[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 156 (Tuesday, September 27, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S5086]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 5725. Mr. SCOTT of Florida submitted an amendment intended to be
proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and
Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:
SEC. 1077. VETTING PROCEDURES AND MONITORING REQUIREMENTS FOR
ALLIES AND PARTNERS PARTICIPATING IN EDUCATION
OR TRAINING ACTIVITIES IN THE UNITED STATES.
(a) Waiver by Secretary of Defense.--Subsection (a) of
section 1090 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law
116-283; 10 U.S.C. 113 note) is amended by adding at the end
the following new paragraph:
``(5) Waiver.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of Defense may, with the
concurrence of the Secretary of State, and without
delegation, waive the requirement to vet covered individuals
under this section--
``(i) on a person-by-person basis, if the Secretary of
Defense determines that the waiver is in the national
security interests of the United States; or
``(ii) on a country-by-country basis, with respect to
foreign nationals or other appropriate persons who hold a
security clearance issued by that country, if the Secretary
of Defense determines that the vetting procedures of the
country are functionally equivalent to the vetting procedures
of the United States for United States military personnel.
``(B) Functional equivalence.--
``(i) Definition.--The Secretary of Defense, in
coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense for
Intelligence and Security and in consultation, as
appropriate, with the Secretary of State, shall establish and
submit to the congressional defense committees a definition
of functional equivalence for purposes of making a
determination under subparagraph (A)(ii).
``(ii) Assessment.--The Secretary of Defense shall conduct
an assessment of the vetting procedures of a country prior to
making a determination of functional equivalence under
subparagraph (A)(ii). Such assessment shall take into
consideration any information about such procedures provided
to the Secretary of Defense by the Secretary of State.
``(C) Notification requirement.--The Secretary of Defense
shall submit a written notification to the congressional
defense committees not later than 48 hours after exercising
the waiver authority under subparagraph (A), including a
justification for the waiver and an assessment of the vetting
procedures of a country, if appropriate.''.
(b) Type of Access Covered.--Subsections (a) through (c) of
such section 1090 are further amended by striking ``physical
access'' each place it appears and inserting ``unescorted
physical access''.
(c) Definitions.--
(1) Covered individual.--Subsection (e)(2) of such section
is amended to read as follows:
``(2) The term `covered individual'--
``(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), means a
foreign national or other appropriate person who is--
``(i) seeking unescorted physical access to a Department of
Defense installation or facility within the United States;
and
``(ii)(I) selected, nominated, or accepted for training or
education for a period of more than 14 days occurring on a
Department of Defense installation or facility within the
United States; or
``(II) an immediate family member accompanying a foreign
national or other appropriate person who has been so
selected, nominated, or accepted for such training or
education; and
``(B) does not include a foreign national or other
appropriate person of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or the
United Kingdom who holds a security clearance issued by the
country of the foreign national and has provided the
Department of Defense a certification of such clearance.''.
(2) Immediate family member.--Subsection (e)(4) of such
section is amended--
(A) by striking ``means the parent'' and inserting the
following: ``means a person who--
``(A) is the parent'';
(B) in subparagraph (A), as designated by subparagraph (A)
of this paragraph, by striking the period and inserting ``;
and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(B) has attained the age of 16 years old at the time that
unescorted physical access is to begin.''.
(3) Foreign national; other appropriate person.--Section
1090(e) of such Act is amended by adding at the end the
following new paragraphs:
``(5) The term `foreign national' means a person who is not
a citizen or national of the United States or an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United
States under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1101 et seq.).
``(6) The term `other appropriate person' means a person
who is a citizen of both the United States and another
country or who is an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence in the United States, if such person intends to
attend training or education on behalf of a foreign
country.''.
(d) Clarifying Amendment.--Such section is further amended
by striking ``Secretary'' each place it appears and inserting
``Secretary of Defense'' in the following provisions:
(1) Paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of subsection (a).
(2) Paragraph (1) of subsection (b) in the matter preceding
subparagraph (A).
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