II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 434 

To strengthen the accountability of individuals involved in misconduct affecting the integrity of background investigations, to update guidelines for 

security clearances, to prevent conflicts of interest relating to contractors 

providing background investigation fieldwork services and investigative 

support services, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2015 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mrs. MCCASKILL, and Mr. VITTER) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To strengthen the accountability of individuals involved in 

misconduct affecting the integrity of background investigations, to update guidelines for security clearances, 

to prevent conflicts of interest relating to contractors 

providing background investigation fieldwork services and 

investigative support services, 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 Ac5 countability, Reform, and Enhancement Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—SECURITY CLEARANCE ACCOUNTABILITY, REFORM, AND 

ENHANCEMENT 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Accountability of individuals involved in misconduct affecting the integrity of agency background investigations. 

Sec. 103. Review and update of position designation guidance. 

TITLE II—PREVENTING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST WITH 

CONTRACTORS 

Sec. 201. Definitions. 

Sec. 202. Limitation on contracting to prevent organizational conflicts of interest. 

3 TITLE I—SECURITY CLEARANCE 

4 ACCOUNTABILITY, REFORM, 

5 AND ENHANCEMENT 

6 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this title— 

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

9 the term in Executive Order 13467 (73 Fed. Reg. 

10 38103), or any successor thereto; 

11 (2) the term ‘‘appropriate agency’’ means— 

12 (A) in the case of a prime contractor for 

13 a covered contract, the agency with which the 

14 prime contractor entered the covered contract; 

15 or 

16 (B) in the case of a subcontractor for a 

17 covered contract, any agency on whose behalf 


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1 the subcontractor is performing work under the 

2 covered contract; 

3 (3) the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com4 mittees’’ means— 

5 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

6 and Governmental Affairs and the Select Com7 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 

8 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Gov9 ernment Reform and the Permanent Select 

10 Committee on Intelligence of the House of Rep11 resentatives; 

12 (4) the term ‘‘background investigation’’ means 

13 any investigation required for the purpose of deter14 mining the— 

15 (A) eligibility of a covered individual for 

16 logical and physical access to federally con17 trolled facilities or information systems; 

18 (B) suitability or fitness of a covered indi19 vidual for Federal employment; 

20 (C) eligibility of a covered individual for 

21 access to classified information or to hold a na22 tional security sensitive position; or 

23 (D) fitness of a covered individual to per24 form work for or on behalf of the United States 

25 Government as a contractor employee; 


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1 (5) the term ‘‘covered contract’’ means a con2 tract to conduct background investigations— 

3 (A) between an agency and a prime con4 tractor; 

5 (B) between a prime contractor and a sub6 contractor, if the prime contractor has a con7 tract with an agency; or 

8 (C) between subcontractors, if one of the 

9 subcontractors has a contract with a prime con10 tractor that has a contract with an agency; 

11 (6) the term ‘‘covered individual’’ means an in12 dividual who— 

13 (A) performs work for or on behalf of an 

14 agency; or 

15 (B) seeks to perform work for or on behalf 

16 of an agency; 

17 (7) the term ‘‘covered misconduct’’ means mis18 conduct affecting the integrity of a background in19 vestigation conducted by or for an agency with in20 vestigative authority to conduct background inves21 tigations, including— 

22 (A) falsification of any information relat23 ing to a background investigation; or 


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1 (B) other serious misconduct that com2 promises the integrity of a background inves3 tigation; 

4 (8) the term ‘‘prime contractor’’ means an indi5 vidual who enters into a contract with an agency; 

6 and 

7 (9) the term ‘‘subcontractor’’ means an indi8 vidual who has contracted with a prime contractor 

9 or with another subcontractor to perform a contract 

10 on behalf of an agency. 

11 SEC. 102. ACCOUNTABILITY OF INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN 

12 MISCONDUCT AFFECTING THE INTEGRITY OF 

13 AGENCY BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS. 

14 (a) MISCONDUCT BY FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

15 (1) UNFIT FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT.—If an 

16 agency determines that an employee of the agency 

17 has engaged in covered misconduct, the employee 

18 shall be found unfit for Federal employment. 

19 (2) FITNESS DETERMINATIONS.—An agency 

20 shall make a determination under paragraph (1) in 

21 accordance with any statutory, regulatory, or inter22 nal agency procedures applicable to investigating al23 leged misconduct by employees of the agency. 

24 (3) PROHIBITION ON REEMPLOYMENT TO CON25 DUCT BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS.—If an agency 


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1 determines under paragraph (1) that an individual is 

2 unfit for Federal employment, the individual shall 

3 not be appointed to or continue to occupy a position, 

4 as an employee of any agency, that requires its occu5 pant to perform background investigations. 

6 (b) MISCONDUCT BY EMPLOYEES UNDER CON7 TRACT.— 

8 (1) INELIGIBILITY FOR PERFORMANCE OF

9 WORK UNDER A COVERED CONTRACT.—If an appro10 priate agency, prime contractor, or subcontractor de11 termines that an individual performing work under 

12 a covered contract has engaged in covered mis13 conduct, the individual shall be ineligible to perform 

14 background investigations under a covered contract. 

15 (2) MANDATORY DISCLOSURE.—A covered con16 tract shall include a provision requiring a prime con17 tractor or subcontractor to disclose to each appro18 priate agency any allegation of covered misconduct 

19 by an employee of the prime contractor or subcon20 tractor not later than 24 hours after the prime con21 tractor or subcontractor discovers the alleged cov22 ered misconduct. 

23 (3) INVESTIGATION OF COVERED MIS24 CONDUCT.— 


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1 (A) CONTRACTOR INVESTIGATION.—A cov2 ered contract shall include a provision requiring 

3 that, not later than 5 business days after the 

4 date on which a prime contractor or subcon5 tractor discloses an allegation under paragraph 

6 (2), the prime contractor or subcontractor shall 

7 refer the allegation of covered misconduct to 

8 the agency for investigation. 

9 (B) AGENCY INVESTIGATION.—Nothing in 

10 subparagraph (A) shall be construed to prohibit 

11 an appropriate agency from conducting its own 

12 investigation into an allegation of covered mis13 conduct. 

14 (4) PROHIBITION ON REEMPLOYMENT TO CON15 DUCT BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS.—If an appro16 priate agency determines, based on an investigation 

17 conducted under paragraph (3), that an individual is 

18 ineligible to perform work under a covered contract 

19 under paragraph (1), the individual shall be prohib20 ited from performing background investigations 

21 under any covered contract. 

22 (5) MODIFICATION OF EXISTING CONTRACTS.— 

23 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, any covered contract that is in effect 

25 and was entered into before the date of enactment 


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1 of this Act shall be modified to include the provi2 sions required under paragraphs (2) and (3). 

3 (c) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

5 President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

6 committees a report providing— 

7 (1) the number of individuals determined to 

8 be— 

9 (A) unfit for Federal employment under 

10 subsection (a); or 

11 (B) ineligible to perform work under a cov12 ered contract under subsection (b); and 

13 (2) details of the covered misconduct that re14 sulted in each determination described in paragraph 

15 (1). 

16 SEC. 103. REVIEW AND UPDATE OF POSITION DESIGNATION 

17 GUIDANCE. 

18 (a) GUIDELINES.— 

19 (1) INITIAL REVIEW AND UPDATE OF GUID20 ANCE.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 

21 enactment of this Act, the President shall review 

22 and, if appropriate, update the guidance the Presi23 dent issues to assist agencies in determining— 

24 (A) position sensitivity designation; and 


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1 (B) the appropriate background investiga2 tion to initiate for each position designation. 

3 (2) REVIEWS AND REVISIONS OF POSITION DES4 IGNATIONS.—Not less frequently than every 5 years, 

5 the President, acting through relevant agencies (as 

6 determined by the President) and in accordance with 

7 the guidance described in paragraph (1), shall review 

8 and, if necessary, revise the position designation of 

9 positions within agencies. 

10 (b) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 days 

11 after completing a review under subsection (a)(2), the 

12 President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

13 committees a report on— 

14 (1) any issues identified in the review; and 

15 (2) the number of position designations revised 

16 as a result of the review. 

17 (c) NO CHANGE IN AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 

18 section limits or expands the authority of any agency to 

19 designate a position as sensitive or as requiring its occu20 pant to have access to classified information. 

21 TITLE II—PREVENTING CON22 FLICTS OF INTEREST WITH 

23 CONTRACTORS 

24 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this title— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means— 

2 (A) an Executive agency (as defined in sec3 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code); 

4 (B) a military department (as defined in 

5 section 102 of title 5, United States Code); 

6 (C) an element of the intelligence commu7 nity (as that term is defined in section 3 of the 

8 National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

9 3003)); 

10 (D) the United States Postal Service; and 

11 (E) the Postal Regulatory Commission; 

12 (2) the term ‘‘background investigation 

13 fieldwork services’’ means the investigatory fieldwork 

14 conducted to determine the eligibility of an indi15 vidual for logical and physical access to federally 

16 controlled facilities or information systems, suit17 ability or fitness for Federal employment, eligibility 

18 for access to classified information or to hold a na19 tional security sensitive position, or fitness to per20 form work for or on behalf of the Federal Govern21 ment as a contractor or employee, including— 

22 (A) interviews of the individual, the em23 ployer of the individual, former employers of 

24 the individual, and friends, family, and other 


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1 sources who might have relevant knowledge of 

2 the individual; and 

3 (B) reviews of— 

4 (i) educational and employment 

5 records; 

6 (ii) criminal and other legal records; 

7 and 

8 (iii) credit history; 

9 (3) the term ‘‘background investigation support 

10 services’’ means the clerical, administrative, and 

11 technical support services provided to various func12 tions critical to the background investigation proc13 ess, including— 

14 (A) initial processing and scheduling of in15 vestigative requests; 

16 (B) information technology and informa17 tion technology support; 

18 (C) file maintenance; 

19 (D) imaging or copying of investigation 

20 documents; and 

21 (E) mail processing; and 

22 (4) the term ‘‘quality review process’’ means 

23 performing the final quality review of a background 

24 investigation to ensure investigative, administrative, 

25 and other required standards have been met before 


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1 the completed background investigation is delivered 

2 to the adjudicating agency. 

3 SEC. 202. LIMITATION ON CONTRACTING TO PREVENT OR4 GANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. 

5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, a contract may not be en7 tered into, and an extension of or option on a contract 

8 may not be exercised, with a contractor to conduct a qual9 ity review process relating to background investigation 

10 fieldwork services or background investigation support 

11 services if the contractor is performing the services to be 

12 reviewed. 

Æ 


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