Department of Homeland Security Clearance Management and Administration Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 424 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 29, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to improve the management and administration of the security clear- ance processes throughout the Department of Homeland 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.RFS H424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 424 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home- 2 land Security Clearance Management and Administration 3 Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. SECURITY CLEARANCE MANAGEMENT AND ADMIN- 5 ISTRATION. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu- 7 rity Act of 2002 is amended— 8 (1) by inserting before section 701 (6 U.S.C. 9 341) the following: 10 ‘‘Subtitle A—Headquarters 11 Activities’’; 12 and 13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 14 title: 15 ‘‘Subtitle B—Security Clearances 16 ‘‘SEC. 711. DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL SECURITY SEN- 17 SITIVE AND PUBLIC TRUST POSITIONS. 18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require the 19 designation of the sensitivity level of national security po- 20 sitions (pursuant to part 1400 of title 5, Code of Federal 21 Regulations, or similar successor regulation) be conducted 22 in a manner consistent with respect to all components and 23 offices of the Department, and consistent with Federal 24 guidelines. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.RFS H424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 424 RFS ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out subsection 1 (a), the Secretary shall require the utilization of uniform 2 designation tools throughout the Department and provide 3 training to appropriate staff of the Department on such 4 utilization. Such training shall include guidance on factors 5 for determining eligibility for access to classified informa- 6 tion and eligibility to hold a national security position. 7 ‘‘SEC. 712. REVIEW OF POSITION DESIGNATIONS. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than July 6, 2019, and 9 every five years thereafter, the Secretary shall review all 10 sensitivity level designations of national security positions 11 (pursuant to part 1400 of title 5, Code of Federal Regula- 12 tions, or similar successor regulation) at the Department. 13 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION.—If during the course of a re- 14 view required under subsection (a), the Secretary deter- 15 mines that a change in the sensitivity level of a position 16 that affects the need for an individual to obtain access 17 to classified information is warranted, such access shall 18 be administratively adjusted and an appropriate level peri- 19 odic reinvestigation completed, as necessary. 20 ‘‘(c) CONGRESSIONAL REPORTING.—Upon comple- 21 tion of each review required under subsection (a), the Sec- 22 retary shall report to the Committee on Homeland Secu- 23 rity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 24 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.RFS H424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 424 RFS Senate on the findings of each such review, including the 1 number of positions by classification level and by compo- 2 nent and office of the Department in which the Secretary 3 made a determination in accordance with subsection (b) 4 to— 5 ‘‘(1) require access to classified information; 6 ‘‘(2) no longer require access to classified infor- 7 mation; or 8 ‘‘(3) otherwise require a different level of access 9 to classified information. 10 ‘‘SEC. 713. AUDITS. 11 ‘‘Beginning not later than 180 days after the date 12 of the enactment of this section, the Inspector General of 13 the Department shall conduct regular audits of compliance 14 of the Department with part 1400 of title 5, Code of Fed- 15 eral Regulations, or similar successor regulation. 16 ‘‘SEC. 714. REPORTING. 17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annually 18 through fiscal year 2024 submit to the Committee on 19 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 20 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 21 Affairs of the Senate a report on the following: 22 ‘‘(1) The number of denials, suspensions, rev- 23 ocations, and appeals of the eligibility for access to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.RFS H424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 424 RFS classified information of an individual throughout 1 the Department. 2 ‘‘(2) The date and status or disposition of each 3 reported action under paragraph (1). 4 ‘‘(3) The identification of the sponsoring entity, 5 whether by a component, office, or headquarters of 6 the Department, of each action under paragraph (1), 7 and description of the grounds for each such action. 8 ‘‘(4) Demographic data, including data relating 9 to race, sex, national origin, and disability, of each 10 individual for whom eligibility for access to classified 11 information was denied, suspended, revoked, or ap- 12 pealed, and the number of years that each such indi- 13 vidual was eligible for access to such information. 14 ‘‘(5) In the case of a suspension in excess of 15 180 days, an explanation for such duration. 16 ‘‘(b) FORM.—Each report required under subsection 17 (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form and be made 18 publicly available, but may include a classified annex for 19 any sensitive or classified information if necessary. 20 ‘‘SEC. 715. UNIFORM ADJUDICATION, SUSPENSION, DENIAL, 21 AND REVOCATION. 22 ‘‘Not later than one year after the date of the enact- 23 ment of this section, the Secretary, in consultation with 24 the Homeland Security Advisory Committee, shall develop 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.RFS H424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 424 RFS a plan to achieve greater uniformity within the Depart- 1 ment with respect to the adjudication of eligibility of an 2 individual for access to classified information that are con- 3 sistent with the Adjudicative Guidelines for Determining 4 Access to Classified Information published on December 5 29, 2005, or similar successor regulation. The Secretary 6 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of 7 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 8 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen- 9 ate the plan. The plan shall consider the following: 10 ‘‘(1) Mechanisms to foster greater compliance 11 with the uniform Department adjudication, suspen- 12 sion, denial, and revocation standards by the head of 13 each component and office of the Department with 14 the authority to adjudicate access to classified infor- 15 mation. 16 ‘‘(2) The establishment of an internal appeals 17 panel responsible for final national security clear- 18 ance denial and revocation determinations that is 19 comprised of designees who are career, supervisory 20 employees from components and offices of the De- 21 partment with the authority to adjudicate access to 22 classified information and headquarters, as appro- 23 priate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.RFS H424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 424 RFS ‘‘SEC. 716. DATA PROTECTION. 1 ‘‘The Secretary shall ensure that all information re- 2 ceived for the adjudication of eligibility of an individual 3 for access to classified information is consistent with the 4 Adjudicative Guidelines for Determining Access to Classi- 5 fied Information published on December 29, 2005, or 6 similar successor regulation, and is protected against mis- 7 appropriation. 8 ‘‘SEC. 717. REFERENCE. 9 ‘‘Except as otherwise provided, for purposes of this 10 subtitle, any reference to the ‘Department’ includes all 11 components and offices of the Department.’’. 12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 13 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended— 14 (1) by inserting before the item relating to sec- 15 tion 701 the following new item: 16 ‘‘Subtitle A—Headquarters Activities’’; and 17 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec- 18 tion 707 the following new items: 19 ‘‘Subtitle B—Security Clearances ‘‘Sec. 711. Designation of national security sensitive and public trust positions. ‘‘Sec. 712. Review of position designations. ‘‘Sec. 713. Audits. ‘‘Sec. 714. Reporting. ‘‘Sec. 715. Uniform adjudication, suspension, denial, and revocation. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H424.RFS H424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 HR 424 RFS ‘‘Sec. 716. Data protection. ‘‘Sec. 717. Reference.’’. Passed the House of Representatives January 29, 2019. Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H424.RFS H424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS