I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5482 

To enhance the Office of Personnel Management background check system 

for the granting, denial, or revocation of security clearances or access 

to classified information of employees and contractors of the Federal 

Government. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 

Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Select Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select), and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To enhance the Office of Personnel Management background 

check system for the granting, denial, or revocation of 

security clearances or access to classified information 

of employees and contractors of the Federal Government. 

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 ‘‘Enhanced Security 

5 Clearance Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCING GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL SECURITY 

2 PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

4 (1) the term ‘‘covered individual’’ means an in5 dividual who has been determined eligible for access 

6 to classified information or eligible to hold a sen7 sitive position; and 

8 (2) the term ‘‘periodic reinvestigations’’ means 

9 investigations conducted for the purpose of updating 

10 a previously completed background investigation— 

11 (A) every 5 years in the case of— 

12 (i) eligibility for access to top secret 

13 information or access to a highly sensitive 

14 program; or 

15 (ii) eligibility to hold a special sen16 sitive or critical sensitive position; 

17 (B) every 10 years in the case of— 

18 (i) eligibility for access to secret infor19 mation; or 

20 (ii) eligibility to hold a noncritical sen21 sitive position; or 

22 (C) every 15 years in the case of eligibility 

23 for access to confidential information. 

24 (b) RESOLUTION OF BACKLOG OF OVERDUE PERI25 ODIC REINVESTIGATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of National In2 telligence shall develop and implement a plan to 

3 eliminate the backlog of overdue periodic reinvestiga4 tions of covered individuals. 

5 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The plan developed 

6 under paragraph (1) shall— 

7 (A) use a risk-based approach to— 

8 (i) identify high-risk populations; and 

9 (ii) prioritize reinvestigations that are 

10 due or overdue to be conducted; and 

11 (B) use random automated record checks 

12 (consistent with the requirements of paragraph 

13 (3)) of covered individuals that shall include all 

14 covered individuals in the pool of individuals 

15 subject to a one-time check. 

16 (3) AUTOMATED RECORD CHECKS.—An auto17 mated record check with respect to a covered indi18 vidual shall use and examine comprehensive sources 

19 of information, including— 

20 (A) publicly available online electronic in21 formation regarding such individual, including 

22 blogs, microblogs, forums, news Web sites, and 

23 picture and video sharing Web sites; 


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1 (B) publicly available social media data re2 garding such individual, including pictures, vid3 eos, posts, or comments; 

4 (C) information relating to criminal or civil 

5 legal proceedings applicable to such individual; 

6 (D) public news article, press reports, or 

7 media clippings which detail relevant security or 

8 counterintelligence information; and 

9 (E) financial information relating to the 

10 covered individual, including the credit worthi11 ness of the covered individual. 

12 (c) ENHANCED SECURITY CLEARANCE PROGRAMS.— 

13 Part III of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

14 adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘Subpart J—Enhanced Personnel Security Programs 

16 ‘‘CHAPTER 110—ENHANCED PERSONNEL 

17 SECURITY PROGRAMS 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘11001. Enhanced personnel security programs. 

18 ‘‘§ 11001. Enhanced personnel security programs 

19 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

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

21 that term in section 3001 of the Intelligence Reform 

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

23 3341); 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘consumer reporting agency’ has 

2 the meaning given that term in section 603 of the 

3 Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a); 

4 ‘‘(3) the term ‘covered individual’ means an in5 dividual who has been determined eligible for access 

6 to classified information or eligible to hold a sen7 sitive position; 

8 ‘‘(4) the term ‘enhanced personnel security pro9 gram’ means a program implemented by an agency 

10 at the direction of the Director of National Intel11 ligence under subsection (b); and 

12 ‘‘(5) the term ‘periodic reinvestigations’ means 

13 investigations conducted for the purpose of updating 

14 a previously completed background investigation— 

15 ‘‘(A) every 5 years in the case of— 

16 ‘‘(i) eligibility for access to top secret 

17 information or access to a highly sensitive 

18 program; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) eligibility to hold a special sen20 sitive or critical sensitive position; 

21 ‘‘(B) every 10 years in the case of— 

22 ‘‘(i) eligibility for access to secret in23 formation; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) eligibility to hold a noncritical 

25 sensitive position; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) every 15 years in the case of eligi2 bility for access to confidential information. 

3 ‘‘(b) ENHANCED PERSONNEL SECURITY PRO4 GRAM.—The Director of National Intelligence shall direct 

5 each agency to implement a program to provide enhanced 

6 security review of covered individuals— 

7 ‘‘(1) in accordance with this section; and 

8 ‘‘(2) not later than the earlier of— 

9 ‘‘(A) the date that is 5 years after the date 

10 of enactment of the Enhanced Security Clear11 ance Act of 2014; or 

12 ‘‘(B) the date on which the backlog of 

13 overdue periodic reinvestigations of covered in14 dividuals is eliminated, as determined by the 

15 Director of National Intelligence. 

16 ‘‘(c) COMPREHENSIVENESS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—The en18 hanced personnel security program of an agency 

19 shall integrate relevant information from various 

20 sources, including government, publicly available, 

21 and commercial data sources, consumer reporting 

22 agencies, social media, and such other sources as de23 termined by the Director of National Intelligence. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TYPES OF INFORMATION.—Information 

2 obtained and integrated from sources described in 

3 paragraph (1) may include— 

4 ‘‘(A) information relating to any criminal 

5 or civil legal proceeding; 

6 ‘‘(B) financial information relating to the 

7 covered individual, including the credit worthi8 ness of the covered individual; 

9 ‘‘(C) public information, including news ar10 ticles or reports, that includes relevant security 

11 or counterintelligence information about the 

12 covered individual; 

13 ‘‘(D) publicly available electronic informa14 tion, to include relevant security or counter15 intelligence information on any social media 

16 Web site or forum, blog, microblog, picture or 

17 video sharing Web site and other public online 

18 content that may suggest ill intent, vulner19 ability to blackmail, compulsive behavior, alle20 giance to another country, illegal drug use, 

21 criminal activity, material falsification, change 

22 in ideology, or any other information that may 

23 suggest the covered individual lacks good judg24 ment, reliability or trustworthiness; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) data maintained on any terrorist or 

2 criminal watch list maintained by any agency, 

3 State or local government, or international or4 ganization. 

5 ‘‘(d) REVIEWS OF COVERED INDIVIDUALS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) REVIEWS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The enhanced per8 sonnel security program of an agency shall re9 quire that, not less than 2 times every 5 years, 

10 the head of the agency shall conduct or request 

11 the conduct of automated record checks and 

12 checks of information from sources under sub13 section (c) to ensure the continued eligibility of 

14 each covered individual employed or contracted 

15 with by the agency, unless more frequent re16 views of automated record checks and checks of 

17 information from sources under subsection (c) 

18 are conducted on the covered individual. 

19 ‘‘(B) SCOPE OF REVIEWS.—Except for a 

20 covered individual who is subject to more fre21 quent reviews to ensure the continued eligibility 

22 of the covered individual, the reviews under 

23 subparagraph (A) shall consist of random or 

24 aperiodic checks of covered individuals, such 

25 that each covered individual is subject to at 


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1 least 2 reviews during the 5-year period begin2 ning on the date on which the agency imple3 ments the enhanced personnel security program 

4 of an agency, and during each 5-year period 

5 thereafter. 

6 ‘‘(C) INDIVIDUAL REVIEWS.—A review of 

7 the information relating to the continued eligi8 bility of a covered individual under subpara9 graph (A) may not be conducted until after the 

10 end of the 120-day period beginning on the 

11 date the covered individual receives the notifica12 tion required under paragraph (3). 

13 ‘‘(2) RESULTS.—The head of an agency shall 

14 take appropriate action if a review under paragraph 

15 (1) finds relevant information that may affect the 

16 continued eligibility of a covered individual. 

17 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION FOR COVERED INDIVID18 UALS.—The head of an agency shall ensure that 

19 each covered individual employed by the agency or a 

20 contractor of the agency is adequately advised of the 

21 types of relevant security or counterintelligence in22 formation the covered individual is required to re23 port to the head of the agency. 

24 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this subsection 

25 shall be construed to affect the authority of an agenVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Sep 23, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5482.IH H5482

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1 cy to determine the appropriate weight to be given 

2 to information relating to a covered individual in 

3 evaluating the continued eligibility of the covered in4 dividual. 

5 ‘‘(5) GUIDANCE FOR MINOR FINANCIAL OR

6 MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.—The Director of National 

7 Intelligence shall issue guidance defining minor fi8 nancial or mental health issues, in accordance with 

9 this section and any direction from the President. 

10 ‘‘(6) AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT.—Noth11 ing in this subsection shall be construed as limiting 

12 the authority of the President to direct or perpet13 uate periodic reinvestigations of a more comprehen14 sive nature or to delegate the authority to direct or 

15 perpetuate such reinvestigations. 

16 ‘‘(e) AUDIT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 2 years after the 

18 date of implementation of the enhanced personnel 

19 security program of an agency under subsection (b), 

20 the Inspector General of the agency shall conduct at 

21 least 1 audit to assess the effectiveness and fairness, 

22 which shall be determined in accordance with per23 formance measures and standards established by the 

24 Director of National Intelligence, to covered individVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Sep 23, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5482.IH H5482

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1 uals of the enhanced personnel security program of 

2 the agency. 

3 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSIONS TO THE DNI.—The results of 

4 each audit conducted under paragraph (1) shall be 

5 submitted to the Director of National Intelligence to 

6 assess the effectiveness and fairness of the enhanced 

7 personnel security programs across the Federal Gov8 ernment.’’. 

9 (d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

10 The table of chapters for part III of title 5, United States 

11 Code, is amended by adding at the end following: 

‘‘Subpart J—Enhanced Personnel Security Programs 

‘‘110. Enhanced personnel security programs ........................................ 11001’’. 

Æ 


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