Department of Homeland Security Intelligence and Cybersecurity Diversity Fellowship Program Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8993 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to carry out an intelligence and cybersecurity diver- sity fellowship program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 16, 2020 Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi (for himself and Mr. SCHIFF) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to carry out an intelligence and cybersecurity diversity fellowship pro- gram, 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 ‘‘Department of Home- 4 land Security Intelligence and Cybersecurity Diversity 5 Fellowship Program Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:31 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8993.IH H8993 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8993 IH SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INTEL- 1 LIGENCE AND CYBERSECURITY DIVERSITY 2 FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title XIII of the 4 Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by adding at 5 the end the following new section: 6 ‘‘SEC. 1333. INTELLIGENCE AND CYBERSECURITY DIVER- 7 SITY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 10 GRESS.—The term ‘appropriate committees of Con- 11 gress’ means— 12 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 13 and Governmental Affairs and the Select Com- 14 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 15 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Homeland Security 16 and the Permanent Select Committee on Intel- 17 ligence of the House of Representatives. 18 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTED SERVICE.—The term ‘excepted 19 service’ has the meaning given that term in section 20 2103 of title 5, United States Code. 21 ‘‘(3) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI- 22 VERSITY.—The term ‘historically Black college or 23 university’ has the meaning given the term ‘part B 24 institution’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 25 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:31 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8993.IH H8993 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8993 IH ‘‘(4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 1 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 2 meaning given that term in section 101 of the High- 3 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 4 ‘‘(5) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 5 term ‘minority-serving institution’ means an institu- 6 tion of higher education described in section 371(a) 7 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8 1067q(a)). 9 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out an in- 10 telligence and cybersecurity diversity fellowship program 11 (in this section referred to as the ‘Program’) under which 12 an eligible individual may— 13 ‘‘(1) participate in a paid internship at the De- 14 partment that relates to intelligence, cybersecurity, 15 or a combination thereof; 16 ‘‘(2) receive tuition assistance from the Sec- 17 retary; and 18 ‘‘(3) upon graduation from an institution of 19 higher education and successful completion of the 20 Program (as defined by the Secretary), receive an 21 offer of employment to work in an intelligence or cy- 22 bersecurity position of the Department that is in the 23 excepted service. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:31 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8993.IH H8993 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8993 IH ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in 1 the Program, an individual shall— 2 ‘‘(1) be a citizen of the United States; and 3 ‘‘(2) as of the date of submitting an application 4 to participate in the Program— 5 ‘‘(A) have a cumulative grade point aver- 6 age of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale; 7 ‘‘(B) be a socially disadvantaged individual 8 (as that term is defined in section 124.103 of 9 title 13, Code of Federal Regulations, or suc- 10 cessor regulation); and 11 ‘‘(C) be a sophomore, junior, or senior at 12 an institution of higher education, including a 13 historically Black college or university or minor- 14 ity-serving institution. 15 ‘‘(d) DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY.—If an individual 16 who receives an offer of employment under subsection 17 (b)(3) accepts such offer, the Secretary shall appoint, 18 without regard to provisions of subchapter I of chapter 19 33 of title 5, United States Code (except for section 3328 20 of such title), such individual to the position specified in 21 such offer. 22 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.— 23 ‘‘(1) REPORTS.—Not later than one year after 24 the date of the enactment of this section, and on an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jan 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8993.IH H8993 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8993 IH annual basis thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 1 to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 2 on the Program. 3 ‘‘(2) MATTERS.—Each report under paragraph 4 (1) shall include, with respect to the most recent 5 year, the following: 6 ‘‘(A) A description of outreach efforts by 7 the Secretary to raise awareness of the Pro- 8 gram among institutions of higher education in 9 which eligible individuals are enrolled. 10 ‘‘(B) Information on specific recruiting ef- 11 forts conducted by the Secretary to increase 12 participation in the Program. 13 ‘‘(C) The number of individuals partici- 14 pating in the Program, listed by the institution 15 of higher education in which the individual is 16 enrolled at the time of participation, and infor- 17 mation on the nature of such participation, in- 18 cluding regarding whether the duties of the in- 19 dividual under the Program relate primarily to 20 intelligence or cybersecurity. 21 ‘‘(D) The number of individuals who ac- 22 cepted an offer of employment under the Pro- 23 gram and an identification of the element with- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:31 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8993.IH H8993 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8993 IH in the Department to which each individual was 1 appointed.’’. 2 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 3 for such Act is amended by inserting after the item relat- 4 ing to section 1332 the following new item: 5 ‘‘Sec. 1333. Intelligence and cybersecurity diversity fellowship program.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:31 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8993.IH H8993 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS