II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2354 

To improve cybersecurity recruitment and retention. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2014 

Mr. CARPER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To improve cybersecurity recruitment and retention. 

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 ‘‘DHS Cybersecurity 

5 Workforce Recruitment and Retention Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CYBERSECURITY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—At the end of subtitle C of title 

8 II of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 141 

9 et seq.), add the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 226. CYBERSECURITY RECRUITMENT AND RETEN11 TION. 

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


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2354 IS

1 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’ means the Committee on Homeland Security 

4 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on 

5 Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on 

6 Homeland Security and the Committee on Appro7 priations of the House of Representatives. 

8 ‘‘(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT.— 

9 The term ‘collective bargaining agreement’ has the 

10 meaning given that term in section 7103(a)(8) of 

11 title 5, United States Code. 

12 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTED SERVICE.—The term ‘excepted 

13 service’ has the meaning given that term in section 

14 2103 of title 5, United States Code. 

15 ‘‘(4) PREFERENCE ELIGIBLE.—The term ‘pref16 erence eligible’ has the meaning given that term in 

17 section 2108 of title 5, United States Code. 

18 ‘‘(5) QUALIFIED POSITION.—The term ‘quali19 fied position’ means a position, designated by the 

20 Secretary for the purpose of this section, in which 

21 the incumbent performs, manages, or supervises 

22 functions that execute the responsibilities of the De23 partment relating to cybersecurity. 

24 ‘‘(6) SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE.—The term 

25 ‘Senior Executive Service’ has the meaning given 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2354 IS

1 that term in section 2101a of title 5, United States 

2 Code. 

3 ‘‘(b) GENERAL AUTHORITY.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISH POSITIONS, APPOINT PER5 SONNEL, AND FIX RATES OF PAY.— 

6 ‘‘(A) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Sec7 retary may— 

8 ‘‘(i) establish, as positions in the ex9 cepted service, such qualified positions in 

10 the Department as the Secretary deter11 mines necessary to carry out the respon12 sibilities of the Department relating to cy13 bersecurity, including positions formerly 

14 identified as— 

15 ‘‘(I) senior level positions des16 ignated under section 5376 of title 5, 

17 United States Code; and 

18 ‘‘(II) positions in the Senior Ex19 ecutive Service; 

20 ‘‘(ii) appoint an individual to a quali21 fied position (after taking into consider22 ation the availability of preference eligibles 

23 for appointment to the position); and 

24 ‘‘(iii) subject to the requirements of 

25 paragraphs (2) and (3), fix the compensaVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:40 May 22, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2354.IS S2354

tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2354 IS

1 tion of an individual for service in a quali2 fied position. 

3 ‘‘(B) CONSTRUCTION WITH OTHER

4 LAWS.—The authority of the Secretary under 

5 this subsection applies without regard to the 

6 provisions of any other law relating to the ap7 pointment, number, classification, or compensa8 tion of employees. 

9 ‘‘(2) BASIC PAY.— 

10 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY TO FIX RATES OF BASIC

11 PAY.—In accordance with this section, the Sec12 retary shall fix the rates of basic pay for any 

13 qualified position established under paragraph 

14 (1) in relation to the rates of pay provided for 

15 employees in comparable positions in the De16 partment of Defense and subject to the same 

17 limitations on maximum rates of pay estab18 lished for such employees by law or regulation. 

19 ‘‘(B) PREVAILING RATE SYSTEMS.—The 

20 Secretary may, consistent with section 5341 of 

21 title 5, United States Code, adopt such provi22 sions of that title as provide for prevailing rate 

23 systems of basic pay and may apply those pro24 visions to qualified positions for employees in or 

25 under which the Department may employ indiVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:40 May 22, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2354.IS S2354

tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2354 IS

1 viduals described by section 5342(a)(2)(A) of 

2 that title. 

3 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION, INCENTIVES, 

4 AND ALLOWANCES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION BASED

6 ON TITLE 5 AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary may 

7 provide employees in qualified positions com8 pensation (in addition to basic pay), including 

9 benefits, incentives, and allowances, consistent 

10 with, and not in excess of the level authorized 

11 for, comparable positions authorized by title 5, 

12 United States Code. 

13 ‘‘(B) ALLOWANCES IN NONFOREIGN

14 AREAS.—An employee in a qualified position 

15 whose rate of basic pay is fixed under para16 graph (2)(A) shall be eligible for an allowance 

17 under section 5941 of title 5, United States 

18 Code, on the same basis and to the same extent 

19 as if the employee was an employee covered by 

20 such section 5941, including eligibility condi21 tions, allowance rates, and all other terms and 

22 conditions in law or regulation. 

23 ‘‘(4) PLAN FOR EXECUTION OF AUTHORI24 TIES.—Not later than 120 days after the date of en25 actment of this section, the Secretary shall submit a 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 2354 IS

1 report to the appropriate committees of Congress 

2 with a plan for the use of the authorities provided 

3 under this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(5) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 

5 Nothing in paragraph (1) may be construed to im6 pair the continued effectiveness of a collective bar7 gaining agreement with respect to an office, compo8 nent, subcomponent, or equivalent of the Depart9 ment that is a successor to an office, component, 

10 subcomponent, or equivalent of the Department cov11 ered by the agreement before the succession. 

12 ‘‘(6) REQUIRED REGULATIONS.—The Secretary, 

13 in coordination with the Director of the Office of 

14 Personnel Management, shall prescribe regulations 

15 for the administration of this section. 

16 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

17 the date of enactment of this section, and every year there18 after for 4 years, the Secretary shall submit to the appro19 priate committees of Congress a detailed report that— 

20 ‘‘(1) discusses the process used by the Sec21 retary in accepting applications, assessing can22 didates, ensuring adherence to veterans’ preference, 

23 and selecting applicants for vacancies to be filled by 

24 an individual for a qualified position; 

25 ‘‘(2) describes— 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 2354 IS

1 ‘‘(A) how the Secretary plans to fulfill the 

2 critical need of the Department to recruit and 

3 retain employees in qualified positions; 

4 ‘‘(B) the measures that will be used to 

5 measure progress; and 

6 ‘‘(C) any actions taken during the report7 ing period to fulfill such critical need; 

8 ‘‘(3) discusses how the planning and actions 

9 taken under paragraph (2) are integrated into the 

10 strategic workforce planning of the Department; 

11 ‘‘(4) provides metrics on actions occurring dur12 ing the reporting period, including— 

13 ‘‘(A) the number of employees in qualified 

14 positions hired by occupation and grade and 

15 level or pay band; 

16 ‘‘(B) the placement of employees in quali17 fied positions by directorate and office within 

18 the Department; 

19 ‘‘(C) the total number of veterans hired; 

20 ‘‘(D) the number of separations of employ21 ees in qualified positions by occupation and 

22 grade and level or pay band; 

23 ‘‘(E) the number of retirements of employ24 ees in qualified positions by occupation and 

25 grade and level or pay band; and 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 2354 IS

1 ‘‘(F) the number and amounts of recruit2 ment, relocation, and retention incentives paid 

3 to employees in qualified positions by occupa4 tion and grade and level or pay band; and 

5 ‘‘(5) describes the training provided to super6 visors of employees in qualified positions at the De7 partment on the use of the new authorities. 

8 ‘‘(d) THREE-YEAR PROBATIONARY PERIOD.—The 

9 probationary period for all employees hired under the au10 thority established in this section shall be 3 years. 

11 ‘‘(e) INCUMBENTS OF EXISTING COMPETITIVE SERV12 ICE POSITIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual serving in a 

14 position on the date of enactment of this section 

15 that is selected to be converted to a position in the 

16 excepted service under this section shall have the 

17 right to refuse such conversion. 

18 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT CONVERSION.—After the 

19 date on which an individual who refuses a conversion 

20 under paragraph (1) stops serving in the position se21 lected to be converted, the position may be converted 

22 to a position in the excepted service.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3132(a)(2) 

24 of title 5, United States Code, is amended in the matter 

25 following subparagraph (E)— 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 2354 IS

1 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

2 (2) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘or’’ after the 

3 semicolon; and 

4 (3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following: 

5 ‘‘(iii) any position established as a qualified po6 sition in the excepted service by the Secretary of 

7 Homeland Security under section 226 of the Home8 land Security Act of 2002;’’. 

9 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 

10 of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act 

11 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

12 after the item relating to section 225 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 226. Cybersecurity recruitment and retention.’’. 

Æ 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS