II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1744 

To strengthen the accountability of individuals involved in misconduct affecting the integrity of background investigations, to update guidelines for 

security clearances, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2013 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. PORTMAN, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. 

BAUCUS, Mr. NELSON, and Mr. JOHNSON of Wisconsin) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To strengthen the accountability of individuals involved in 

misconduct affecting the integrity of background investigations, to update guidelines for security clearances, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Security Clearance Ac5 countability, Reform, and Enhancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘administrative leave’’— 

2 (A) means a period of administratively au3 thorized absence from official duties by an em4 ployee of an agency without loss of pay or 

5 charge to the leave account of the employee; 

6 and 

7 (B) does not include the absence of an em8 ployee of an agency who is performing officially 

9 sanctioned duties away from the usual work site 

10 or that are different from the regular duties of 

11 the employee; 

12 (2) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 

13 that term in section 3001 of the Intelligence Reform 

14 and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (50 U.S.C. 

15 3341); 

16 (3) the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com17 mittees’’ means— 

18 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

19 and Governmental Affairs and the Select Com20 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 

21 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Gov22 ernment Reform and the Permanent Select 

23 Committee on Intelligence of the House of Rep24 resentatives; 


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1 (4) the term ‘‘background investigation’’ means 

2 any investigation required for the purpose of deter3 mining whether an individual may be appointed to, 

4 or continue to occupy, a position, as an employee or 

5 contractor of an agency, that requires its occupant 

6 to have access to classified information or secure 

7 government facilities; 

8 (5) the term ‘‘covered contract’’ means a con9 tract— 

10 (A) between an agency and a prime con11 tractor; 

12 (B) between a prime contractor and a sub13 contractor; and 

14 (C) between subcontractors; 

15 (6) the term ‘‘debar’’— 

16 (A) means to prohibit an individual from 

17 being appointed to, or continuing to occupy, a 

18 position, as a contractor of an agency, that re19 quires its occupant to supervise, conduct, or 

20 otherwise administer background investigations; 

21 and 

22 (B) shall be construed within the param23 eters and scope of debarment under subpart 9.4 

24 of part 9 of title 48, Code of Federal Regula25 tions, or any successor thereto; 


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1 (7) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 

2 the Office of Personnel Management; 

3 (8) the term ‘‘prime contractor’’ means a per4 son who enters into a contract with an agency; 

5 (9) the term ‘‘subcontractor’’ means a person 

6 who has contracted with a prime contractor or with 

7 another subcontractor to perform a contract with an 

8 agency; and 

9 (10) the term ‘‘terminate’’ means to prohibit an 

10 individual from being appointed to, or continuing to 

11 occupy, a position, as an employee of an agency, 

12 that requires its occupant to supervise, conduct, or 

13 otherwise administer background investigations. 

14 SEC. 3. TERMINATION AND DEBARMENT OF INDIVIDUALS 

15 INVOLVED IN MISCONDUCT AFFECTING THE 

16 INTEGRITY OF THE BACKGROUND INVES17 TIGATIONS PROGRAM OF THE OFFICE OF 

18 PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT. 

19 (a) TERMINATION.—The Director shall terminate an 

20 individual employed by the Office of Personnel Manage21 ment if the Director determines, based upon a preponder22 ance of the evidence, that the individual was intentionally 

23 involved in misconduct affecting the integrity of the back24 ground investigations program of the Office of Personnel 

25 Management, including— 


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1 (1) falsification of a background investigation 

2 report; 

3 (2) fraud relating to a background investigation 

4 report; or 

5 (3) other serious misconduct that compromises 

6 the integrity of a background investigation report. 

7 (b) DEBARMENT.—The Director shall debar an indi8 vidual employed or contracted by a person under contract 

9 with the Office of Personnel Management if the Director 

10 determines, based upon a preponderance of the evidence, 

11 that the individual was intentionally involved in mis12 conduct that has the potential to affect the integrity of 

13 the background investigations program of the Office of 

14 Personnel Management, including— 

15 (1) falsification of a background investigation 

16 report; 

17 (2) fraud relating to a background investigation 

18 report; or 

19 (3) other serious misconduct that compromises 

20 the integrity of a background investigation report. 

21 (c) SUSPENSION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall suspend 

23 an individual employed or contracted by a person 

24 under contract with the Office of Personnel Manage25 ment if the Director determines, based upon a preVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:03 Nov 23, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1744.IS S1744

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1 ponderance of the evidence, that an investigation is 

2 required to determine whether the individual was in3 tentionally involved in misconduct affecting the in4 tegrity of the background investigations program of 

5 the Office of Personnel Management, including— 

6 (A) falsification of a background investiga7 tion report; 

8 (B) fraud relating to a background inves9 tigation report; or 

10 (C) other serious misconduct that com11 promises the integrity of a background inves12 tigation report. 

13 (2) DURATION OF SUSPENSION.—An individual 

14 suspended under paragraph (1) shall remain sus15 pended until such time that the Director determines 

16 that the individual was not intentionally involved in 

17 misconduct affecting the integrity of the background 

18 investigations program of the Office of Personnel 

19 Management. 

20 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall place on 

22 administrative leave an individual employed by the 

23 Office of Personnel Management if the Director de24 termines, based upon a preponderance of the evi25 dence, that an investigation is required to determine 


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1 whether the individual was intentionally involved in 

2 misconduct affecting the integrity of the background 

3 investigations program of the Office of Personnel 

4 Management, including— 

5 (A) falsification of a background investiga6 tion report; 

7 (B) fraud relating to a background inves8 tigation report; or 

9 (C) other serious misconduct that com10 promises the integrity of a background inves11 tigation report. 

12 (2) PERIOD OF ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.—An 

13 individual placed on administrative leave under para14 graph (1) shall remain on administrative leave until 

15 such time that the Director determines that the indi16 vidual was not intentionally involved in misconduct 

17 affecting the integrity of the background investiga18 tions program of the Office of Personnel Manage19 ment. 

20 (e) PROCEDURES.—The Director shall establish pro21 cedures under which subsections (a) through (d) shall be 

22 carried out, which shall— 

23 (1) with respect to employees— 

24 (A) ensure that— 


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1 (i) the employee is provided with no2 tice and opportunity to be heard; and 

3 (ii) the determination whether to ter4 minate or reinstate the employee is made 

5 expeditiously; and 

6 (B) be in accordance with chapters 5 and 

7 75 of title 5, United States Code; and 

8 (2) with respect to individuals employed or con9 tracted by persons under contract with the Office of 

10 Personnel Management, shall be carried out in ac11 cordance with section 9.406–3 of title 48, Code of 

12 Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto. 

13 (f) MANDATORY DISCLOSURE.—Any covered contract 

14 shall include a provision requiring the prime contractor 

15 or subcontractor to disclose any misconduct of the type 

16 described under subsections (a) through (d) and any viola17 tion of Federal law to the agency in a timely manner, and 

18 in no event later than 90 days after the date that the mis19 conduct is discovered by the prime contractor or subcon20 tractor. 

21 (g) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

23 the Director shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

24 committees a report providing— 


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1 (1) the number of individuals terminated under 

2 subsection (a); 

3 (2) the number of individuals debarred under 

4 subsection (b); 

5 (3) the number of individuals suspended under 

6 subsection (c); 

7 (4) the number of individuals placed on admin8 istrative leave under subsection (d); and 

9 (5) details of the misconduct that resulted in 

10 each termination under subsection (a), debarment 

11 under subsection (b), suspension under subsection 

12 (c), and placement on administrative leave under 

13 subsection (d). 

14 SEC. 4. REVIEW AND UPDATE OF CLASSIFIED INFORMA15 TION GUIDANCE. 

16 (a) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 180 days after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, the President shall review 

18 and update guidance for agencies that shall be used to— 

19 (1) determine whether a position requires its 

20 occupant to have a security clearance; 

21 (2) implement the guidance provided in para22 graph (1), including quality controls; and 

23 (3) not less frequent than every 5 years, review 

24 and, if necessary, revise the designation of a position 


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1 as requiring its occupant to have access to classified 

2 information or secure government facilities. 

3 (b) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 days 

4 after a review under subsection (a)(2), the President shall 

5 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re6 port on any issues identified in the review, and any up7 dates made, under subsection (a)(2). 

8 (c) NO CHANGE IN AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 

9 section limits or expands the authority of any agency to 

10 designate a position as requiring its occupant to have ac11 cess to classified information or secure government facili12 ties. 

Æ 


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