I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2944 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish a public-private exchange 

program for the acquisition workforce. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2019 

Mr. CISNEROS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish a publicprivate exchange program for the acquisition workforce. 

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 ‘‘Training Acquisition 

5 Leaders and Elevating New Talent Act of 2019’’ or the 

6 ‘‘TALENT Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PUBLIC-PRIVATE EXCHANGE PROGRAM FOR THE 

2 ACQUISITION WORKFORCE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 87 of 

4 title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 1749. Public-private exchange program for the ac7 quisition workforce 

8 ‘‘(a) ASSIGNMENT AUTHORITY.—(1) The Secretary 

9 may, by rule, establish a program to be known as the 

10 ‘Public-Private Exchange Program for the Acquisition 

11 Workforce’ to temporarily assign a member of the acquisi12 tion workforce to a private-sector organization or an em13 ployee of a private-sector organization to the Department 

14 of Defense if— 

15 ‘‘(A) pursuant to an agreement between the 

16 Secretary, the private-sector organization, and the 

17 individual to be temporarily assigned described in 

18 subsection (b); and 

19 ‘‘(B) with the consent of the individual to be 

20 temporarily assigned. 

21 ‘‘(2) Members of the acquisition workforce are eligible 

22 for a temporary assignment under this section as follows: 

23 ‘‘(A) Civilians in any of grades GS–12 through 

24 GS–15 under the General Schedule or, for employees 

25 participating in the demonstration project under sec26 tion 1762 of this title, the equivalent. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Members of the armed forces serving in 

2 any of pay grades O–3 through O–6. 

3 ‘‘(3) A private-sector organization shall not be consid4 ered to have a conflict of interest with the Department 

5 of Defense solely because of participation in the program 

6 established under this section. 

7 ‘‘(b) AGREEMENTS.—(1) An agreement entered into 

8 under this section shall include the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) The terms and conditions of a temporary 

10 assignment. 

11 ‘‘(B) In the case of an agreement for the tem12 porary assignment of a member of the acquisition 

13 workforce, a requirement that the member of the ac14 quisition workforce, upon completion of the tem15 porary assignment, will— 

16 ‘‘(i) if a member of the armed forces, serve 

17 in the armed forces for a period equal to twice 

18 the length of the temporary assignment (in ad19 dition to any other period of obligated service); 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(ii) if a civilian, serve in the Department 

22 of Defense, or elsewhere in the civil service if 

23 approved by the Secretary, for a period equal to 

24 twice the length of the temporary assignment. 


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1 ‘‘(C) A provision that if the individual to be 

2 temporarily assigned fails to carry out the agree3 ment, such individual shall be liable to the United 

4 States for payment of all expenses of the assign5 ment, unless that failure was for good and sufficient 

6 reason, as determined by the Secretary of Defense. 

7 ‘‘(D) In the case of an agreement for the tem8 porary assignment of a member of the acquisition 

9 workforce, language ensuring that such member of 

10 the acquisition workforce does not improperly use 

11 pre-decisional or draft deliberative information that 

12 such member may be privy to or aware of related to 

13 Department programing, budgeting, resourcing, ac14 quisition, or procurement for the benefit or advan15 tage of the private-sector organization. 

16 ‘‘(2) An amount for which an individual is liable 

17 under paragraph (1)(C) shall be treated as a debt due the 

18 United States. 

19 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may waive, in whole or in part, 

20 collection of a debt described in paragraph (2) based on 

21 a determination that the collection would be against equity 

22 and good conscience and not in the best interests of the 

23 United States, after taking into account any indication of 

24 fraud, misrepresentation, fault, or lack of good faith on 

25 the part of the individual who is liable for the debt. 


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1 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION.—An assignment under this sec2 tion may, at any time and for any reason, be terminated 

3 by the Department of Defense or the private-sector orga4 nization concerned. 

5 ‘‘(d) DURATION.—(1) Except as provided in para6 graph (2), an assignment under this section shall be for 

7 a period of not more than two years, renewable up to a 

8 total of four years. 

9 ‘‘(2) An assignment under this section may be for a 

10 period in excess of two years, but not more than four 

11 years, if the Secretary determines that such assignment 

12 is necessary to meet critical mission or program require13 ments. 

14 ‘‘(3) A member of the acquisition workforce may not 

15 be assigned under this section for more than a total of 

16 four years inclusive of all such assignments. 

17 ‘‘(e) STATUS OF INDIVIDUALS ASSIGNED TO PRI18 VATE-SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS.—(1) A member of the ac19 quisition workforce who is assigned to a private-sector or20 ganization under this section shall be considered, during 

21 the period of assignment, to be on detail to a regular duty 

22 or work assignment, as applicable, in the Department for 

23 all purposes. 


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1 ‘‘(2) In the case of a civilian member of the acquisi2 tion workforce, the written agreement established under 

3 subsection (b)(1)— 

4 ‘‘(A) shall address the specific terms and condi5 tions related to the civilian member’s continued sta6 tus as a Federal employee; and 

7 ‘‘(B) in the case of an assignment of nine 

8 months or longer, shall provide that, if the civilian 

9 member successfully completes the assignment (as 

10 determined by the Secretary), the civilian member 

11 shall be eligible for consideration for placement in a 

12 new position under programs of the Department of 

13 Defense providing priority placement to certain em14 ployees. 

15 ‘‘(3) With respect to an assignment of a member of 

16 the acquisition workforce under this section, the Sec17 retary— 

18 ‘‘(A) may, in the case of a civilian member of 

19 the acquisition workforce, provide for the perform20 ance, during the member’s absence, of the normal 

21 duties and functions of that member by making a 

22 temporary or term appointment under general civil 

23 service authorities for such appointments; 

24 ‘‘(B) shall ensure that the normal duties and 

25 functions of the civilian member of the acquisition 


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1 workforce described in subparagraph (A) can be rea2 sonably performed by other personnel of the Depart3 ment of Defense without the permanent transfer or 

4 permanent reassignment of other personnel of the 

5 Department of Defense, including members of the 

6 armed forces; 

7 ‘‘(C) shall ensure that the normal duties and 

8 functions of the acquisition workforce member are 

9 not, as a result of and during the course of such 

10 temporary assignment, performed or augmented by 

11 contractor personnel in violation of the provisions of 

12 section 2461 of this title; and 

13 ‘‘(D) shall certify that the temporary assign14 ment of the acquisition workforce member will not 

15 have an adverse or negative impact on mission at16 tainment, warfighter support, or organizational ca17 pabilities associated with the assignment. 

18 ‘‘(f) TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR PRIVATE-SECTOR

19 EMPLOYEES.—An employee of a private-Sector organiza20 tion who is assigned to a Department of Defense organiza21 tion under this section— 

22 ‘‘(1) shall continue to receive pay and benefits 

23 from the private-sector organization from which such 

24 employee is assigned and shall not receive pay or 


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1 benefits from the Department of Defense, except as 

2 provided in paragraph (2); 

3 ‘‘(2) is deemed to be an employee of the De4 partment of Defense for the purposes of— 

5 ‘‘(A) chapters 73 and 81 of title 5; 

6 ‘‘(B) sections 201, 203, 205, 207, 208, 

7 209, 603, 606, 607, 643, 654, 1905, and 1913 

8 of title 18; 

9 ‘‘(C) sections 1343, 1344, and 1349(b) of 

10 title 31; 

11 ‘‘(D) the Federal Tort Claims Act and any 

12 other Federal tort liability statute; 

13 ‘‘(E) the Ethics in Government Act of 

14 1978; and 

15 ‘‘(F) chapter 21 of title 41; 

16 ‘‘(3) shall not have access to any trade secrets 

17 or to any other nonpublic information which is of 

18 commercial value to the private-sector organization 

19 from which such employee is assigned; 

20 ‘‘(4) may perform work that is considered in21 herently governmental in nature only when requested 

22 in writing by the Secretary of Defense; and 

23 ‘‘(5) may not be used to circumvent the provi24 sion of section 2461 of this title nor to circumvent 


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1 any limitation or restriction on the size of the De2 partment’s workforce. 

3 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITION AGAINST CHARGING CERTAIN

4 COSTS TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—A private-sec5 tor organization may not charge the Department or any 

6 other agency of the Federal Government, as direct or indi7 rect costs under a Federal contract, the costs of pay or 

8 benefits paid by the organization to an employee assigned 

9 to a Department organization under this section for the 

10 period of the assignment. 

11 ‘‘(h) CONSIDERATION OF TRAINING NEEDS FOR

12 MEMBERS OF THE ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.—In car13 rying out this section, the Secretary of Defense shall take 

14 into consideration how assignments under this section 

15 might best be used to help meet the needs of the Depart16 ment of Defense with respect to the training of members 

17 of the acquisition workforce. 

18 ‘‘(i) FUNDING; USE OF DEFENSE ACQUISITION

19 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FUND.—Funds for the ex20 penses for the program established under this section shall 

21 be provided from amounts in the Department of Defense 

22 Acquisition Workforce Development Fund. Expenses for 

23 the program include— 

24 ‘‘(1) notwithstanding section 1705(e)(5) of this 

25 title, the base salary of a civilian member of the acVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:59 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2944.IH H2944

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1 quisition workforce assigned to a private-sector orga2 nization under this section, during the period of that 

3 assignment; 

4 ‘‘(2) expenses relating to assignment under this 

5 section of a member of the acquisition workforce 

6 away from the member’s regular duty station, in7 cluding expenses for travel, per diem, and lodging; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(3) expenses for the administration of the pro10 gram.’’. 

11 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec12 tions at the beginning of such subchapter is amend13 ed by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘1749. Public-private exchange program for the acquisition workforce.’’. 

14 (b) USE OF DEFENSE ACQUISITION WORKFORCE

15 DEVELOPMENT FUND.—Section 1705(e)(1) of such title 

16 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub17 paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(C) Amounts in the Fund shall be used to 

19 pay the expenses of the Public-Private Ex20 change Program for the Acquisition Workforce 

21 under section 1749 of this title.’’. 

22 (c) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE EMPLOYEES EX23 CLUDED FROM PUBLIC-PRIVATE TALENT EXCHANGE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1599g of such title 

2 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

3 subsection: 

4 ‘‘(i) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE EM5 PLOYEES.—An employee of the Depart6 ment of Defense who is eligible for the 

7 Public-Private Exchange Program for the 

8 Acquisition Workforce under section 1749 

9 of this title is not eligible for an assign10 ment under this section.’’. 

11 (2) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (i) of section 

12 1599g of title 10, United States Code, as added by 

13 paragraph (1), shall not apply to an employee of the 

14 Department of Defense who entered into an agree15 ment under that section before the date of the enact16 ment of this Act. 

Æ 


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