Military Recruiter Secondary Schools Access Act of 2000

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Military Recruiter Secondary Schools 
Access Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The combined effects of the strongest economy in 40 
        years, the lowest unemployment rate since the establishment of 
        an all-volunteer force for the Armed Forces, and a declining 
        propensity on the part of America's youth to serve in the 
        military make the recruitment of persons for the Armed Forces 
        unusually challenging.
            (2) For the recruitment of high quality personnel, each of 
        the Armed Forces faces intense competition from the other 
        branches of the Armed Forces, the private sector, and 
        postsecondary educational institutions.
            (3) It is becoming increasingly difficult for the Armed 
        Forces to meet their respective recruiting goals. Despite a 
        variety of innovative approaches taken by recruiters and the 
        extensive programs of benefits that are available for recruits, 
        recruiters have to devote extraordinary time and effort to fill 
        monthly requirements for immediate accessions.
            (4) A number of local educational agencies have denied 
        recruiters for the Armed Forces access to secondary school 
        students, or to student directory information about secondary 
        school students, of those agencies. In 1999, there were 4,515 
        instances of denial of access in the case of the Army, 4,364 
        instances in the case of the Navy, 4,884 instances in the case 
        of the Marine Corps, and 5,465 instances in the case of the Air 
        Force.
            (5) As of the beginning of 2000, local educational agencies 
        operating nearly one-fourth of all secondary schools nationwide 
        did not release student directory information to the Armed 
        Forces for recruiting purposes.
            (6) In testimony presented to the Committee on Armed 
        Services of the Senate, military recruiters have stated that 
        the single biggest obstacle to carrying out their recruiting 
        mission for new enlisted accessions is the denial of access to 
        directory information about secondary school students.
            (7) The denial to military recruiters of direct access to 
        secondary school students and the denial of access to directory 
        information about those students unfairly harms the students 
        themselves, since students are thereby prevented from receiving 
        full information on the educational and training incentives 
        offered by the Armed Forces, thus impairing the career 
        decisionmaking process for the students by limiting the 
        availability of complete information on their options.
            (8) The denial of access for Armed Forces recruiters to 
        secondary school students or to student directory information 
        ultimately undermines the national defense by making it more 
        difficult for the Armed Forces to recruit young Americans in 
        the quantity and of the quality necessary for maintaining the 
        readiness of the Armed Forces to provide for the national 
        defense.

SEC. 3. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES DENYING EQUAL ACCESS TO SECONDARY 
              SCHOOLS FOR MILITARY RECRUITING PURPOSES.

    (a) Denial of Educational Assistance Funds.--Section 503 of title 
10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection:
    ``(d) Denial of Federal Educational Assistance Funds to Local 
Educational Agencies Denying Equal Access to Recruiters.--(1) Section 
983 of this title (other than subsection (a) of that section) shall 
apply to each local educational agency included on the list maintained 
under paragraph (2) as if the local educational agency were an 
institution of higher education described in subsection (b) of that 
section.
    ``(2) The Secretary of Defense shall maintain a list of local 
educational agencies that are required under paragraph (3) to be listed 
as local educational agencies that deny recruiting access to the armed 
forces.
    ``(3)(A) If a local educational agency denies a request by a 
representative of an armed force for recruiting access to secondary 
school students, the Secretary concerned shall provide for an officer 
of that armed force to meet with representatives of that local 
educational agency in person, at the offices of that agency, for the 
purpose of attempting to arrange for recruiting access. The Secretary 
shall seek to have such meeting occur not later than 120 days after the 
date of the denial of the request.
    ``(B) If, after a meeting under subparagraph (A) with 
representatives of a local educational agency that has denied a request 
by a representative of an armed force for recruiting access to 
secondary school students or (if such a meeting cannot be arranged 
within 120 days of such denial) after the end of such 120-day period, 
the Secretary of Defense determines that the agency continues to deny 
recruiting access, the Secretary shall transmit to the Chief Executive 
of the State in which the local educational agency is located a 
notification of the denial of recruiting access and a request for 
assistance in obtaining such access. The notification shall be 
transmitted within 60 days after the date of the determination. The 
Secretary shall provide to the Secretary of Education a copy of such 
notification and any other communication between the Secretary and a 
Chief Executive with respect to such access.
    ``(C) If a local educational agency continues to deny recruiting 
access one year after the date of the transmittal of a notification 
regarding that agency under subparagraph (B), the Secretary--
            ``(i) shall determine whether the agency denies recruiting 
        access to at least two of the armed forces (other than the 
        Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy); 
        and
            ``(ii) upon making an affirmative determination, shall 
        include the agency on the list maintained under paragraph (2).
    ``(4) In this subsection:
            ``(A) The term `local educational agency' includes the 
        governing body of a person or entity owning a private secondary 
        educational institution.
            ``(B) The term `recruiting access' means access requested 
        by the Department of Defense, as described in subsection (c), 
        that the Department be provided the same access to secondary 
        school students, and to directory information concerning such 
        students, for military recruiting purposes as is provided 
        generally to post-secondary educational institutions or to 
        prospective employers of those students.
            ``(C) The term `State' includes the District of Columbia, 
        American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the 
        Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Commonwealth of the 
        Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        Republic of Palau, and the United States Virgin Islands.''.
    (b) Transition Provisions.--(1) In the case of a local educational 
agency that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, is included 
on a list maintained by the Department of Defense as an educational 
agency that denies recruiting access--
            (A) the local educational agency shall be deemed to have 
        first denied recruiting access on that date;
            (B) the meeting required under paragraph (3)(A) of section 
        503(d) of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection 
        (a)), shall be made by an officer of any armed force that is 
        appropriate under that paragraph, as determined by the 
        Secretary of Defense;
            (C) any notification required under paragraph (3)(B) of 
        such section shall be transmitted within 90 days (instead of 60 
        days) after the Secretary of Defense makes a determination 
        under that paragraph; and
            (D) paragraph (1) of such section shall not apply to the 
        agency unless and until the date on which the Secretary of 
        Defense is required under paragraph (3)(C) of that section to 
        include the agency on the list of local educational agencies 
        that deny recruiting access to the Armed Forces.
    (2) For purposes of this subsection, the terms ``local educational 
agency'' and ``recruiting access'' have the meanings given those terms 
in section 503(d)(4) of title 10, United States Code (as added by 
subsection (a)).
    (c) Technical Amendments.--Section 503 of title 10, United States 
Code, as amended by subsection (a), is further amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``Recruiting 
        Campaigns.--'' after ``(a)'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ``Compilation of 
        Directory Information.--'' after ``(b)''; and
            (3) in subsection (c), by inserting ``Recruiting Access to 
        Secondary Schools.--'' after ``(c)'';

SEC. 4. REPEAL OF EXCEPTION FOR STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FROM BAN 
              ON FEDERAL GRANTS AND CONTRACTS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER 
              EDUCATION DENYING ACCESS TO ROTC OR MILITARY RECRUITERS.

    Section 8120 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2000 
(Public Law 106-79; 113 Stat. 1260; 10 U.S.C. 983 note), is repealed.

Summary: Provides that if, after the above process, an LEA continues to deny such access, the Secretary shall: (1) determine whether such LEA denies such access to at least two of the armed forces. And (2) upon an affirmative determination, include such LEA on the maintained list. Amends the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2000 to repeal an exception for student financial assistance from a ban on Federal grants and contracts to institutions of higher education denying access to Reserve Officers' Training Corps or other military recruiters.