AMENDMENT TO RULES COMMITTEE PRINT 117–54OFFERED BY MR. GALLAGHER OF WISCONSINAt the end of subtitle E of title XVI, add the following new section: 1 SEC. 16ll. UNIDENTIFIED AERIAL PHENOMENA REPORT ING PROCEDURES.
3 (a) AUTHORIZATION FOR REPORTING.—Notwith4 standing the terms of any written or oral nondisclosure 5 agreement, order, or other instrumentality or means, that 6 could be interpreted as a legal constraint on reporting by 7 a witness of an unidentified aerial phenomena, reporting 8 in accordance with the system established under sub9 section (b) is hereby authorized and shall be deemed to 10 comply with any regulation or order issued under the authority of Executive Order 13526 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; 12 relating to classified national security information) or 13 chapter 18 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 14 2271 et seq.).
15 (b) SYSTEM FOR REPORTING.— 16 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The head of the Office, 17 on behalf of the Secretary of Defense and the DirecVerDate Nov 24 2008 10:01 Jul 01, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201
C:\USERS\AJSCIASCIA\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\GALLWI_1 July 1, 2022 (10:01 a.m.) G:\M\17\GALLWI\GALLWI_166.XML g:\VHLD\070122\D070122.024.xml (846812|2) 2 1 tor of National Intelligence, shall establish a secure system for receiving reports of— 3
(A) any event relating to unidentified aerial phenomena; and 5 (B) any Government or Government con6 tractor activity or program related to unidentified aerial phenomena. 8 (2) PROTECTION OF SYSTEMS, PROGRAMS, AND 9 ACTIVITY.—The system established pursuant to 10 paragraph (1) shall serve as a mechanism to prevent 11 unauthorized public reporting or compromise of 12 properly classified military and intelligence systems, 13 programs, and related activity, including all categories and levels of special access and compartmented access programs, current, historical, and future. 17 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—The system established 18 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be administered by 19 designated and widely known, easily accessible, and 20 appropriately cleared Department of Defense and intelligence community employees or contractors assigned to the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task 23 Force or the Office. 24 (4) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—
The system 25 established under paragraph (1) shall provide for the VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:01 Jul 01, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201
C:\USERS\AJSCIASCIA\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\GALLWI_1 July 1, 2022 (10:01 a.m.) G:\M\17\GALLWI\GALLWI_166.XML g:\VHLD\070122\D070122.024.xml (846812|2) 3 1 immediate sharing with Office personnel and sup2 porting analysts and scientists of information pre3 viscously prohibited from reporting under any non4 disclosure written or oral agreement, order, or other 5 instrumentality or means, except in cases where the 6 cleared Government personnel administering such 7 system conclude that the preponderance of information available regarding the reporting indicates that 9 the observed object and associated events and activi10 ties likely relate to a special access program or compartmented access program that, as of the date of 12 the reporting, has been explicitly and clearly re13 ported to the congressional defense committees and 14 congressional intelligence committees, and is documented as meeting those criteria. 16 (5) INITIAL REPORT AND PUBLICATION.—Not 17 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 18 of this Act, the head of the Office, on behalf of the 19 Secretary and the Director, shall— 20 (A) submit to the congressional intelligence 21 committees, the congressional defense commit22 tees, and congressional leadership a report de23 tailing the system established under paragraph 24 (1); and VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:01 Jul 01, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201
C:\USERS\AJSCIASCIA\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\GALLWI_1 July 1, 2022 (10:01 a.m.) G:\M\17\GALLWI\GALLWI_166.XML g:\VHLD\070122\D070122.024.xml (846812|2) 4 1 (B) make available to the public on a 2 website of the Department of Defense informa3 tion about such system, including clear public 4 guidance for accessing and using such system 5 and providing feedback about the expected 6 timeline to process a report. 7 (6) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Section 1683 of the 8 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 9 2022 (50 U.S.C. 3373) is amended— 10 (A) in subsection (h)— 11 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting 12 ‘‘and congressional leadership’’ after ‘‘ap13 propriate congressional committees’’; and 14 (ii) in paragraph (2), by adding at the 15 end the following new subparagraph: 16 ‘‘(Q) A summary of the reports received 17 using the system established under title XVI of 18 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fis19 cal Year 2023.’’; and 20 (B) in subsection (l)— 21 (i) by re-designating paragraphs (2) 22 through (5) as paragraphs (3) through (6), 23 respectively; and 24 (ii) by inserting after paragraph (1) 25 the following new paragraph (2): VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:01 Jul 01, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201
C:\USERS\AJSCIASCIA\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\GALLWI_1 July 1, 2022 (10:01 a.m.) G:\M\17\GALLWI\GALLWI_166.XML g:\VHLD\070122\D070122.024.xml (846812|2) 5 1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘congressional leadership’ 2 means— 3 ‘‘(A) the majority leader of the Senate; 4 ‘‘(B) the minority leader of the Senate; 5 ‘‘(C) the Speaker of the House of Rep6 representatives; and 7 ‘‘(D) the minority leader of the House of 8 Representatives.’’. 9 (c) RECORDS OF NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS.—
10 (1) IDENTIFICATION OF NONDISCLOSURE 11 AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of 13 Homeland Security, the heads of such other departments and agencies of the Federal Government that 15 have supported investigations of the types of events 16 covered by subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(1) 17 and activities and programs described subparagraph 18 (B) of such subsection, and contractors of the Federal Government supporting such activities and pro20 grams shall conduct comprehensive searches of all 21 records relating to nondisclosure orders or agreements or other obligations relating to the types of 23 events described in subsection (a) and provide copies 24 of all Relevant documents to the Office. VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:01 Jul 01, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201
C:\USERS\AJSCIASCIA\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\GALLWI_1 July 1, 2022 (10:01 a.m.) G:\M\17\GALLWI\GALLWI_166.XML g:\VHLD\070122\D070122.024.xml (846812|2) 6 1 (2) SUBMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—The head of the Office shall— 3 (A) make the records compiled under paragraph (1) accessible to the congressional intelligence committees, the congressional defense 6 committees, and congressional leadership; and 7 (B) not later than September 30, 2023, 8 and at least once each fiscal year thereafter 9 through fiscal year 2026, provide to such committees and congressional leadership briefings 11 and reports on such records.
12 (d) PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY AND PRIVATE 13 RIGHT OF ACTION.— 14 (1) PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY.—It shall not 15 be a violation of section 798 of title 18, United 16 States Code, or any other provision of law, and no 17 cause of action shall lie or be maintained in any 18 court or other tribunal against any person, for re19 porting any information through, and in compliance 20 with, the system established pursuant to subsection 21 (b)(1). 22 (2) PROHIBITION ON REPRISALS.—An employee 23 of a Federal agency and an employee of a contractor 24 for the Federal Government who has authority to 25 take, direct others to take, recommend, or approve VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:01 Jul 01, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201
C:\USERS\AJSCIASCIA\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\GALLWI_1 July 1, 2022 (10:01 a.m.) G:\M\17\GALLWI\GALLWI_166.XML g:\VHLD\070122\D070122.024.xml (846812|2) 7 1 any personnel action, shall not, with respect to such 2 authority, take or fail to take, or threaten to take 3 or fail to take, a personnel action, including the revocation or suspension of security clearances, with respect to any individual as a reprisal for any reporting as described in paragraph (1). 7
(3) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—In a case in 8 which an employee described in paragraph (2) takes 9 a personnel action against an individual in violation 10 of such paragraph, the individual may bring a private civil action for all appropriate remedies, including injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive 13 damages, against the Government or other employer 14 who took the personnel action, in the United States 15 Court of Federal Claims. 16 (e) REVIEW BY INSPECTORS GENERAL.—Not later 17 than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 18 the Inspector General of the Department of Defense and 19 the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community shall 20 each— 21
(1) conduct an assessment of the compliance 22 with the requirements of this section and the operation and efficacy of the system established under 24 subsection (b); and VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:01 Jul 01, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\AJSCIASCIA\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\GALLWI_1 July 1, 2022 (10:01 a.m.) G:\M\17\GALLWI\GALLWI_166.XML g:\VHLD\070122\D070122.024.xml (846812|2) 8 1 (2) submit to the congressional intelligence 2 committees, the congressional defense committees, 3 and congressional leadership a report on their respective findings with respect to the assessments 5 they conducted under paragraph (1). 6 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) The term ‘‘congressional intelligence committees’’ has the meaning given such term in section 9 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 10 3003). 11 (2) The term ‘‘congressional leadership’’ 12 means— 13 (A) the majority leader of the Senate; 14 (B) the minority leader of the Senate; 15 (C) the Speaker of the House of Rep16 representatives; and 17 (D) the minority leader of the House of 18 Representatives. 19 (3) The term ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the 20 meaning given such term in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 22 (4) The term ‘‘Office’’ means the office established under section 1683(a) of the National Defense 24 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (50 U.S.C. 25 3373(a)). VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:01 Jul 01, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201
C:\USERS\AJSCIASCIA\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\GALLWI_1 July 1, 2022 (10:01 a.m.) G:\M\17\GALLWI\GALLWI_166.XML g:\VHLD\070122\D070122.024.xml (846812|2) 9 1 (5) The term ‘‘personnel action’’ has the meaning given such term in section 1104(a) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3234(a)). 4 (6) The term ‘‘unidentified aerial phenomena’’ 5 has the meaning given such term in section 1683(l) 6 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 7 Year 2022\
(50 U.S.C. 3373(l)). ◊ VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:01 Jul 01, 2022 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 C:\USERS\AJSCIASCIA\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\11.0\GEN\C\GALLWI_1 July 1, 2022 (10:01 a.m.) G:\M\17\GALLWI\GALLWI_166.XML g:\VHLD\070122\D070122.024.xml (846812|2)
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