Civilian Cyber Security Reserve Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2894 To establish a Civilian Cyber Security Reserve as a pilot project to address the cyber security needs of the United States with respect to national security, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 28, 2021 Mr. PANETTA (for himself and Mr. CALVERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a Civilian Cyber Security Reserve as a pilot project to address the cyber security needs of the United States with respect to national security, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civilian Cyber Security 4 Reserve Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:37 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2894 IH SEC. 2. CIVILIAN CYBER SECURITY RESERVE PILOT 1 PROJECT. 2 (a) PILOT PROJECT.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each appropriate agency 4 head may carry out a pilot project to establish a Ci- 5 vilian Cyber Security Reserve at the covered agency 6 to address the cyber security needs of the United 7 States with respect to national security. 8 (2) APPOINTMENTS.—Under a pilot project au- 9 thorized under paragraph (1), the appropriate agen- 10 cy head may noncompetitively appoint members of 11 the Civilian Cyber Security Reserve to temporary po- 12 sitions in the competitive or excepted service. 13 (3) STATUS AS EMPLOYEES.—An individual ap- 14 pointed under paragraph (2) shall be considered a 15 Federal civil service employee under section 2105 of 16 title 5, United States Code. 17 (b) ELIGIBILITY; APPLICATION AND SELECTION.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under a pilot project au- 19 thorized under subsection (a), the appropriate agen- 20 cy head shall establish criteria for— 21 (A) individuals to be eligible for the Civil- 22 ian Cyber Security Reserve in the covered agen- 23 cy; and 24 (B) the application and selection processes 25 for the Reserve. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:37 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2894 IH (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR INDIVIDUALS.—The 1 criteria established under paragraph (1)(A) with re- 2 spect to an individual shall include— 3 (A) previous employment by the Federal 4 Government or within the uniformed services; 5 and 6 (B) cyber security expertise. 7 (3) AGREEMENT REQUIRED.—An individual 8 may become a member of the Civilian Cyber Secu- 9 rity Reserve only if the individual enters into an 10 agreement with the appropriate agency head to be- 11 come such a member, which shall set forth the rights 12 and obligations of the individual and the covered 13 agency. 14 (4) EXCEPTION FOR CONTINUING MILITARY 15 SERVICE COMMITMENTS.—A member of the Selected 16 Reserve under section 10143 of title 10, United 17 States Code, may not be a member of the Civilian 18 Cyber Security Reserve. 19 (c) COMPONENTS OF THE CIVILIAN CYBER SECURITY 20 RESERVE.—The appropriate agency head may consider, 21 in carrying out a pilot project authorized under subsection 22 (a), developing different components of the Civilian Cyber 23 Security Reserve in the covered agency, one with an obli- 24 gation to respond when called into activation at the direc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:37 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2894 IH tion of the appropriate agency head and one that is not 1 compelled to so respond, with appropriate corresponding 2 differing benefits for each such component. 3 (d) SECURITY CLEARANCES.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate agency 5 head shall ensure that all members of the Civilian 6 Cyber Security Reserve in the covered agency under- 7 go the appropriate personnel vetting and adjudica- 8 tion commensurate with the duties of the position, 9 including a determination of eligibility for access to 10 classified information where a security clearance is 11 necessary, in accordance with Executive Order 12 12968 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to access to 13 classified information) and Executive Order 13467 14 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to reforming proc- 15 esses related to suitability for Government employ- 16 ment, fitness for contractor employees, and eligibility 17 for access to classified national security informa- 18 tion). 19 (2) COST OF MAINTAING CLEARANCES.—The 20 original sponsor of a security clearance of a member 21 of a Civilian Cyber Security Reserve at a covered 22 agency shall be responsible for the cost of maintain- 23 ing that security clearance. 24 (e) PROJECT GUIDANCE.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:37 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2894 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, each ap- 2 propriate agency head may issue guidance estab- 3 lishing and implementing a pilot project authorized 4 under subsection (a) at the covered agency. 5 (2) PENALTIES.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—In developing guidance 7 under paragraph (1), an appropriate agency 8 head may provide for penalties for individuals 9 who do not respond to activation when called, 10 such as recoupment of pay or benefits earned 11 as a member of the Civilian Cybersecurity Re- 12 serve, or recoupment of civilian service cred- 13 itable under section 8411 of title 5, United 14 States Code. 15 (B) PROCEDURES.—In the case of a pro- 16 posed penalty or action under this paragraph, 17 the individual shall be entitled to the applicable 18 procedures set forth in title 5, Code of Federal 19 Regulations, or as otherwise specified in appli- 20 cable guidance. 21 (f) EVALUATION.—Not later than 5 years after the 22 pilot project authorized under subsection (a) is established 23 in each covered agency, the Comptroller General of the 24 United States shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:37 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2894 IH (1) conduct a study evaluating the pilot project 1 at each such agency; and 2 (2) submit to Congress— 3 (A) a report on the results of the study; 4 and 5 (B) a recommendation with respect to 6 whether the pilot project should be modified, 7 extended in duration, or established as a per- 8 manent program. 9 (g) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the pilot 10 project authorized under subsection (a) is established in 11 a covered agency, the appropriate agency head shall sub- 12 mit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern- 13 mental Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services of 14 the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security and 15 the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Rep- 16 resentatives a report— 17 (1) relating to the activities carried out under 18 the pilot project; and 19 (2) that includes a recommendation with re- 20 spect to whether the pilot project should be modi- 21 fied, extended in duration, or established as a per- 22 manent program. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:37 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2894 IH (h) SUNSET.—A pilot project authorized under this 1 section shall terminate on the date that is 6 years after 2 the date on which the pilot project is established. 3 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) APPROPRIATE AGENCY HEAD.—The term 5 ‘‘appropriate agency head’’ means— 6 (A) in the case of the Department of 7 Homeland Security, the Secretary of Homeland 8 Security; and 9 (B) in the case of the Department of De- 10 fense, the Secretary of Defense. 11 (2) COMPETITIVE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘com- 12 petitive service’’ has the meaning given that term in 13 section 2102 of title 5, United States Code. 14 (3) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 15 agency’’ means the Department of Homeland Secu- 16 rity or the Department of Defense. 17 (4) EXCEPTED SERVICE.—The term ‘‘excepted 18 service’’ has the meaning given the term in section 19 2103 of title 5, United States Code. 20 (5) TEMPORARY.—The term ‘‘temporary’’ 21 means a period of not more than 6 months. 22 (6) UNIFORMED SERVICES.—The term ‘‘uni- 23 formed services’’ has the meaning given that term in 24 section 2101 of title 5, United States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:37 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2894 IH (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 are authorized to be appropriated to each appropriate 2 agency head such sums as may be necessary to carry out 3 this section. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:37 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS