- 01.14.2014
Congress approves Testers SCORE Act
Senator’s bipartisan bill increases oversight of nation's security clearance process
(U.S. SENATE) – Senator Jon Tester today released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed his bipartisan SCORE Act that increases oversight of the security clearance background check process. The SCORE Act passed the Senate in October:
“Due to the NSA scandal and the terrible tragedy at the Washington Navy Yard, we know that our nation’s background check process badly needs reform – and now Congress has acted. This bipartisan bill will increase oversight and empower watchdogs to make our nation safer and our government more efficient. It’s a common-sense measure that saves taxpayer dollars, and I look forward to the President signing it into law.”
Tester’s bill allows the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to use resources from the agency’s $2 billion Revolving Fund to more thoroughly investigate cases where the integrity of the background check process may have been compromised. Current law blocks OPM from using the funds to investigate the background check process.
Tester originally introduced the SCORE Act after Edward Snowden, a former government contractor, publicly revealed classified information in June. The bill stems from hearings Tester held in his Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee that oversees the federal workforce.