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 diversity 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 program, 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 ‘‘Department of Home5 land Security Intelligence and Cybersecurity Diversity 

6 Fellowship Program Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INTEL2 LIGENCE AND CYBERSECURITY DIVERSITY 

3 FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title XIII of the 

5 Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by adding at 

6 the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 1333. INTELLIGENCE AND CYBERSECURITY DIVER8 SITY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON11 GRESS.—The term ‘appropriate committees of Con12 gress’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

14 and Governmental Affairs and the Select Com15 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

17 and the Permanent Select Committee on Intel18 ligence of the House of Representatives. 

19 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTED SERVICE.—The term ‘excepted 

20 service’ has the meaning given that term in section 

21 2103 of title 5, United States Code. 

22 ‘‘(3) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI23 VERSITY.—The term ‘historically Black college or 

24 university’ has the meaning given the term ‘part B 

25 institution’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 

26 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 


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1 ‘‘(4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

2 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

3 meaning given that term in section 101 of the High4 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

5 ‘‘(5) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

6 term ‘minority-serving institution’ means an institu7 tion of higher education described in section 371(a) 

8 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

9 1067q(a)). 

10 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out an in11 telligence and cybersecurity diversity fellowship program 

12 (in this section referred to as the ‘Program’) under which 

13 an eligible individual may— 

14 ‘‘(1) participate in a paid internship at the De15 partment that relates to intelligence, cybersecurity, 

16 or a combination thereof; 

17 ‘‘(2) receive tuition assistance from the Sec18 retary; and 

19 ‘‘(3) upon graduation from an institution of 

20 higher education and successful completion of the 

21 Program (as defined by the Secretary), receive an 

22 offer of employment to work in an intelligence or cy23 bersecurity position of the Department that is in the 

24 excepted service. 


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1 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in 

2 the Program, an individual shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) be a citizen of the United States; and 

4 ‘‘(2) as of the date of submitting an application 

5 to participate in the Program— 

6 ‘‘(A) have a cumulative grade point aver7 age of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale; 

8 ‘‘(B) be a socially disadvantaged individual 

9 (as that term is defined in section 124.103 of 

10 title 13, Code of Federal Regulations, or suc11 cessor regulation); and 

12 ‘‘(C) be a sophomore, junior, or senior at 

13 an institution of higher education, including a 

14 historically Black college or university or minor15 ity-serving institution. 

16 ‘‘(d) DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY.—If an individual 

17 who receives an offer of employment under subsection 

18 (b)(3) accepts such offer, the Secretary shall appoint, 

19 without regard to provisions of subchapter I of chapter 

20 33 of title 5, United States Code (except for section 3328 

21 of such title), such individual to the position specified in 

22 such offer. 

23 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) REPORTS.—Not later than one year after 

25 the date of the enactment of this section, and on an 


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1 annual basis thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 

2 to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 

3 on the Program. 

4 ‘‘(2) MATTERS.—Each report under paragraph 

5 (1) shall include, with respect to the most recent 

6 year, the following: 

7 ‘‘(A) A description of outreach efforts by 

8 the Secretary to raise awareness of the Pro9 gram among institutions of higher education in 

10 which eligible individuals are enrolled. 

11 ‘‘(B) Information on specific recruiting ef12 forts conducted by the Secretary to increase 

13 participation in the Program. 

14 ‘‘(C) The number of individuals partici15 pating in the Program, listed by the institution 

16 of higher education in which the individual is 

17 enrolled at the time of participation, and infor18 mation on the nature of such participation, in19 cluding regarding whether the duties of the in20 dividual under the Program relate primarily to 

21 intelligence or cybersecurity. 

22 ‘‘(D) The number of individuals who ac23 cepted an offer of employment under the Pro24 gram and an identification of the element withVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:31 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8993.IH H8993

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1 in the Department to which each individual was 

2 appointed.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 for such Act is amended by inserting after the item relat5 ing to section 1332 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 1333. Intelligence and cybersecurity diversity fellowship program.’’. 

Æ 


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