H. R. 4986—352 
as a result of a closure or realignment of a military base 
as described under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(C) The Secretary shall submit the report under subpara-
graph (B) to the Committee on Armed Services and the Com-
mittee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Com-
mittee on Armed Services and the Committee on Government 
Reform of the House of Representatives. 
‘‘(3) For purposes of this section, the term ‘employee’ means 
an employee of the Department of Defense, serving under an 
appointment without time limitation, except that such term 
does not include— 
‘‘(A) a reemployed annuitant under subchapter III of 
chapter 83 or chapter 84, or another retirement system 
for employees of the Federal Government; 
‘‘(B) an employee having a disability on the basis of 
which such employee is or would be eligible for disability 
retirement under any of the retirement systems referred 
to in subparagraph (A); or 
‘‘(C) for purposes of eligibility for separation incentives 
under this section, an employee who is in receipt of a 
decision notice of involuntary separation for misconduct 
or unacceptable performance. 
‘‘(4) An employee who is at least 50 years of age and 
has completed 20 years of service, or has at least 25 years 
of service, may, pursuant to regulations promulgated under 
this section, apply and be retired from the Department of 
Defense and receive benefits in accordance with chapter 83 
or 84 if the employee has been employed continuously within 
the Department of Defense for more than 30 days before the 
date on which the determination to conduct a reduction or 
restructuring within 1 or more Department of Defense compo-
nents is approved. 
‘‘(5)(A) Separation pay shall be paid in a lump sum or 
in installments and shall be equal to the lesser of — 
‘‘(i) an amount equal to the amount the employee would 
be entitled to receive under section 5595(c), if the employee 
were entitled to payment under such section; or 
‘‘(ii) $25,000. 
‘‘(B) Separation pay shall not be a basis for payment, 
and shall not be included in the computation, of any other 
type of Government benefit. Separation pay shall not be taken 
into account for the purpose of determining the amount of 
any severance pay to which an individual may be entitled 
under section 5595, based on any other separation. 
‘‘(C) Separation pay, if paid in installments, shall cease 
to be paid upon the recipient’s acceptance of employment by 
the Federal Government, or commencement of work under a 
personal services contract as described in paragraph (6). 
‘‘(6)(A) An employee who receives separation pay under 
such program may not be reemployed by the Department of 
Defense for a 12-month period beginning on the effective date 
of the employee’s separation, unless this prohibition is waived 
by the Secretary on a case-by-case basis. 
‘‘(B) An employee who receives separation pay under this 
section on the basis of a separation occurring on or after the 
date of the enactment of the Federal Workforce Restructuring 
Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–226; 108 Stat. 111) and accepts
H. R. 4986—353 
employment with the Government of the United States, or 
who commences work through a personal services contract with 
the United States within 5 years after the date of the separation 
on which payment of the separation pay is based, shall be 
required to repay the entire amount of the separation pay 
to the Department of Defense. If the employment is with an 
Executive agency (as defined by section 105) other than the 
Department of Defense, the Director may, at the request of 
the head of that agency, waive the repayment if the individual 
involved possesses unique abilities and is the only qualified 
applicant available for the position. If the employment is within 
the Department of Defense, the Secretary may waive the repay-
ment if the individual involved is the only qualified applicant 
available for the position. If the employment is with an entity 
in the legislative branch, the head of the entity or the 
appointing official may waive the repayment if the individual 
involved possesses unique abilities and is the only qualified 
applicant available for the position. If the employment is with 
the judicial branch, the Director of the Administrative Office 
of the United States Courts may waive the repayment if the 
individual involved possesses unique abilities and is the only 
qualified applicant available for the position. 
‘‘(7) Under this program, early retirement and separation 
pay may be offered only pursuant to regulations established 
by the Secretary, subject to such limitations or conditions as 
the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(h) PROVISIONS RELATING TO REEMPLOYMENT.— 
‘‘(1) Except as provided under paragraph (2), if an annu-
itant receiving an annuity from the Civil Service Retirement 
and Disability Fund becomes employed in a position within 
the Department of Defense, his annuity shall continue. An 
annuitant so reemployed shall not be considered an employee 
for purposes of subchapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84. 
‘‘(2)(A) An annuitant retired under section 8336(d)(1) or 
8414(b)(1)(A) receiving an annuity from the Civil Service Retire-
ment and Disability Fund, who becomes employed in a position 
within the Department of Defense after the date of enactment 
of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 
(Public Law 108–136), may elect to be subject to section 8344 
or 8468 (as the case may be). 
‘‘(B) An election for coverage under this paragraph shall 
be filed not later than the later of 90 days after the date 
the Department of Defense— 
‘‘(i) prescribes regulations to carry out this subsection; 
or 
‘‘(ii) takes reasonable actions to notify employees who 
may file an election. 
‘‘(C) If an employee files an election under this paragraph, 
coverage shall be effective beginning on the first day of the 
first applicable pay period beginning on or after the date of 
the filing of the election. 
‘‘(D) Paragraph (1) shall apply to an individual who is 
eligible to file an election under subparagraph (A) and does 
not file a timely election under subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(3) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to carry out 
this subsection.
H. R. 4986—354 
‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO PERSONNEL MANAGE-
MENT.— 
‘‘(1) Subject to the requirements of chapter 71 and the 
limitations in subsection (b)(3), the Secretary of Defense, in 
establishing and implementing the National Security Personnel 
System under subsection (a), shall not be limited by any provi-
sion of this title or any rule or regulation prescribed under 
this title in establishing and implementing regulations relating 
to— 
‘‘(A) the methods of establishing qualification require-
ments for, recruitment for, and appointments to positions; 
and 
‘‘(B) the methods of assigning, reassigning, detailing, 
transferring, or promoting employees. 
‘‘(2) In implementing this subsection, the Secretary shall 
comply with the provisions of section 2302(b)(11), regarding 
veterans’ preference requirements, as provided for in subsection 
(b)(3). 
‘‘(j) PHASE-IN.—The Secretary may not, in any calendar year, 
add any organizational or functional unit to the National Security 
Personnel System which would cause the total number of employees 
added to such System in such year to exceed 100,000.’’. 
(b) IMPLEMENTATION.— 
(1) The requirements of section 9902 of title 5, United 
States Code, as amended by this section, may be implemented 
through rules promulgated jointly by the Secretary of Defense 
and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management after 
notice and opportunity for public comment or through Depart-
ment of Defense rules or internal agency implementing 
issuances. Rules promulgated jointly by the Secretary and the 
Director under this paragraph shall be treated as major rules 
for the purposes of section 801 of title 5, United States Code. 
(2) Both rules and implementing issuances shall be subject 
to collective bargaining consistent with the requirements of 
chapter 71 of title 5, United States Code. Rules promulgated 
jointly by the Secretary of Defense and the Director of the 
Office of Personnel Management after notice and opportunity 
for public comment and in accordance with the requirements 
of section 801 of such title 5 for a major rule shall be treated 
in the same manner as government-wide rules for the purpose 
of such collective bargaining, if such rules are uniformly 
applicable to all organizational or functional units included 
in the National Security Personnel System. 
(3) Any rules and implementing issuances that were 
adopted prior to the date of the enactment of this Act— 
(A) shall be invalid to the extent that they are incon-
sistent with the requirements of section 9902 of title 5, 
United States Code, as amended by this section; 
(B) shall not supersede a collective bargaining agree-
ment that was in place prior to the date on which the 
rule or implementing issuance was promulgated; and 
(C) shall be subject to collective bargaining— 
(i) in the case of rules which are uniformly 
applicable to all organizational or functional units 
included in the National Security Personnel System 
and issued jointly by the Secretary of Defense and 
the Director of the Office of Personnel Management
H. R. 4986—355 
pursuant to subsection 9902(f)(1) of title 5, United 
States Code (as in effect prior to the enactment of 
this section), only as to impact and implementation, 
when applied to employees of the Department of 
Defense from any bargaining unit; 
(ii) in the case of any other rules or implementing 
issuances, to the extent provided in chapter 71 of title 
5, United States Code. 
(4) The availability of judicial review of any rules or imple-
menting issuances that were adopted prior to the date of the 
enactment of this Act shall not be affected by the enactment 
of this section. 
(c) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEWS.— 
(1) The Comptroller General shall conduct annual reviews 
in calendar years 2008, 2009 and 2010 of— 
(A) employee satisfaction with the National Security 
Personnel System established pursuant to section 9902 
of title 5, United States Code, as amended by this section; 
and 
(B) the extent to which the Department of Defense 
has effectively implemented accountability mechanisms, 
including those established in section 9902(b)(7) of title 
5, United States Code, and internal safeguards for the 
National Security Personnel System. 
(2) To the extent that the Department of Defense under-
takes internal assessments or employee surveys to assess 
employee satisfaction with the National Security Personnel 
System in any such calendar year, the Comptroller General 
shall— 
(A) determine whether such assessments or surveys 
are appropriately designed and statistically valid; and 
(B) provide an independent evaluation of the results 
of such assessments or surveys. 
(3) To the extent that the Department of Defense does 
not undertake appropriately designed and statistically valid 
employee surveys, the Comptroller General shall conduct such 
a survey and provide an independent evaluation of the results. 
(4) The Comptroller General shall report the results of 
each annual review conducted under this subsection to the 
Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House 
of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representa-
tives. 
SEC. 1107. REQUIREMENT FOR FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF PER-
SONNEL DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of Defense shall take all 
necessary actions to fully implement and use the authorities pro-
vided to the Secretary under section 342(b) of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (Public Law 103–337; 108 
Stat. 2721), as amended by section 1114 of the Floyd D. Spence 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (as enacted 
into law by Public Law 106–398; 114 Stat. 1654A–315), to carry 
out personnel management demonstration projects at Department 
of Defense laboratories that are exempted by section 9902(c) of