§ 2165. Security restrictions

(a) On contractors and licensees

No arrangement shall be made under section 2051 of this title, no contract shall be made or continued in effect under section 2061 of this title, and no license shall be issued under section 2133 or 2134 of this title, unless the person with whom such arrangement is made, the contractor or prospective contractor, or the prospective licensee agrees in writing not to permit any individual to have access to Restricted Data until the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall have made an investigation and report to the Commission on the character, associations, and loyalty of such individual, and the Commission shall have determined that permitting such person to have access to Restricted Data will not endanger the common defense and security.

(b) Employment of personnel; access to Restricted Data

Except as authorized by the Commission or the General Manager upon a determination by the Commission or General Manager that such action is clearly consistent with the national interest, no individual shall be employed by the Commission nor shall the Commission permit any individual to have access to Restricted Data until the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall have made an investigation and report to the Commission on the character, associations, and loyalty of such individual, and the Commission shall have determined that permitting such person to have access to Restricted Data will not endanger the common defense and security.

In lieu of the investigation and report to be made by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the Commission may accept an investigation and report on the character, associations, and loyalty of an individual made by another Government agency which conducts personnel security investigations, provided that a security clearance has been granted to such individual by another Government agency based on such investigation and report.

(d) Investigations by FBI

In the event an investigation made pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section develops any data reflecting that the individual who is the subject of the investigation is of questionable loyalty, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall refer the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the conduct of a full field investigation, the results of which shall be furnished to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management for his information and appropriate action.

(e) Presidential investigation

(1) If the President deems it to be in the national interest he may from time to time determine that investigations of any group or class which are required by subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section be made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

(2) In the case of an individual employed in a program known as a Special Access Program, any investigation required by subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section shall be made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

(f) Performance of personnel security investigations by FBI

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section, but subject to subsection (e) of this section, a majority of the members of the Commission may direct that an investigation required by such provisions on an individual described in paragraph (2) be carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation rather than by the Civil Service Commission.

(2) An individual described in this paragraph is an individual who is employed—

(A) in a program certified by a majority of the members of the Commission to be of a high degree of importance or sensitivity; or

(B) in any other specific position certified by a majority of the members of the Commission to be of a high degree of importance or sensitivity.

(g) Investigation standards

The Commission shall establish standards and specifications in writing as to the scope and extent of investigations, the reports of which will be utilized by the Commission in making the determination, pursuant to subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section, that permitting a person access to restricted data will not endanger the common defense and security. Such standards and specifications shall be based on the location and class or kind of work to be done, and shall, among other considerations, take into account the degree of importance to the common defense and security of the restricted data to which access will be permitted.

(h) War time clearance

Whenever the Congress declares that a state of war exists, or in the event of a national disaster due to enemy attack, the Commission is authorized during the state of war or period of national disaster due to enemy attack to employ individuals and to permit individuals access to Restricted Data pending the investigation report, and determination required by subsection (b) of this section, to the extent that and so long as the Commission finds that such action is required to prevent impairment of its activities in furtherance of the common defense and security.

U.S. Code

§ 2165. Security restrictions