II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2834 

To amend the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 

to establish a Security Clearance and Suitability Performance Accountability Council and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 3, 2009 

Mr. AKAKA (for himself and Mr. VOINOVICH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence 

A BILL 

To amend the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention 

Act of 2004 to establish a Security Clearance and Suitability Performance Accountability Council 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 ‘‘Security Clearance 

5 Modernization and Reporting Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Subsection (a) of section 3001 of the Intelligence Re3 form and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (50 U.S.C. 

4 435b) is amended— 

5 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by 

6 striking ‘‘In this section:’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as 

7 otherwise specifically provided, in this title:’’; 

8 (2) by redesignating paragraph (1) as para9 graph (2); 

10 (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para11 graph (5); 

12 (4) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para13 graph (4); 

14 (5) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para15 graph (12); 

16 (6) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para17 graph (10); 

18 (7) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para19 graph (15); 

20 (8) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para21 graph (14); 

22 (9) by redesignating paragraph (8) as para23 graph (3); 

24 (10) by inserting before paragraph (2), as re25 designated by paragraph (2), the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) ADJUDICATION.—The term ‘adjudication’ 

2 means the evaluation of pertinent data in a back3 ground investigation and any other available infor4 mation that is relevant and reliable to determine 

5 whether an individual is— 

6 ‘‘(A) suitable for Federal Government em7 ployment; 

8 ‘‘(B) eligible for logical and physical access 

9 to federally controlled information systems; 

10 ‘‘(C) eligible for physical access to federally 

11 controlled facilities; 

12 ‘‘(D) eligible for access to classified infor13 mation; 

14 ‘‘(E) eligible to hold a sensitive position; or 

15 ‘‘(F) fit to perform work for or on behalf 

16 of the Federal Government as a contractor em17 ployee.’’; 

18 (11) by inserting after paragraph (5), as redes19 ignated by paragraph (3), the following: 

20 ‘‘(6) CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.—The term 

21 ‘classified information’ means information that has 

22 been determined, pursuant to Executive Order 

23 12958 (60 Fed. Reg. 19825) or a successor or pred24 ecessor order, or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 


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1 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), to require protection against 

2 unauthorized disclosure. 

3 ‘‘(7) CONTINUOUS EVALUATION.—The term 

4 ‘continuous evaluation’ means a review of the back5 ground of an individual who has been determined to 

6 be eligible for access to classified information (in7 cluding additional or new checks of commercial data8 bases, Government databases, and other information 

9 lawfully available to security officials) at any time 

10 during the period of eligibility to determine whether 

11 that individual continues to meet the requirements 

12 for eligibility for access to classified information. 

13 ‘‘(8) CONTRACTOR.—The term ‘contractor’ 

14 means an expert or consultant, who is not subject to 

15 section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, to an 

16 agency, an industrial or commercial contractor, li17 censee, certificate holder, or grantee of any agency, 

18 including all subcontractors, a personal services con19 tractor, or any other category of person who per20 forms work for or on behalf of an agency and who 

21 is not an employee of an agency. 

22 ‘‘(9) CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEE FITNESS.—The 

23 term ‘contractor employee fitness’ means fitness 

24 based on character and conduct for work for or on 

25 behalf of an agency as a contractor employee.’’; 


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1 (12) by inserting after paragraph (10), as re2 designated by paragraph (6), the following: 

3 ‘‘(11) FEDERALLY CONTROLLED FACILITIES; 

4 FEDERALLY CONTROLLED INFORMATION SYS5 TEMS.—The term ‘federally controlled facilities’ and 

6 ‘federally controlled information systems’ have the 

7 meanings prescribed in guidance pursuant to the 

8 Federal Information Security Management Act of 

9 2002 (title III of Public Law 107–347; 116 Stat. 

10 2946), the amendments made by that Act, and 

11 Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, or any 

12 successor Directive.’’; 

13 (13) by inserting after paragraph (12), as re14 designated by paragraph (5), the following: 

15 ‘‘(13) LOGICAL ACCESS.—The term ‘logical ac16 cess’ means, with respect to federally controlled in17 formation systems, access other than occasional or 

18 intermittent access to federally controlled informa19 tion systems.’’; and 

20 (14) by inserting after paragraph (15), as re21 designated by paragraph (7), the following: 

22 ‘‘(16) PHYSICAL ACCESS.—The term ‘physical 

23 access’ means, with respect to federally controlled 

24 facilities, access other than occasional or intermit25 tent access to federally controlled facilities. 


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1 ‘‘(17) SENSITIVE POSITION.—The term ‘sen2 sitive position’ means any position designated as a 

3 sensitive position under Executive Order 10450 or 

4 any successor Executive Order. 

5 ‘‘(18) SUITABILITY.—The term ‘suitability’ has 

6 the meaning of that term in part 731, of title 5, 

7 Code of Federal Regulations or any successor simi8 lar regulation.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. SECURITY CLEARANCE AND SUITABILITY DETER10 MINATION REPORTING. 

11 (a) EXTENSION OF REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 Paragraph (1) of section 3001(h) of the Intelligence Re13 form and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (50 U.S.C. 

14 435b(h)) is amended by striking ‘‘through 2011,’’ and in15 serting ‘‘until the earlier of the date that is 2 years after 

16 the date that the Comptroller General of the United States 

17 has removed all items related to security clearances from 

18 the list maintained by the Comptroller General known as 

19 the High-Risk List or 2017,’’. 

20 (b) REPORTS ON SECURITY CLEARANCE REVIEW

21 PROCESSES.—Paragraph (2) of such section 3001(h) is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and 

24 (C) as subparagraphs (E) and (F), respectively; and 


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1 (2) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) a description of the full range of time re4 quired to complete initial clearance applications, in5 cluding time required by each authorized investiga6 tive agency and each authorized adjudicative agen7 cy— 

8 ‘‘(i) to respond to requests for security 

9 clearances for individuals, including the periods 

10 required to initiate security clearance investiga11 tions, conduct security clearance investigations, 

12 deliver completed investigations to the request13 ing agency, adjudicate such requests, make 

14 final determinations on such requests, and no15 tify individuals and individuals’ employers of 

16 such determinations, from date of submission of 

17 the requests to the date of the ultimate disposi18 tion of the requests and notifications, 

19 disaggregated by the type of security clearance, 

20 including Secret, Top Secret, and Top Secret 

21 with Special Program Access, including sen22 sitive compartmented information clearances— 

23 ‘‘(I) for civilian employees of the 

24 United States; 


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1 ‘‘(II) for members of the Armed 

2 Forces of the United States; and 

3 ‘‘(III) for contractor employees; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) to conduct investigations for suit5 ability determinations for individuals from suc6 cessful submission of applications to ultimate 

7 disposition of applications and notifications to 

8 the individuals— 

9 ‘‘(I) for civilian employees of the 

10 United States; 

11 ‘‘(II) for members of the Armed 

12 Forces of the United States; and 

13 ‘‘(III) for contractor employees; 

14 ‘‘(B) a listing of the agencies and departments 

15 of the United States that have established and uti16 lize policies to accept all security clearance back17 ground investigations and determinations completed 

18 by an authorized investigative agency or authorized 

19 adjudicative agency; 

20 ‘‘(C) a description of the progress in imple21 menting the strategic plan referred to in section 

22 3004; and 

23 ‘‘(D) a description of the progress made in im24 plementing the information technology strategy re25 ferred to in section 3005;’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. SECURITY CLEARANCE AND SUITABILITY PER2 FORMANCE ACCOUNTABILITY COUNCIL. 

3 Title III of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism 

4 Prevention Act of 2004 (50 U.S.C. 435b et seq.) is amend5 ed by adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 3003. SECURITY CLEARANCE AND SUITABILITY PER7 FORMANCE ACCOUNTABILITY COUNCIL. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Secu9 rity Clearance and Suitability Performance Accountability 

10 Council (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Council’). 

11 ‘‘(b) CHAIR.— 

12 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.—The Deputy Director for 

13 Management, Office of Management and Budget, 

14 shall serve as Chair of the Council. 

15 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—The Chair of the Council 

16 shall have authority, direction, and control over the 

17 functions of the Council. 

18 ‘‘(c) VICE CHAIR.—The Chair of the Council shall se19 lect a Vice Chair to act in the Chair’s absence. 

20 ‘‘(d) MEMBERSHIP.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Coun22 cil shall include— 

23 ‘‘(A) the Chair of the Council; and 

24 ‘‘(B) an appropriate senior officer from 

25 each of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) The Office of the Director of Na2 tional Intelligence. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The Department of Defense. 

4 ‘‘(iii) The Office of Personnel Man5 agement. 

6 ‘‘(2) OTHER MEMBERS.—The Chair of the 

7 Council may designate appropriate employees of 

8 other agencies or departments of the United States 

9 as members of the Council. 

10 ‘‘(e) DUTIES.—The Council shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) ensure alignment of suitability, security, 

12 and, as appropriate, contractor employee fitness, in13 vestigative, and adjudicative processes; 

14 ‘‘(2) ensure alignment of investigative require15 ments for suitability determinations and security 

16 clearances to reduce duplication in investigations; 

17 ‘‘(3) oversee the establishment of requirements 

18 for enterprise information technology; 

19 ‘‘(4) oversee the development of techniques and 

20 tools, including information technology, for enhanc21 ing background investigations and eligibility deter22 minations and ensure that such techniques and tools 

23 are utilized; 

24 ‘‘(5) ensure that each agency and department 

25 of the United States establishes and utilizes policies 


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1 for ensuring reciprocal recognition of clearances that 

2 allow access to classified information granted by all 

3 other agencies and departments; 

4 ‘‘(6) ensure sharing of best practices among 

5 agencies and departments of the United States; 

6 ‘‘(7) hold each agency and department of the 

7 United States accountable for the implementation of 

8 suitability, security, and, as appropriate, contractor 

9 employee fitness processes and procedures; and 

10 ‘‘(8) hold each agency and department of the 

11 United States accountable for recognizing clearances 

12 that allow access to classified information granted by 

13 all other agencies and departments of the United 

14 States. 

15 ‘‘(f) ASSIGNMENT OF DUTIES.—The Chair may as16 sign, in whole or in part, to the head of any agency or 

17 department of the United States, solely or jointly, any 

18 duty of the Council relating to— 

19 ‘‘(1) alignment and improvement of investiga20 tions and determinations of suitability; 

21 ‘‘(2) determinations of contractor employee fit22 ness; and 

23 ‘‘(3) determinations of eligibility— 

24 ‘‘(A) for logical access to federally con25 trolled information systems; 


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1 ‘‘(B) for physical access to federally con2 trolled facilities; 

3 ‘‘(C) for access to classified information; or 

4 ‘‘(D) to hold a sensitive position.’’. 

5 SEC. 5. STRATEGIC PLAN FOR REFORM. 

6 Title III of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism 

7 Prevention Act of 2004 (50 U.S.C. 435b et seq.), as 

8 amended by section 4, is further amended by adding at 

9 the end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 3004. SECURITY CLEARANCE AND SUITABILITY RE11 FORM STRATEGIC PLAN. 

12 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT FOR PLAN.—Not later than 90 

13 days after the date of the enactment of the Security Clear14 ance Modernization and Reporting Act of 2009, the Secu15 rity Clearance and Suitability Performance Accountability 

16 Council established in section 3003 shall develop a stra17 tegic plan that identifies the causes of problems with the 

18 issuance of security clearances and a description of actions 

19 to be taken to correct such problems. 

20 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—The plan required by subsection 

21 (a) shall include a description of— 

22 ‘‘(1) the clear mission and strategic goals of the 

23 plan; 

24 ‘‘(2) performance measures to be used to deter25 mine the effectiveness of security clearance proceVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:06 Dec 04, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2834.IS S2834

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1 dures, including measures for the quality of security 

2 clearance investigations and adjudications; 

3 ‘‘(3) a formal communications strategy related 

4 to the issuance of security clearances; 

5 ‘‘(4) the roles and responsibilities for agencies 

6 participating in security clearance reform efforts; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(5) the long-term funding requirements for se9 curity clearance reform efforts. 

10 ‘‘(c) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The plan required 

11 by subsection (a) shall be submitted to the appropriate 

12 committees of Congress. 

13 ‘‘(d) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE14 VIEW.—The plan required by subsection (a) shall be re15 viewed by the Comptroller General of the United States 

16 following its submission to the appropriate committees of 

17 Congress under subsection (c).’’. 

18 SEC. 6. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY. 

19 Title III of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism 

20 Prevention Act of 2004 (50 U.S.C. 435b et seq.), as 

21 amended by sections 4 and 5, is further amended by add22 ing at the end the following new section: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 3005. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY. 

24 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT FOR STRATEGY.—Not later than 

25 120 days after the date of the enactment of the Security 


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1 Clearance Modernization and Reporting Act of 2009, the 

2 Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 

3 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an in4 formation technology strategy that describes the plans to 

5 expedite investigative and adjudicative processes, verify 

6 standard information submitted as part of an application 

7 for a security clearance, and provide security clearance 

8 and suitability determination reform consistent with the 

9 strategy required by section 3004(a), by carrying out the 

10 Enterprise Information Technology Strategy referred to in 

11 the Report of the Joint Security and Suitability Reform 

12 Team, dated December 30, 2008. 

13 ‘‘(b) CONTENT.—The strategy required by subsection 

14 (a) shall include— 

15 ‘‘(1) a description of information technology re16 quired to request a security clearance or suitability 

17 investigation; 

18 ‘‘(2) a description of information technology re19 quired to apply for a security clearance or suitability 

20 investigation; 

21 ‘‘(3) a description of information technology 

22 systems needed to support such investigations; 

23 ‘‘(4) a description of information technology re24 quired to transmit common machine readable inves25 tigation files to agencies for adjudication; 


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1 ‘‘(5) a description of information technology re2 quired to support agency adjudications of security 

3 clearance and suitability determinations; 

4 ‘‘(6) a description of information technology re5 quired to support continuous evaluations; 

6 ‘‘(7) a description of information technology re7 quired to implement a single repository containing 

8 all security clearance and suitability determinations 

9 of each agency and department of the United States 

10 that is accessible by each such agency and depart11 ment in support of ensuring reciprocal recognition of 

12 access to classified information among such agencies 

13 and departments; 

14 ‘‘(8) a description of the efforts of the Security 

15 Clearance and Suitability Performance Council es16 tablished in section 3003, and each of the Depart17 ment of Defense, the Office of Personnel Manage18 ment, and the Office of the Director of National In19 telligence to carry out the strategy submitted under 

20 subsection (a); 

21 ‘‘(9) the plans of the agencies and departments 

22 of the United States to develop, implement, fund, 

23 and provide personnel to carry out the strategy sub24 mitted under subsection (a); 


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1 ‘‘(10) cost estimates to carry out the strategy 

2 submitted under subsection (a); and 

3 ‘‘(11) a description of the schedule for carrying 

4 out the strategy submitted under subsection (a).’’. 

5 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AND CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 

6 (1) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—The table of 

7 contents in section 1(b) of the Intelligence Reform 

8 and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 

9 108–458; 118 Stat. 3638) is amended by adding 

10 after the item relating to section 3001 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 3002. Security clearances; limitations.’’. 

11 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con12 tents in section 1(b) of the Intelligence Reform and 

13 Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, as amended by 

14 paragraph (1), is further amended by adding after 

15 the item relating to section 3002, as added by such 

16 paragraph, the following: 

‘‘Sec. 3003. Security Clearance and Suitability Performance Accountability 

Council. 

‘‘Sec. 3004. Security clearance and suitability reform strategic plan. 

‘‘Sec. 3005. Information technology strategy.’’. 

Æ 


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