S.Amdt. 2420

SA 2420. Mr. HATCH (for himself and Ms. Cortez Masto) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2282 submitted by Mr.
Inhofe (for himself and Mr. McCain) and intended to be proposed to the
bill H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle A of title XI, add the following:

SEC. 1107. MODIFICATION OF TEMPORARY DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY
FOR MAJOR RANGE AND TEST FACILITIES BASE
FACILITIES IN ORDER TO FILL MISSION ESSENTIAL
POSITIONS AT SUCH FACILITIES.

Section 1125 of the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2017 (10 U.S.C. 1580 note prec.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections
(c) and (d), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new
subsection (b):
``(b) Exercise of Authority by MRTFB Facilities.--
``(1) In general.--In fiscal years 2019 through 2021, the
authority provided in (a) with respect to the Major Range and
Test Facilities Base shall be delegated to the commander of a
facility of the Major Range and Test Facilities Base, or the
civilian equivalent of the commander at the facility.
``(2) Position requirements.--An appointment covered by
this authority may be made

[[Page S3328]]

when the position to be filled is essential to mission needs
as determined by the facility commander, or civilian
equivalent.
``(3) Term of appointment.--
``(A) In general.--Appointments under this authority may be
made on a permanent, term, or temporary basis.
``(B) Noncompetitive conversion to career conditional
appointment.--The commander of a facility, or civilian
equivalent, may noncompetitively convert an individual
appointed to a term or temporary appointment in accordance
with this subsection to a career conditional appointment at
the facility without regard to the provisions of subchapter I
of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, other than
sections 3303 and 3328 of such title, if the individual meets
all eligibility and qualification requirements for the
position at the time of conversion.''.
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