,i #aacth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #djbb ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,february #aj1 #bjad ,mr4 ,lynch 7for himself and ,mr4 ,cummings7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,oversight and ,government ,reform1 and in addition to the ,committee on the ,judiciary1 for a period to be subsequently determined by the ,speaker1 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned ,a ,,bill ,to provide for a strategic plan to reform and improve the security clearance and background investigation processes of the ,federal ,government1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,security ,clearance ,reform ,act of #bjad4 #b4 ,security clearance process reform plan 7a7 ,plan ,not later than #f months after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,president shall submit a strategic plan to the appropriate congressional committees to improve security clearance and background investigation activities carried out by the ,federal ,government4 7b7 ,contents of plan ,the plan submitted under subsection 7a7 shall-- 7#a7 develop and establish a continuous evaluation or monitoring system that shall-- 7,a7 on a continual basis1 access ,federal1 ,state1 and local government and commercially available information1 including financial credit history1 currency transactions1 court records1 traffic violations1 arrest records1 terrorist and criminal watch lists1 foreign travel1 and online social media2 7,b7 provide real-time updates or notifications with respect to information relevant to adjudication guidelines concerning whether a cleared individual is eligible for such individual's security clearance2 and 7,c7 reduce or eliminate the scope or schedule of any periodic reinvestigation of a cleared individual2 7#b7 ensure that-- 7,a7 the background of each cleared individual is monitored on a continual basis2 and 7,b7 any covered individual who is not a cleared individual is not subject to continuous evaluation or monitoring2 7#c7 ensure the effective1 efficient1 and timely completion of background investigations relating to a covered individual's eligibility for a security clearance2 7#d7 improve procedures to require information sharing between agencies concerning-- 7,a7 potentially derogatory security information regarding a covered individual that may impact the eligibility of any such individual for a security clearance2 and 7,b7 adjudications with respect to any covered individual2 7#e7 enhance cooperation and information sharing between any ,state or local law enforcement agency and any agency2 7#f7 enhance methods for reducing or eliminating manual processes with respect to security clearance background investigations1 and automating and integrating the elements of such investigations and adjudication processes1 including-- 7,a7 the security clearance application process2 7,b7 field investigator reporting2 7,c7 investigation case management2 7,d7 the collection1 analysis1 storage1 retrieval1 and transfer of data and records2 7,e7 the submission of any background investigation report to an agency for adjudication2 and 7,f7 records management for security clearance adjudication determinations2 7#g7 reduce or eliminate the use of databases and information sources that cannot be accessed and processed electronically1 or modify such databases and information sources to enable electronic access and processing2 7#h7 increase the use of digitally processed fingerprints as a substitute for ink or paper prints to reduce error rates and improve portability of data2 7#i7 develop ,federal ,government-wide performance measures1 based on the ,federal ,investigative ,standards 7as promulgated by the ,director and the ,director of ,national ,intelligence71 to measure the quality of background investigations conducted by the ,federal ,government2 7#aj7 require that1 with respect to any background investigation activities1 a ,federal employee conducts-- 7,a7 any final quality or integrity assurance review conducted by an agency of a background investigation2 7,b7 any interview of a covered individual with respect to a background investigation2 and 7,c7 any background investigation of a covered individual to determine the person's eligibility for a security clearance at the ,top ,secret level or higher2 7#aa7 develop procedures that ensure that any information collected pursuant to the plan with respect to a covered individual1 including information collected from online social media1 shall be verified for authenticity2 and 7#ab7 provide a detailed description of the estimated costs of implementing the plan4 7c7 ,delegation ,the ,president may select at least one agency to develop or implement the plan required under this section4 ,in the preceding sentence1 the term agency means-- 7#a7 any agency as that term is defined in section #f7a71 but does not include any military department 7as that term is defined in section #ajb of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code72 or 7#b7 the ,suitability and ,security ,clearance ,performance ,accountability ,council 7as established by ,executive ,order ,no4 #acdfg74 7d7 ,levels of scrutiny ,the plan required under this section may require different levels of continuous evaluation scrutiny with respect to ,confidential1 ,secret1 or ,top ,secret or higher security clearances4 7e7 ,use of pre-,existing systems or databases ,in carrying out the requirements of this section1 the ,president may incorporate or enhance any systems or databases operated by the ,federal ,government1 including the database established under section #cjja7;e7 of ,public ,law #ajh-deh4 7f7 ,implementation ,the ,president shall fully implement the plan required under this section not later than #a year after the date of submission of such plan to the appropriate congressional committees4 #c4 ,organizational conflict of interest ,beginning on the date of the enactment of this ,act for contracts entered into after such date1 the ,director of the ,office of ,personnel ,management may not award a contract for-- 7#a7 investigative support services to an entity if that entity also has1 at the time of award of the contract or at any time during the performance of the contract1 another contract in effect with the ,federal ,government 7or with another contractor of the ,government at any tier7 to provide background investigation fieldwork services2 or 7#b7 background investigation fieldwork services to an entity if that entity also has1 at the time of award of the contract or at any time during the performance of the contract1 another contract in effect with the ,federal ,government 7or with another contractor of the ,government at any tier7 to provide investigative support services4 #d4 ,state and local cooperation 7a7 ,report ,not later than #ij days after the date of enactment of this ,act and each year thereafter1 the ,director shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees listing any ,state or local entity covered by the definition of criminal justice agency in section #iaja7;a77#a7 of title #e1 ,united ,state ,code1 that has failed to cooperate with three or more requests of the ,director issued under section #iaja7;b77#a7 of such title4 7b7 ,withholding of ,byrne-,,jag funds 7#a7 ,in general ,for any fiscal year after fiscal year #bjae1 a jurisdiction that fails1 as determined by the ,director to substantially comply with criminal history record information requests shall not receive the percentage specified in paragraph 7#b7 of the funds that would otherwise be allocated for the subsequent fiscal year to the jurisdiction under subpart #a of part ,e of title ,i of the ,omnibus ,crime ,control and ,safe ,streets ,act of #aifh 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #cgej et seq474 ,the ,director shall provide the ,attorney ,general with a list of any jurisdictions that failed to substantially comply with the criminal history record information requests in the prior fiscal year and the ,attorney ,general shall make the appropriate amount of reductions4 7#b7 ,applicable percentages ,the applicable percentages are as follows3 7,a7 ,first year of noncompliance ,except as provided in subparagraph 7,b71 for each fiscal year that a jurisdiction fails to substantially comply with criminal history record information requests1 the percentage specified is #aj percent4 7,b7 subsequent year of noncompliance ,for each succeeding consecutive fiscal year after a fiscal year referred to in subparagraph 7,a7 that a jurisdiction fails to substantially comply with criminal history record information requests1 the percentage specified is #aj percent multiplied by the number of such consecutive fiscal years that the jurisdiction has failed to substantially comply with criminal history record information requests 7not to exceed #ajj percent74 7#c7 ,reallocation ,amounts not allocated under a program referred to in this section to a jurisdiction for failure to substantially comply with criminal history record information requests1 shall be reallocated under that program to jurisdictions that have not failed to substantially comply with criminal history record information requests1 or may be reallocated to a jurisdiction from which they were withheld to be used solely for the purpose of complying with section #iaja7;b77#a7 of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code4 7#d7 ,noncompliance ,for purposes of this subsection1 the term fails to substantially comply with criminal history record information requests means failure to comply with #c or more requests received during a fiscal year under section #iaja7;b77#a7 of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code1 during that fiscal year4 7#e7 ,rule of attribution ,in the case of a jurisdiction that fails to substantially comply with criminal history record information requests1 if that jurisdiction is subject to the requirements of section #eje7;d77#d7 of the ,omnibus ,crime ,control and ,safe ,streets ,act of #aifh 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #cgee7;d77#d771 then the amount of funds that would be provided to other jurisdictions that are party to the joint application required under such section #eje7;d77#d7 may not be reduced and only the funds for the jurisdiction that has failed to substantially comply may be reduced4 7c7 ,requests from contractors acting on behalf of covered agencies2 clarification of police records ,section #iaja of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended-- 7#a7 by adding at the end the following new subsection3 7g7 ,criminal justice agencies shall accept and comply with requests for criminal history record information pursuant to this section regardless of whether a request is submitted directly by a covered agency or by a contractor of a covered agency acting on the agency's behalf4 2 and 7#b7 in subsection 7a77#b71 7,a7 after criminal charges1 by inserting the following3 7including descriptions of the incidents or events leading to or on which the arrests1 indictments1 informations1 or other formal charges are based72 and 7,b7 by adding at the end the following3 ,the term also includes information pertaining to arrests that do not result in the arrestee being charged with or convicted of a criminal offense44 #e4 ,reports 7a7 ,quality review ,not later than #ij days after the date of submission of the plan under section #b and each year thereafter1 the ,director shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees that-- 7#a7 evaluates the quality of background investigations conducted by ,,opm during the previous year based on the performance measures developed pursuant to the plan submitted under section #b2 and 7#b7 includes information on the percentage of background investigations conducted by ,,opm that meet ,federal ,investigative ,standards 7as promulgated by the ,director and the ,director of ,national ,intelligence74 7b7 ,reports under the ,intelligence ,reform and ,terrorism ,prevention ,act of #bjjd ,section #cjja7;h77#a7 of the ,intelligence ,reform and ,terrorism ,prevention ,act of #bjjd 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #ccda7;h77#a77 is amended by striking through #bjaa4 #f4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,agency ,except as provided otherwise in this ,act1 the term agency has the meaning given that term in section #cjja7;a77#a7 of ,public ,law #ajh-deh and includes the ,united ,states ,postal ,service and the ,postal ,regulatory ,commission4 7#b7 ,appropriate congressional committees ,the term appropriate congressional committees means-- 7,a7 the ,committee on ,oversight and ,government ,reform of the ,house of ,representatives2 7,b7 the ,committee on ,homeland ,security and ,governmental ,affairs of the ,senate2 7,c7 the ,permanent ,select ,committee on ,intelligence of the ,house of ,representatives2 and 7,d7 the ,select ,committee on ,intelligence of the ,senate4 7#c7 ,background investigation ,the term background investigation means any investigation or reinvestigation required for the purpose of determining whether a covered individual may hold a security clearance issued by an agency4 7#d7 ,background investigation fieldwork services ,the term background investigation fieldwork services means the investigatory fieldwork conducted to determine a covered individual's eligibility for a security clearance1 including interviews of the applicant or friends and family of such applicant1 reviews of educational or employment records1 law checks1 or reviews of credit history4 7#e7 ,cleared individual ,the term cleared individual means an individual1 including any employee of an agency1 member of the uniformed services1 contractor of an agency1 or individual employee of such a contractor1 who holds a valid security clearance issued by an agency4 7#f7 ,covered individual ,the term covered individual means an individual1 including any employee of an agency1 member of the uniformed services1 contractor of an agency1 or individual employee of such a contractor1 who-- 7,a7 is being considered by an agency for a security clearance2 or 7,b7 is a cleared individual4 7#g7 ,director ,the term ,director means the ,director of the ,office of ,personnel ,management4 7#h7 ,federal employee ,the term ,federal employee has the meaning given the term employee in section #baje of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code1 and includes-- 7,a7 any member of the uniformed services2 and 7,b7 any officer or employee of the ,united ,states ,postal ,service or the ,postal ,regulatory ,commission4 7#i7 ,investigative support services ,the term investigative support services means the clerical1 administrative1 and technical support services provided to various functions critical to the background investigative process1 including initial processing and scheduling of investigative requests1 performing file maintenance1 imaging case documents1 processing mail1 performing quality review of background investigations1 and executing case closing processes4 7#aj7 ,jurisdiction ,the term jurisdiction means a ,state or unit of local government1 as such terms are defined in section #ija of the ,omnibus ,crime ,control and ,safe ,streets ,act of #aifh4 7#aa7 ,,opm ,the term ,,opm means the ,office of ,personnel ,management4