IIB 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6972 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MAY 7, 2024 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs 
AN ACT 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to require an Execu-
tive agency whose head is a member of the National 
Security Council to notify the Executive Office of the 
President, the Comptroller General of the United States, 
and congressional leadership of such head becoming 
medically incapacitated within 24 hours, and for other 
purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Chain of 
Command Continuity Act’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL MEDICAL INCA-
PACITY NOTIFICATION ENHANCEMENT. 
Section 3349 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(c)(1) Not later than 24 hours after the head of an 
Executive agency who is a member of the National Secu-
rity Council becomes medically incapacitated or 24 hours 
in advance of a planned medical procedure where incapaci-
tation is known or may be reasonably assumed, the person 
serving or who will be serving in an acting capacity as 
such head or, if no person is or will be so acting, the first 
assistant to the office of such head, shall submit to the 
appropriate Federal officials a notification that such head 
is or will be medically incapacitated. 
‘‘(2) If the notification required by paragraph (1) 
with respect to a head of an Executive agency becoming 
medically incapacitated is not submitted in accordance 
with the requirements of such paragraph, not later than 
72 hours after such head became subject to such medical 
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incapacity the person serving in an acting capacity as such 
head or, if no person is so acting, the first assistant to 
the office of such head, shall submit to the appropriate 
Federal officials a report including— 
‘‘(A) the name of each individual who served in 
an acting capacity as such head pursuant to such 
medical incapacity and, for each such individual— 
‘‘(i) the dates of such service; 
‘‘(ii) whether such individual was author-
ized to serve in such acting capacity; and 
‘‘(iii) a comprehensive list of resources and 
authorities allocated to such individual while 
serving in such acting capacity to ensure that 
such individual could perform the functions and 
duties of the office of such head; 
‘‘(B) an explanation why the notification re-
quired by paragraph (1) was not submitted in ac-
cordance with the requirements of such paragraph; 
‘‘(C) the dates of such head’s medical incapaci-
tation, and if such head has resumed performing the 
functions and duties of the office, the date such 
head so resumed performing such functions and du-
ties; and 
‘‘(D) an explanation why such head was medi-
cally incapacitated. 
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‘‘(3) In the event the head of an Executive agency 
remains medically incapacitated on the date the report is 
submitted under paragraph (2), the person serving in an 
acting capacity as such head or, if no person is so acting, 
the first assistant to the office of such head, shall submit 
periodic updates, as such person or first assistant con-
siders appropriate, to such report to the appropriate Fed-
eral officials. 
‘‘(4) In this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘appropriate Federal officials’ 
means the Executive Office of the President, the 
Comptroller General of the United States, the Ma-
jority Leader of the Senate, the Minority Leader of 
the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives, and the Minority Leader of the House of Rep-
resentatives; 
‘‘(B) the terms ‘medical incapacity’ and ‘medi-
cally incapacitated’ mean, with respect to the head 
of an Executive agency, that such head is unable to 
perform the functions and duties of the office of 
such head due to sickness, injury, or other medical 
condition and such inability to perform the functions 
and duties of the office of such head constitutes a 
vacancy of the office of such head to which this sec-
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tion and sections 3345, 3346, 3347, 3348, 3349a, 
3349b, 3349c, and 3349d apply; and 
‘‘(C) the term ‘National Security Council’ 
means the council established under section 101 of 
the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 
3021).’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives May 6, 2024. 
Attest: 
KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 
Clerk. 
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