No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3561 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3561
To establish a National Defense Executive Reserve, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 21, 2025
Mr. Nunn of Iowa (for himself and Mr. Himes) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a National Defense Executive Reserve, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Overhaul of Reserve Command
Executive Modernization Act'' or the ``FORCE Act''.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL DEFENSE EXECUTIVE RESERVE.
(a) In General.--Title VII of the Defense Production Act of 1950
(50 U.S.C. 4551 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 711 the
following:
``SEC. 712. NATIONAL DEFENSE EXECUTIVE RESERVE.
``(a) Establishment.--The President shall establish a National
Defense Executive Reserve (in this section referred to as the
`Reserve').
``(b) Purpose.--The purpose of the Reserve shall be to--
``(1) improve the preparedness of the Federal Government
for national defense emergencies by allowing private persons
with unique expertise to volunteer, be trained for and
temporarily employed in Federal positions within any of the
Federal agencies that has established a Reserve unit under
subsection (c) that may be necessary during an national defense
emergency;
``(2) efficiently augment the capabilities of the Federal
Government with these private persons as required during
periods of national defense emergency when activated by the
President;
``(3) provide a cost-efficient way of expanding Federal
Government capacity for the management of future national
defense emergencies without needing to dramatically expand the
number of full-time Federal employees; and
``(4) enable the appropriate controls and oversight to be
established by the Federal Government in advance of the
activation of the Reserve to avoid real or perceived conflicts
of interest or other harms created by the temporary employment
of private persons who volunteer to be temporarily employed by
the Reserve.
``(c) Reserve Units.--
``(1) In general.--The President shall require the heads of
each of the following agencies to establish a unit of the
Reserve within the applicable agency:
``(A) The Department of Commerce.
``(B) The Department of Defense.
``(C) The Department of Homeland Security.
``(D) Such other agencies as the President
determines appropriate.
``(2) Deadline.--The units of the Reserve within the
agencies described under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) shall
be established not later than 180 days after the issuance of
the final rules required under subsection (f).
``(d) Activation.--The President may only activate a unit of the
Reserve--
``(1) on non-delegable basis;
``(2) during a national emergency declared by the President
under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)
with respect to which the President has specified, as described
under section 301 of such Act, that the President may activate
the Reserve pursuant to the authorities under this section; and
``(3) upon a public determination by the President that the
activation is necessary to support the national defense.
``(e) Training.--The President may, without activating the Reserve,
allow for periodic training and exercises to prepare the Reserve for
duty during an activation.
``(f) Rulemaking.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
enactment of this section, the Director of the Office of Personnel
Management, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, the
Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall
issue rules, in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States
Code, to provide--
``(1) instruction on--
``(A) criteria for determining the number of
positions in and organization of Reserve units;
``(B) criteria for determining the appropriate
level of seniority and job classifications of Reserve
positions;
``(C) the advertisement of the Reserve to the
public to generate interest in volunteers;
``(D) the selection of individuals for the Reserve
and the job assignment process;
``(E) the appointment authorities to be used by the
head of an agency during an activation of the
applicable Reserve unit;
``(F) the appropriate levels of compensation for
private individuals for service in the Reserve,
dependent on the qualifications and expected roles of
the individuals;
``(G) the appropriate levels of compensation for
private individuals for service in the Reserve for
additional expenses, such as travel and accommodation,
to fulfill the responsibilities in the Reserve,
including during training and exercise;
``(H) additional incentives to be provided to
private individuals to encourage participation in the
Reserve;
``(I) whether and how to issue security clearances
to individuals selected to serve in the Reserve, both
prior to and during activation;
``(J) the frequency and content of training and
exercises for the Reserve;
``(K) the appropriate interaction between permanent
Government employees and individuals in the Reserve
during training, exercises, and activations of the
Reserve;
``(L) the appointment of permanent Government
employees to manage the Reserve for each agency with a
Reserve unit, both prior to and during activation;
``(M) all other matters necessary to effectively
manage the Reserve, as determined by the Director of
the Office of Personnel Management; and
``(2) recommendations and considerations for the President
on selective activation of the Reserve.
``(g) Additional Guidance.--The Director of the Office of Personnel
Management may issue any additional internal guidance as the Director
of the Office of Personnel determines is necessary to supplement the
rules issued under subsection (f).
``(h) Employment Protection.--For purposes of chapter 43 of title
38, United States Code, an individual absent from a position of
employment due to an appointment into service in the Reserve shall be
subject to the same employment and reemployment protections as are
provided under such chapter for an individual absent from a position of
employment due to an appointment into service in the Federal Emergency
Management Agency as intermittent personnel under section 306(b)(1) of
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.''.
(b) Funding.--Section 304(c) of the Defense Production Act of 1950
(50 U.S.C. 4534(c)) is amended by inserting ``and section 712'' after
``this title''.
(c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 710 of the Defense Production
Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4560) is amended--
(1) by striking subsection (e); and
(2) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as subsections
(e) and (f), respectively.
SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE USE OF VOLUNTARY AGREEMENTS.
(a) In General.--Section 708 of the Defense Production Act of 1950
(50 U.S.C. 4558) is amended--
(1) by striking subsection (c)(2) and inserting the
following: ``The authority granted to the President in
paragraph (1) and subsection (d) may be delegated by him to the
head of any Federal agency to which the President has delegated
authority under this Act.'';
(2) by striking subsection (c)(3);
(3) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ``and the Federal
Trade Commission.'';
(4) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
``(e) Rulemaking Relating to Voluntary Agreements.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce issue rules,
after approval of the Attorney General, in accordance with
section 553 of title 5, United States Code, that incorporate
standards and procedures by which voluntary agreements and
plans of action may be developed and carried out.
``(2) Publication requirement.--Notwithstanding section 553
of title 5, United States Code, the Secretary of Commerce shall
publish any rule issued under paragraph (1) in the Federal
Register not less than 30 days before the effective date of
such rule.''.
(5) in subsection (f)--
(A) in paragraph (1)(B)--
(i) striking by ``(after consultation with
the Chairman of the Federal Trade
Commission)''; and
(ii) striking by ``and publishes such a
finding in the Federal Register''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``(after
consultation with the Chairman of the Federal Trade
Commission)'';
(6) in subsection (g), by striking ``and the Chairman of
the Federal Trade Commission'' and inserting ``and the
Secretary of Commerce'';
(7) in subsection (h)--
(A) in subparagraph (2), by striking ``and the
Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission'';
(B) in subparagraph (3), by striking ``, or the
Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission'' in both
places it appears;
(C) in subparagraph (4), by striking ``and the
Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission'';
(D) by striking paragraphs (6), (7), (8), (10), and
(11) and redesignating paragraph (9) as paragraph (6);
(E) in subparagraph (6)(A), as so redesignated, by
striking ``the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission
and''; and
(F) in subparagraph (6)(B), as so redesignated, by
striking ``and the Chairman of the Federal Trade
Commission''.
(8) by striking subsection (i) and inserting the following:
``(i) Rules.--The Attorney General shall, not later than 270 days
after the date of the enactment of this subsection, issue a rule, in
accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, that
establishes how the Attorney General shall carry out the
responsibilities of the Attorney General under this section in a manner
that maintains a proper balance between providing for the national
defense and protecting competition and preventing anticompetitive
practices and effects from the creation and implementation of voluntary
agreements and their plans of action.''; and
(9) in subsection (k)--
(A) by striking ``and the Federal Trade
Commission''; and
(B) by striking ``(after consultation with the
Federal Trade Commission)''; and
(10) in subsection (m)--
(A) by striking ``(d)(2),''; and
(B) by striking ``(7), and (8),''.
(b) Required Development of Voluntary Agreement.--
(1) In general.--Not later than the later of the date that
is 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act and
the date on which the Attorney General issues a rule under
Section 708(i) of the Defense Production Act of 1950, the
President shall develop a voluntary agreement under section 708
of the Defense Production Act.
(2) Requirements.--The voluntary agreement entered by the
President under paragraph (1) shall--
(A) address a current critical national defense
issue, such as--
(i) the need for a plan of action to
respond to a catastrophic cyber attack on a
sector of critical infrastructure, as defined
in section 5195c(e) of title 42, United States
Code, including how to restore that sector as
quickly as possible from the attack through
public and private cooperation; or
(ii) another issue pertinent to national
defense as determined by the President and
notified to Congress within 270 days of
enactment of this Act; and
(B) use 1 or more of the units of the National
Defense Executive Reserve established under section 712
of the of the Defense Production Act of 1950.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line