Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. My amendment, No. 401, would examine the feasibility of piloting a workforce transition program for Active-Duty servicemen and -women who are currently in counterintelligence roles to give them the opportunity to obtain additional security clearance credentials upon their separation from service. A problem that many servicemembers in counterintelligence face upon separation from the military is that they are unable to transition their security clearances to be eligible to start work immediately for, or in support of, a Federal intelligence agency. The wait time to transition a security clearance can take over a year, and many of these individuals are forced to consider taking a lower paying job while they wait for the process to move forward, or we lose these individuals entirely when they take jobs in the private sector outside the intelligence community. These are members serving in roles that are in critical needs areas for our intelligence areas, such as cyberspace operations, cyber electronic warfare, and military intelligence. Because of these difficulties, our intelligence agencies are losing out on a highly qualified and diverse talent pool whose skills and training have already been paid for by the Federal Government.…”