under this chapter shall terminate not
earlier than 6 years after the date of enactment of this
chapter.''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of
chapters for subpart I of part III of title 5, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``CHAPTER 103--NATIONAL RESERVE DIGITAL CORPS''.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget $16,000,000, to remain available
through fiscal year 2023, to carry out chapter 103 of title
5, United States Code, as added by this section.
______