Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB6738 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 6738
5	5	To provide for the appointment of fellows in the John S. McCain Strategic
6	6	Defense Fellows Program to term excepted service positions, and for
7	7	other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	DECEMBER13, 2023
10	10	Mr. B
11	11	ACONintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
12	12	on Armed Services
13	13	A BILL
14	14	To provide for the appointment of fellows in the John S.
15	15	McCain Strategic Defense Fellows Program to term ex-
16	16	cepted service positions, and for other purposes.
17	17	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
18	18	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
19	19	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
20	20	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strategic Defense Fel-4
21	21	lows Program Act of 2023’’. 5
22	22	SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE JOHN S. MCCAIN STRATEGIC 6
23	23	DEFENSE FELLOWS PROGRAM. 7
24	24	(a) S
25	25	ELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS.—Subsection 8
26	26	(d)(2) of section 932 of the John S. McCain National De-9
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28	28	•HR 6738 IH
29	29	fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year (Public Law 115– 1
30	30	232; 10 U.S.C. 1580 note prec.) is amended to read as 2
31	31	follows: 3
32	32	‘‘(2) G
33	33	EOGRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION .—Out 4
34	34	of the total number of individuals selected to partici-5
35	35	pate in the fellows program, which shall not exceed 6
36	36	60 individuals in any year, no more than 20 percent 7
37	37	may be from any of the following geographic regions: 8
38	38	‘‘(A) The Northeast United States. 9
39	39	‘‘(B) The Southeast United States. 10
40	40	‘‘(C) The Midwest United States. 11
41	41	‘‘(D) The Southwest United States. 12
42	42	‘‘(E) The Western United States. 13
43	43	‘‘(F) Alaska, Hawaii, United States terri-14
44	44	tories, and areas outside the United States.’’. 15
45	45	(b) A
46	46	PPOINTMENT AND CAREERDEVELOPMENT.— 16
47	47	Such section is further amended— 17
48	48	(1) in subsection (d)(3)— 18
49	49	(A) by striking ‘‘assigned’’ and inserting 19
50	50	‘‘appointed’’; and 20
51	51	(B) by striking ‘‘assignment’’ and inserting 21
52	52	‘‘appointment’’; and 22
53	53	(2) by amending subsections (e) and (f) to read 23
54	54	as follows: 24
55	55	‘‘(e) A
56	56	PPOINTMENT.— 25
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59	59	‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who partici-1
60	60	pates in the fellows program shall be appointed into 2
61	61	an excepted service position in the Department. 3
62	62	‘‘(2) P
63	63	OSITION REQUIREMENTS .—Each year, 4
64	64	the head of each Department of Defense Component 5
65	65	shall submit to the Secretary of Defense placement 6
66	66	opportunities for participants in the fellows pro-7
67	67	gram. Such placement opportunities shall provide for 8
68	68	leadership development and potential commencement 9
69	69	of a career track toward a position of senior leader-10
70	70	ship in the Department. The Secretary of Defense, 11
71	71	in coordination with the heads of Department of De-12
72	72	fense Components, shall establish qualification re-13
73	73	quirements for the appointment of participants 14
74	74	under paragraph (1). 15
75	75	‘‘(3) A
76	76	PPOINTMENT TO POSITIONS .—Each year, 16
77	77	the Secretary of Defense shall appoint participants 17
78	78	in the fellows program to positions in the Depart-18
79	79	ment of Defense Components. In making such ap-19
80	80	pointments, the Secretary shall seek to best match 20
81	81	the qualifications and skills of the participants with 21
82	82	the requirements for positions available for appoint-22
83	83	ment. 23
84	84	‘‘(4) T
85	85	ERM.—The term of each appointment 24
86	86	under the fellows program shall be one year with the 25
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88	88	•HR 6738 IH
89	89	option to extend the appointment up to one addi-1
90	90	tional year. 2
91	91	‘‘(5) G
92	92	RADE.—An individual appointed to a po-3
93	93	sition under the fellows program shall be appointed 4
94	94	at a level between GS–10 and GS–12 of the General 5
95	95	Schedule based on the directly related qualifications, 6
96	96	skills, and professional experience of the individual. 7
97	97	‘‘(6) E
98	98	DUCATION LOAN REPAYMENT .—To the 8
99	99	extent that funds are provided in advance in appro-9
100	100	priations Acts, the Secretary of Defense may repay 10
101	101	a loan of a participant in the fellows program if the 11
102	102	loan is described by subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) 12
103	103	of section 16301(a)(1) of title 10, United States 13
104	104	Code. Any repayment of a loan under this paragraph 14
105	105	may require a minimum service agreement, as deter-15
106	106	mined by the Secretary. 16
107	107	‘‘(7) D
108	108	EPARTMENT OF DEFENSE COMPONENT 17
109	109	DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘Depart-18
110	110	ment of Defense Component’ means a Department 19
111	111	of Defense Component, as set forth in section 111 20
112	112	of title 10, United States Code. 21
113	113	‘‘(f) C
114	114	AREERDEVELOPMENT.— 22
115	115	‘‘(1) I
116	116	N GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 23
117	117	shall ensure that participants in the fellows pro-24
118	118	gram— 25
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120	120	•HR 6738 IH
121	121	‘‘(A) receive career development opportuni-1
122	122	ties and support appropriate for the commence-2
123	123	ment of a career track within the Department 3
124	124	leading toward a future position of senior lead-4
125	125	ership within the Department, including ongo-5
126	126	ing mentorship support through appropriate 6
127	127	personnel from entities within the Department; 7
128	128	and 8
129	129	‘‘(B) are provided appropriate employment 9
130	130	opportunities for competitive and excepted serv-10
131	131	ice positions in the Department upon successful 11
132	132	completion of the fellows program. 12
133	133	‘‘(2) P
134	134	UBLICATION OF SELECTION .—The Sec-13
135	135	retary shall publish, on an internet website of the 14
136	136	Department available to the public, the names of the 15
137	137	individuals selected to participate in the fellows pro-16
138	138	gram.’’. 17
139	139	Æ
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