S.Amdt. 517

SA 517. Mr. KENNEDY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 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 appropriate place in title XI, insert the following:

SEC. __. OPTIMIZING THE CIVILIAN WORKFORCE OF THE DEPARTMENT
OF DEFENSE.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:

[[Page S2651]]

(1) The civilian workforce of the Department of Defense
makes valuable contributions to overall mission success, but
its cost is growing at an unsustainable rate.
(2) Between fiscal years 2018 and 2022, expenditures for
pay for civilian employees of the Department grew by
approximately $15,000,000,000, and in fiscal year 2022, such
expenditures exceeded $101,000,000,000.
(3) With the maturation of commercial technologies such as
robotic process automation and artificial intelligence, costs
can be significantly reduced and manual processes across the
Department could be eliminated.
(4) The Department's adherence to legacy systems,
processes, and practices in its business operations creates
an inefficient application of manpower, squanders resources
that could be applied to increase operational readiness, and
is detrimental to the efforts of the Department to recruit
and retain top talent.
(5) Optimizing the civilian workforce of the Department is
critical to meeting current and future threats in a fiscally
prudent manner.
(b) Reduction of Funds for the Department of Defense
Civilian Workforce.--
(1) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Department of Defense for pay for
civilian employees of the Department for fiscal year 2024
such sums as are necessary to optimize the civilian workforce
while reducing costs through the use of relevant
technologies.
(2) Exclusion from reductions.--Of amounts authorized to be
appropriated under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense
shall make available for civilian positions in the Department
of Defense supporting shipyard, depot, health care, sexual
assault response, and acquisition duties not less than the
amounts available for such positions during fiscal year 2023.
(c) Budget Justification Materials for Department of
Defense Civilian Workforce.--
(1) Pay exhibit.--The Secretary of Defense shall--
(A) in consultation with the Committee on Appropriations of
the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations of the House
of Representatives, develop a comprehensive and consolidated
budget exhibit outlining the costs of pay for civilian
employees of the Department of Defense; and
(B) include the exhibit in the budget justification
materials submitted to Congress in support of the budget of
the Department for fiscal year 2025 (as submitted with the
budget of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31,
United States Code).
(2) Other information.--In the budget justification
materials described in paragraph (1)(B) for fiscal year 2025
and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of Defense
shall identify mission changes, areas of technology
implementation, and business process improvements that will
optimize the size, structure, and composition of the civilian
workforce of the Department of Defense and the allocation of
manpower of the Department compared to requirements of the
Department.
(d) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
submit to the congressional defense committees a report that
includes the following:
(A) A reassessment of total force manpower resources
compared to core missions, tasks, and functions, including a
mapping of missions to originating statute or policy of the
Department of Defense.
(B) A plan with specific goals and metrics for measuring
the adoption of technologies relevant to the civilian
workforce of the Department, such as automation and
artificial intelligence, and business process improvements
across the Department.
(C) A timeline for implementation of the goals included
under subparagraph (B).
(D) A forecast of manpower savings as a result of efforts
to achieve those goals across the future years defense
program.
(E) An identification of any additional resources or
authorities necessary to achieve those goals.
(2) Limitation.--None of the funds authorized to be
appropriated for the civilian workforce for the Department of
Defense for fiscal year 2024 or any fiscal year thereafter
may be obligated or expended to establish or operate a
Department of Defense Civilian Workforce Incentive Fund until
30 days after the date on which the report required by
paragraph (1) is submitted under such paragraph.
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