II 

Calendar No. 606 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D 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, Mr. JOHNSON of Wisconsin, and Ms. AYOTTE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

NOVEMBER 20, 2014 

Reported by Mr. CARPER, with an amendment and an amendment to the title 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Security Clearance Ac3 countability, Reform, and Enhancement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act— 

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

7 (A) means a period of administratively au8 thorized absence from official duties by an em9 ployee of an agency without loss of pay or 

10 charge to the leave account of the employee; 

11 and 

12 (B) does not include the absence of an em13 ployee of an agency who is performing officially 

14 sanctioned duties away from the usual work site 

15 or that are different from the regular duties of 

16 the employee; 

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

18 that term in section 3001 of the Intelligence Reform 

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

20 3341); 

21 (3) the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com22 mittees’’ means— 

23 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

24 and Governmental Affairs and the Select Com25 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 


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1 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Gov2 ernment Reform and the Permanent Select 

3 Committee on Intelligence of the House of Rep4 resentatives; 

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

6 any investigation required for the purpose of deter7 mining whether an individual may be appointed to, 

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

9 contractor of an agency, that requires its occupant 

10 to have access to classified information or secure 

11 government facilities; 

12 (5) the term ‘‘covered contract’’ means a con13 tract— 

14 (A) between an agency and a prime con15 tractor; 

16 (B) between a prime contractor and a sub17 contractor; and 

18 (C) between subcontractors; 

19 (6) the term ‘‘debar’’— 

20 (A) means to prohibit an individual from 

21 being appointed to, or continuing to occupy, a 

22 position, as a contractor of an agency, that re23 quires its occupant to supervise, conduct, or 

24 otherwise administer background investigations; 

25 and 


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1 (B) shall be construed within the param2 eters and scope of debarment under subpart 9.4 

3 of part 9 of title 48, Code of Federal Regula4 tions, or any successor thereto; 

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

6 the Office of Personnel Management; 

7 (8) the term ‘‘prime contractor’’ means a per8 son who enters into a contract with an agency; 

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

10 who has contracted with a prime contractor or with 

11 another subcontractor to perform a contract with an 

12 agency; and 

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

14 individual from being appointed to, or continuing to 

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

16 that requires its occupant to supervise, conduct, or 

17 otherwise administer background investigations. 

18 SEC. 3. TERMINATION AND DEBARMENT OF INDIVIDUALS 

19 INVOLVED IN MISCONDUCT AFFECTING THE 

20 INTEGRITY OF THE BACKGROUND INVES21 TIGATIONS PROGRAM OF THE OFFICE OF 

22 PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT. 

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

24 individual employed by the Office of Personnel Manage25 ment if the Director determines, based upon a preponderVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Nov 21, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1744.RS S1744

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1 ance of the evidence, that the individual was intentionally 

2 involved in misconduct affecting the integrity of the back3 ground investigations program of the Office of Personnel 

4 Management, including— 

5 (1) falsification of a background investigation 

6 report; 

7 (2) fraud relating to a background investigation 

8 report; or 

9 (3) other serious misconduct that compromises 

10 the integrity of a background investigation report. 

11 (b) DEBARMENT.—The Director shall debar an indi12 vidual employed or contracted by a person under contract 

13 with the Office of Personnel Management if the Director 

14 determines, based upon a preponderance of the evidence, 

15 that the individual was intentionally involved in mis16 conduct that has the potential to affect the integrity of 

17 the background investigations program of the Office of 

18 Personnel Management, including— 

19 (1) falsification of a background investigation 

20 report; 

21 (2) fraud relating to a background investigation 

22 report; or 

23 (3) other serious misconduct that compromises 

24 the integrity of a background investigation report. 

25 (c) SUSPENSION.— 


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

2 an individual employed or contracted by a person 

3 under contract with the Office of Personnel Manage4 ment if the Director determines, based upon a pre5 ponderance of the evidence, that an investigation is 

6 required to determine whether the individual was in7 tentionally involved in misconduct affecting the in8 tegrity of the background investigations program of 

9 the Office of Personnel Management, including— 

10 (A) falsification of a background investiga11 tion report; 

12 (B) fraud relating to a background inves13 tigation report; or 

14 (C) other serious misconduct that com15 promises the integrity of a background inves16 tigation report. 

17 (2) DURATION OF SUSPENSION.—An individual 

18 suspended under paragraph (1) shall remain sus19 pended until such time that the Director determines 

20 that the individual was not intentionally involved in 

21 misconduct affecting the integrity of the background 

22 investigations program of the Office of Personnel 

23 Management. 

24 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.— 


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

2 administrative leave an individual employed by the 

3 Office of Personnel Management if the Director de4 termines, based upon a preponderance of the evi5 dence, that an investigation is required to determine 

6 whether the individual was intentionally involved in 

7 misconduct affecting the integrity of the background 

8 investigations program of the Office of Personnel 

9 Management, including— 

10 (A) falsification of a background investiga11 tion report; 

12 (B) fraud relating to a background inves13 tigation report; or 

14 (C) other serious misconduct that com15 promises the integrity of a background inves16 tigation report. 

17 (2) PERIOD OF ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.—An 

18 individual placed on administrative leave under para19 graph (1) shall remain on administrative leave until 

20 such time that the Director determines that the indi21 vidual was not intentionally involved in misconduct 

22 affecting the integrity of the background investiga23 tions program of the Office of Personnel Manage24 ment. 


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1 (e) PROCEDURES.—The Director shall establish pro2 cedures under which subsections (a) through (d) shall be 

3 carried out, which shall— 

4 (1) with respect to employees— 

5 (A) ensure that— 

6 (i) the employee is provided with no7 tice and opportunity to be heard; and 

8 (ii) the determination whether to ter9 minate or reinstate the employee is made 

10 expeditiously; and 

11 (B) be in accordance with chapters 5 and 

12 75 of title 5, United States Code; and 

13 (2) with respect to individuals employed or con14 tracted by persons under contract with the Office of 

15 Personnel Management, shall be carried out in ac16 cordance with section 9.406–3 of title 48, Code of 

17 Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto. 

18 (f) MANDATORY DISCLOSURE.—Any covered contract 

19 shall include a provision requiring the prime contractor 

20 or subcontractor to disclose any misconduct of the type 

21 described under subsections (a) through (d) and any viola22 tion of Federal law to the agency in a timely manner, and 

23 in no event later than 90 days after the date that the mis24 conduct is discovered by the prime contractor or subcon25 tractor. 


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

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

3 the Director shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

4 committees a report providing— 

5 (1) the number of individuals terminated under 

6 subsection (a); 

7 (2) the number of individuals debarred under 

8 subsection (b); 

9 (3) the number of individuals suspended under 

10 subsection (c); 

11 (4) the number of individuals placed on admin12 istrative leave under subsection (d); and 

13 (5) details of the misconduct that resulted in 

14 each termination under subsection (a), debarment 

15 under subsection (b), suspension under subsection 

16 (c), and placement on administrative leave under 

17 subsection (d). 

18 SEC. 4. REVIEW AND UPDATE OF CLASSIFIED INFORMA19 TION GUIDANCE. 

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

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

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

23 (1) determine whether a position requires its 

24 occupant to have a security clearance; 


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1 (2) implement the guidance provided in para2 graph (1), including quality controls; and 

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

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

5 as requiring its occupant to have access to classified 

6 information or secure government facilities. 

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

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

9 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re10 port on any issues identified in the review, and any up11 dates made, under subsection (a)(2). 

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

13 section limits or expands the authority of any agency to 

14 designate a position as requiring its occupant to have ac15 cess to classified information or secure government facili16 ties. 

17 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Security Clearance Ac19 countability, Reform, and Enhancement Act’’. 

20 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act— 

22 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given the 

23 term in Executive Order 13467 (73 Fed. Reg. 38103); 

24 (2) the term ‘‘appropriate agency’’ means— 


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1 (A) in the case of a prime contractor for a 

2 covered contract, the agency with which the 

3 prime contractor entered the covered contract; or 

4 (B) in the case of a subcontractor for a cov5 ered contract, any agency on whose behalf the 

6 subcontractor is performing work under the cov7 ered contract; 

8 (3) the term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit9 tees’’ means— 

10 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

11 and Governmental Affairs and the Select Com12 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 

13 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Gov14 ernment Reform and the Permanent Select Com15 mittee on Intelligence of the House of Represent16 atives; 

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

18 any investigation required for the purpose of deter19 mining the— 

20 (A) eligibility of a covered individual for 

21 logical and physical access to federally controlled 

22 facilities or information systems; 

23 (B) suitability or fitness of a covered indi24 vidual for Federal employment; 


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1 (C) eligibility of a covered individual for 

2 access to classified information or to hold a na3 tional security sensitive position; or 

4 (D) fitness of a covered individual to per5 form work for or on behalf of the United States 

6 Government as a contractor employee; 

7 (5) the term ‘‘covered contract’’ means a contract 

8 to conduct background investigations— 

9 (A) between an agency and a prime con10 tractor; 

11 (B) between a prime contractor and a sub12 contractor, if the prime contractor has a contract 

13 with an agency; or 

14 (C) between subcontractors, if one of the 

15 subcontractors has a contract with a prime con16 tractor that has a contract with an agency; 

17 (6) the term ‘‘covered individual’’ means an in18 dividual who— 

19 (A) performs work for or on behalf of an 

20 agency; or 

21 (B) seeks to perform work for or on behalf 

22 of an agency; 

23 (7) the term ‘‘covered misconduct’’ means mis24 conduct affecting the integrity of a background inves25 tigation conducted by or for an agency with invesVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Nov 21, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1744.RS S1744

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1 tigative authority to conduct background investiga2 tions, including— 

3 (A) falsification of any information relating 

4 to a background investigation; or 

5 (B) other serious misconduct that com6 promises the integrity of a background investiga7 tion; 

8 (8) the term ‘‘prime contractor’’ means an indi9 vidual who enters into a contract with an agency; 

10 and 

11 (9) the term ‘‘subcontractor’’ means an indi12 vidual who has contracted with a prime contractor or 

13 with another subcontractor to perform a contract on 

14 behalf of an agency. 

15 SEC. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY OF INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN 

16 MISCONDUCT AFFECTING THE INTEGRITY OF 

17 AGENCY BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS. 

18 (a) MISCONDUCT BY FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

19 (1) UNFIT FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT.—If an 

20 agency determines that an employee of the agency has 

21 engaged in covered misconduct, the employee shall be 

22 found unfit for Federal employment. 

23 (2) FITNESS DETERMINATIONS.—An agency shall 

24 make a determination under paragraph (1) in ac25 cordance with any statutory, regulatory, or internal 


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1 agency procedures applicable to investigating alleged 

2 misconduct by employees of the agency. 

3 (3) PROHIBITION ON REEMPLOYMENT TO CON4 DUCT BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS.—If an agency 

5 determines under paragraph (1) that an individual is 

6 unfit for Federal employment, the individual shall 

7 not be appointed to or continue to occupy a position, 

8 as an employee of any agency, that requires its occu9 pant to perform background investigations. 

10 (b) MISCONDUCT BY EMPLOYEES UNDER CON11 TRACT.— 

12 (1) INELIGIBILITY FOR PERFORMANCE OF WORK

13 UNDER A COVERED CONTRACT.—If an appropriate 

14 agency, prime contractor, or subcontractor determines 

15 that an individual performing work under a covered 

16 contract has engaged in covered misconduct, the indi17 vidual shall be ineligible to perform background in18 vestigations under a covered contract. 

19 (2) MANDATORY DISCLOSURE.—A covered con20 tract shall include a provision requiring a prime con21 tractor or subcontractor to disclose to each appro22 priate agency any allegation of covered misconduct by 

23 an employee of the prime contractor or subcontractor 

24 not later than 24 hours after the prime contractor or 


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1 subcontractor discovers the alleged covered mis2 conduct. 

3 (3) INVESTIGATION OF COVERED MISCONDUCT.— 

4 (A) CONTRACTOR INVESTIGATION.—A cov5 ered contract shall include a provision requiring 

6 that, not later than 5 business days after the 

7 date on which a prime contractor or subcon8 tractor discloses an allegation under paragraph 

9 (2), the prime contractor or subcontractor shall 

10 refer the allegation of covered misconduct to the 

11 agency for investigation. 

12 (B) AGENCY INVESTIGATION.—Nothing in 

13 subparagraph (A) shall be construed to prohibit 

14 an appropriate agency from conducting its own 

15 investigation into an allegation of covered mis16 conduct. 

17 (4) PROHIBITION ON REEMPLOYMENT TO CON18 DUCT BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS.—If an appro19 priate agency determines, based on an investigation 

20 conducted under paragraph (3), that an individual is 

21 ineligible to perform work under a covered contract 

22 under paragraph (1), the individual shall be prohib23 ited from performing background investigations under 

24 any covered contract. 


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1 (5) MODIFICATION OF EXISTING CONTRACTS.— 

2 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of 

3 this Act, any covered contract that is in effect and 

4 was entered into before the date of enactment of this 

5 Act shall be modified to include the provisions re6 quired under paragraphs (2) and (3). 

7 (c) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Presi9 dent shall submit to the appropriate congressional commit10 tees a report providing— 

11 (1) the number of individuals determined to be— 

12 (A) unfit for Federal employment under 

13 subsection (a); or 

14 (B) ineligible to perform work under a cov15 ered contract under subsection (b); and 

16 (2) details of the covered misconduct that re17 sulted in each determination described in paragraph 

18 (1). 

19 SEC. 4. REVIEW AND UPDATE OF POSITION DESIGNATION 

20 GUIDANCE. 

21 (a) GUIDELINES.— 

22 (1) INITIAL REVIEW AND UPDATE OF GUID23 ANCE.—Not later than 180 days after the date of en24 actment of this Act, the President shall review and, 


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1 if appropriate, update the guidance the President 

2 issues to assist agencies in determining— 

3 (A) position sensitivity designation; and 

4 (B) the appropriate background investiga5 tion to initiate for each position designation. 

6 (2) REVIEWS AND REVISIONS OF POSITION DES7 IGNATIONS.—Not less frequently than every 5 years, 

8 the President, acting through relevant agencies (as de9 termined by the President) and in accordance with 

10 the guidance described in paragraph (1), shall review 

11 and, if necessary, revise the position designation of 

12 positions within agencies. 

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

14 after completing a review under subsection (a)(2), the Presi15 dent shall submit to the appropriate congressional commit16 tees a report on— 

17 (1) any issues identified in the review; and 

18 (2) the number of position designations revised 

19 as a result of the review. 

20 (c) NO CHANGE IN AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this sec21 tion limits or expands the authority of any agency to des22 ignate a position as sensitive or as requiring its occupant 

23 to have access to classified information. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to strengthen 

the accountability of individuals involved in misconduct 

affecting the integrity of background investigations, to 


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update guidelines for position designation, and for other 

purposes.’’. 


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Calendar No. 606 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1744 

A BILL 

To strengthen the accountability of individuals infor security clearances, and for other purposes. background investigations, to update guidelines volved in misconduct affecting the integrity of 

NOVEMBER 20, 2014 

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title 


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