[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 23, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5243-S5244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2973. Mr. MULLIN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2025 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 appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. NATIONAL DIGITAL RESERVE 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 104--NATIONAL DIGITAL RESERVE CORPS

``10401. Definitions.
``10402. Establishment.
``10403. Organization.
``10404. Assignments.
``10405. Reservist continuing education.
``10406. Congressional reports.
``10407. Construction.

     ``Sec. 10401. Definitions

       ``In this chapter:
       ``(1) Active reservist.--The term `active reservist' means 
     a reservist holding a position to which the reservist has 
     been appointed under section 10403(c)(2).
       ``(2) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means the 
     Administrator of General Services.
       ``(3) Covered executive agency.--The term `covered 
     Executive agency' means an Executive agency, except that such 
     term includes the United States Postal Service, the Postal 
     Regulatory Commission, and the Executive Office of the 
     President.
       ``(4) Program.--The term `Program' means the program 
     established under section 10402(a).
       ``(5) Reservist.--The term `reservist' means an individual 
     who is a member of the National Digital Reserve Corps.

     ``Sec. 10402. Establishment

       ``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the General 
     Services Administration a program to establish, recruit, 
     manage, and assign a reserve of individuals with relevant 
     skills and credentials, to be known as the `National Digital 
     Reserve Corps', to help address the digital and cybersecurity 
     needs of covered Executive agencies.
       ``(b) Implementation.--
       ``(1) Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this section, the Administrator, in consultation 
     with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, 
     shall issue guidance for the National Digital Reserve Corps, 
     which shall include procedures for coordinating with covered 
     Executive agencies to--
       ``(A) identify digital and cybersecurity needs that may be 
     addressed by the National Digital Reserve Corps; and
       ``(B) assign active reservists to address the needs 
     described in subparagraph (A).
       ``(2) Recruitment and initial assignments.--Not later than 
     1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the 
     Administrator shall begin recruiting reservists and assigning 
     active reservists under the Program.

     ``Sec. 10403. Organization

       ``(a) Administration.--
       ``(1) In general.--The National Digital Reserve Corps shall 
     be administered by the Administrator.
       ``(2) Responsibilities.--In carrying out the Program, the 
     Administrator shall--
       ``(A) establish standards for serving as a reservist, 
     including educational attainment, professional 
     qualifications, and background checks in accordance with 
     existing Federal guidance;
       ``(B) ensure the standards established under subparagraph 
     (A) are met;
       ``(C) recruit individuals to the National Digital Reserve 
     Corps;
       ``(D) activate and deactivate reservists as necessary;
       ``(E) coordinate with covered Executive agencies to--
       ``(i) determine the digital and cybersecurity needs that 
     reservists shall be assigned to address;

[[Page S5244]]

       ``(ii) ensure active reservists have the access, resources, 
     and equipment required to address the digital and 
     cybersecurity needs that the reservists are assigned to 
     address; and
       ``(iii) analyze potential assignments for reservists to 
     determine outcomes, develop anticipated assignment timelines, 
     and identify covered Executive agency partners;
       ``(F) ensure that reservists acquire and maintain 
     appropriate security clearances; and
       ``(G) determine what additional resources, if any, are 
     required to successfully implement the Program.
       ``(b) National Digital Reserve Corps Participation.--
       ``(1) Service obligation agreement.--
       ``(A) In general.--An individual may become a reservist 
     only if that individual enters into a written agreement with 
     the Administrator to become a reservist.
       ``(B) Contests.--An agreement described in subparagraph (A) 
     shall--
       ``(i) require the individual seeking to become a reservist 
     to serve as a reservist for a 3-year period, during which 
     that individual shall serve not less than 30 days per year as 
     an active reservist; and
       ``(ii) set forth all other the rights and obligations of 
     the individual and the General Services Administration.
       ``(2) Compensation.--The Administrator shall determine the 
     appropriate compensation for service as a reservist, except 
     that the annual pay for that service shall not exceed 
     $10,000.
       ``(3) Employment protections.--The Secretary of Labor shall 
     prescribe such regulations as necessary to ensure the 
     reemployment, continuation of benefits, and nondiscrimination 
     in reemployment of active reservists, provided that those 
     regulations shall include, at a minimum, the rights and 
     obligations set forth under chapter 43 of title 38.
       ``(4) Penalties.--
       ``(A) In general.--A reservist that fails to accept an 
     appointment under subsection (c)(2), or fails to carry out 
     the duties assigned to a reservist under such an appointment, 
     shall, after notice and an opportunity to be heard--
       ``(i) cease to be a reservist; and
       ``(ii) be fined an amount equal to the sum of--

       ``(I) an amount equal to the amounts, if any, paid under 
     section 10405 with respect to that reservist; and
       ``(II) the difference between the amount of compensation 
     that reservist would have received if the reservist completed 
     the entire term of service as a reservist agreed to in the 
     agreement described in paragraph (1) and the amount of 
     compensation that reservist has received under that 
     agreement.

       ``(B) Exception.--
       ``(i) In general.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with 
     respect to a failure of a reservist to accept an appointment 
     under subsection (c)(2), or to carry out the duties assigned 
     to the reservist under such an appointment, if--

       ``(I) the failure was due to the death or disability of 
     that reservist; or
       ``(II) the Administrator, in consultation with the head of 
     the relevant covered Executive agency, determines that 
     subparagraph (A) should not apply with respect to the 
     failure.

       ``(ii) Relevant covered executive agency defined.--In this 
     subparagraph, the term `relevant covered Executive agency' 
     means--

       ``(I) in the case of a reservist failing to accept an 
     appointment under subsection (c)(2), the covered Executive 
     agency to which that reservist would have been appointed; and
       ``(II) in the case of a reservist failing to carry out the 
     duties assigned to that reservist under such an appointment, 
     the covered Executive agency to which that reservist was 
     appointed.

       ``(c) Appointment Authority.--
       ``(1) Corps leadership.--The Administrator may appoint 
     qualified candidates to positions in the competitive service 
     in the General Service Administration for which the primary 
     duties are related to the management or administration of the 
     National Digital Reserve Corps, as determined by the 
     Administrator.
       ``(2) Corps reservists.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Administrator may appoint qualified 
     reservists to temporary positions in the competitive service 
     for the purpose of assigning those reservists under section 
     10404 and to otherwise carry out the National Digital Reserve 
     Corps.
       ``(B) Appointment limits.--
       ``(i) In general.--The Administrator may not appoint an 
     individual under this paragraph if, during the 365-day period 
     ending on the date of that appointment, that individual has 
     been an officer or employee of the executive or legislative 
     branch of the United States Government, of any independent 
     agency of the United States, or of the District of Columbia 
     for not less than 130 days.
       ``(ii) Automatic appointment termination.--The appointment 
     of an individual under this paragraph shall terminate upon 
     that individual being employed as an officer or employee of 
     the executive or legislative branch of the United States 
     Government, of any independent agency of the United States, 
     or of the District of Columbia for 130 days during the 
     previous 365 days.
       ``(C) Employee status.--An individual appointed under this 
     paragraph shall be considered a special Government employee 
     (as that term is defined in section 202(a) of title 18).
       ``(D) Conflict of interest.--An individual appointed under 
     this section shall not, as an active reservist, have access 
     to proprietary or confidential information that is of 
     commercial value to any private entity or individual 
     employing that appointee.
       ``(E) Additional employees.--An individual appointed under 
     this paragraph shall be in addition to any employees of the 
     General Services Administration, the duties of whom relate to 
     the digital or cybersecurity needs of the General Services 
     Administration.

     ``Sec. 10404. Assignments

       ``(a) In General.--The Administrator may assign active 
     reservists to address the digital and cybersecurity needs of 
     covered Executive agencies, including cybersecurity services, 
     digital education and training, data triage, acquisition 
     assistance, guidance on digital projects, development of 
     technical solutions, and bridging public needs and private 
     sector capabilities.
       ``(b) Assignment-Specific Access, Resources, Supplies, or 
     Equipment.--The head of a covered Executive agency shall, to 
     the extent practicable, provide each active reservist 
     assigned to address a digital or cybersecurity need of that 
     covered Executive agency under subsection (a) with any 
     specialized access, resources, supplies, or equipment 
     required to address that digital or cybersecurity need.
       ``(c) Duration.--The assignment of an individual under 
     subsection (a) shall terminate on the earliest of the 
     following:
       ``(1) A date determined by the Administrator.
       ``(2) The date on which the Administrator receives 
     notification of the decision of the head of the covered 
     Executive agency, the digital or cybersecurity needs of which 
     that individual is assigned to address under subsection (a), 
     that the assignment should terminate.
       ``(3) The date on which the assigned individual ceases to 
     be an active reservist.

     ``Sec. 10405. Reservist continuing education

       ``(a) In General.--Subject to the availability of 
     appropriations, the Administrator may pay for reservists to 
     acquire training and receive continuing education related to 
     the duties assigned to those reservists pursuant to 
     appointments under section 10403(c)(2), including attending 
     conferences and seminars and obtaining certifications, that 
     will enable reservists to more effectively meet the digital 
     and cybersecurity needs of covered Executive agencies.
       ``(b) Application.--The Administrator shall establish a 
     process for reservists to apply for the payment of reasonable 
     expenses relating to the training or continuing education 
     described in subsection (a).
       ``(c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the 
     Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the 
     expenditures under this section.

     ``Sec. 10406. Congressional reports

       ``Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
     this section, and annually thereafter, the Administrator 
     shall submit to Congress a report on the Program, including--
       ``(1) the number of reservists;
       ``(2) a list of covered Executive agencies that have 
     submitted requests for support from the National Digital 
     Reserve Corps;
       ``(3) the nature and status of the requests described in 
     paragraph (2); and
       ``(4) with respect to each request described in paragraph 
     for which active reservists have been assigned, and for which 
     work by the National Digital Reserve Corps has concluded, an 
     evaluation of that work and the results of that work by--
       ``(A) the covered Executive agency that submitted the 
     request; and
       ``(B) the reservists assigned to that request.

     ``Sec. 10407. Construction

       ``Nothing in this chapter may be construed to abrogate or 
     otherwise affect the authorities or the responsibilities of 
     the head of any other Executive agency.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for part III 
     of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
     the item related to chapter 103 the following:

``104. National Digital Reserve Corps.........................10401....
                                                                ''.

       (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated $30,000,000, to remain available until 
     fiscal year 2026, to carry out the program established under 
     section 10402(a) of title 5, United States Code, as added by 
     this section.
       (d) Transition Assistance Program.--Section 1142(b)(3) of 
     title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting ``and 
     the National Digital Reserve Corps'' after ``Selected 
     Reserve''.
       (e) Offset.--Notwithstanding the amounts set forth in the 
     funding tables in division D, the amounts authorized to be 
     appropriated in section 301 for operation and maintenance, 
     Defense-wide, for administration and service-wide activities, 
     Office of the Secretary of Defense, Line 470, as specified in 
     the corresponding funding table in section 4301, is hereby 
     reduced by $30,000,000.
                                 ______