To provide for the establishment and implementation of a National Security Career Development Program.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Security Professionals Act 
of 2008''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In order to enhance the national security of the United 
        States, including preventing, protecting against, responding 
        to, and recovering from natural and manmade disasters, such as 
        acts of terrorism, as well as to achieve greater agency 
        integration for the projection of American power, it is the 
        policy of the United States to promote the education, training, 
        and interagency experience of current and future professionals 
        in national security positions in Federal agencies.
            (2) Improvised interagency responses in the face of 
        imminent threats or during a response to a national emergency 
        result in mistakes, mismanagement, and waste.
            (3) Effective national security interagency operations 
        require a transformation of national security education, 
        training, and interagency experience in order to produce an 
        interagency cadre of able national security professionals with 
        specific education, training, and interagency experience.
            (4) Professional requirements and staffing needs relating 
        to national security differ for every level of government, as 
        well as among Federal agencies; therefore, the career 
        development of national security professionals will vary 
        between and within departments and agencies.
            (5) Today, there is no formal coordinated system for 
        developing the skills and experience needed to fulfill this 
        need.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``employee'' has the meaning given such term 
        by section 2105 of title 5, United States Code;
            (2) the term ``national security professional'' means an 
        employee holding a national security position;
            (3) the term ``national security position'' means a 
        position, the duties and responsibilities of which include 
        planning, coordinating, and executing missions in support of 
        national security objectives, such as positions across multiple 
        departments and agencies in--
                    (A) the National Counterterrorism Center; or
                    (B) a provincial reconstruction team; and
            (4) the term ``National Security Career Development 
        Program'' or ``Program'' refers to the program developed and 
        implemented under this Act.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL SECURITY CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--The President shall establish a program 
        for the development of national security professionals, which 
        shall be known as the ``National Security Career Development 
        Program''. The Program shall set forth a framework that shall 
        provide national security professionals access to integrated 
        education, training, and professional experience interagency 
        opportunities for the purpose of enhancing their mission-
        related knowledge, skills, and experience, and thereby improve 
        their capability to safeguard the security of the Nation. Such 
        interagency career development opportunities shall be provided 
        across Federal agencies, levels of Government, and national 
        security functions, as appropriate.
            (2) Participating departments and agencies.--The 
        departments and agencies participating in the Program shall 
        include the Department of State, the Department of the 
        Treasury, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, 
        the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, the 
        Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of 
        Housing and Urban Development, the Department of 
        Transportation, the Department of Energy, the Department of 
        Education, the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of 
        Management and Budget, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the 
        United States Agency for International Development, and all 
        intelligence agencies.
    (b) Appointment and Advancement.--
            (1) Experienced personnel.--Departments and agencies 
        participating in the Program shall encourage the appointment of 
        personnel with a variety of national security experiences from 
        within and outside the Federal Government for national security 
        positions.
            (2) Qualifications.--Departments and agencies participating 
        in the Program shall identify national security qualifications 
        for appointment and advancement opportunities. Agency job 
        announcements for national security positions shall solicit 
        applications from the widest population authorized by law and 
        regulation on the date of the solicitation.
    (c) Certification.--The Program shall establish policies to 
identify a threshold of interagency experience, knowledge, skills, and 
abilities required to obtain a national security interagency 
certification as a national security professional. The certification 
shall be a consideration for promotion of national security 
professionals holding career appointments.
    (d) Funding.--Implementation of the Program shall be subject to the 
availability of appropriations. The President's budget request shall 
include funding requirements to establish and maintain a National 
Security Career Development Program to include an end strength float 
enabling agencies to continue day-to-day functions while enabling 
selected agency national security professionals to participate in 
career development activities which require temporary absences from 
their duty positions.

SEC. 5. PROGRAM COMPONENTS.

    (a) In General.--The National Security Career Development Program 
shall include--
            (1) a rigorous and effective set of educational 
        opportunities for national security professionals;
            (2) training that refreshes or enhances a national security 
        professional's expertise in planning, coordinating, and 
        executing national security missions through instruction, 
        drills, and exercises that take into account the full spectrum 
        of threats and hazards that comprise America's 21st century 
        risk environment; and
            (3) opportunities for professional interagency experience, 
        as described in subsection (b).
    (b) Professional Interagency Experience.--In order to carry out 
subsection (a)(3), the Program shall include opportunities for inter-
governmental, interagency, and inter-office assignments, fellowships, 
and exchanges (including with non-governmental organizations, to the 
extent appropriate), in order to achieve the following:
            (1) Enable national security professionals to understand 
        the roles, responsibilities, and cultures of other 
        organizations and disciplines involved in national security.
            (2) Promote the exchange of ideas and practices among 
        national security professionals.
            (3) Build trust and familiarity among national security 
        professionals with differing perspectives.
            (4) Minimize obstacles to coordination in the face of a 
        national security threat or emergency.
    (c) Incentives.--The Program shall link career advancement or other 
incentives for national security professionals to participation in 
rotational or temporary detail interagency assignments to include:
            (1) Linkage of interagency assignments in national security 
        positions to accelerated promotion consideration for national 
        security professionals to grades GS-14 and GS-15 of the General 
        Schedule (or their equivalent).
            (2) Eligibility of national security professionals holding 
        a position in grade GS-13 or GS-14 of the General Schedule (or 
        the equivalent) who complete an interagency assignment for 
        immediate step increases or other incentives.
    (d) Waivers; Grandfathering; Political Appointees.--
            (1) Waivers.--The Program may, with respect to any 
        incentive under subsection (c) that requires prior Government 
        service or experience, waive such requirement, in the case of 
        individuals who are able to demonstrate that they possess 
        similar or equivalent service or experience from work in the 
        private sector or other employment outside the Federal 
        Government.
            (2) Grandfathering.--For the purpose of promotion to Senior 
        Executive Service (or equivalent) positions, Federal agencies 
        may grandfather personnel who, as of the date of the enactment 
        of this Act, have a career appointment in grade GS-14 or GS-15 
        of the General Schedule (or the equivalent), and who, as 
        determined by the head of the Federal agency involved, have 
        acquired the necessary knowledge, skills, and aptitudes 
        required for promotion to the Senior Executive Service (or 
        equivalent).
            (3) Political appointees.--The Program shall establish 
        appropriate career development programs for political 
        appointees in national security positions.

SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Initial Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to each House of the 
Congress a written report describing, and setting forth the details of 
an implementation plan for, the National Security Career Development 
Program.
    (b) Annual Reports.--The President shall submit to Congress each 
year, at the time that the President's budget is submitted to Congress 
that year under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, a 
report detailing the status of the implementation plan described in 
subsection (a).

Summary: National Security Professionals Act of 2008 - Directs the President to establish a National Security Career Development Program to provide national security professionals access to integrated education, training, and professional experience interagency opportunities.

Requires: (1) the Program to establish policies to identify a threshold of interagency experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities required to obtain a national security interagency certification; and (2) the certification to be a consideration for promotion.

Requires the President's budget request to include funding requirements to establish and maintain the Program.

Requires the Program to include: (1) a rigorous and effective set of educational opportunities for national security professionals; (2) training that refreshes or enhances such a professional's expertise in planning, coordinating, and executing national security missions through instruction, drills, and exercises that take into account the full spectrum of threats and hazards that comprise America's 21st century risk environment; and (3) opportunities for professional interagency experience and intergovernmental, interagency, and interoffice assignments, fellowships, and exchanges.

Requires the program to: (1) link career advancement or other incentives to participation in rotational or temporary detail interagency assignments; and (2) establish appropriate career development programs for political appointees in national security positions.