REPORT TO CONGRESS ON MEASURES TO IMPROVE NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE ABILITY TO RESPOND TO EMERGENCIES.

SEC. 1231. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON MEASURES TO IMPROVE NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE ABILITY TO RESPOND TO EMERGENCIES. (a) Report.— Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report regarding reserve component responsiveness to both domestic emergencies and national contingency operations. The report shall set forth the measures taken, underway, and projected to be taken to improve the timeliness, adequacy, and effectiveness of reserve component responses to such emergencies and operations. (b) Matters Related to Responsiveness to Domestic Emergencies.— The report shall address the following: (1) The need to expand the time period set by section 12301(b) of title 10, United States Code, which permits the 110 STAT. 2696involuntary recall at any time to active duty of units and individuals for up to 15 days per year. (2) The recommendations of the 1995 report of the RAND Corporation entitled “Assessing the State and Federal Missions of the National Guard”, as follows: (A) That Federal law be clarified and amended to authorize Presidential use of the Federal reserves of all military services for domestic emergencies and disasters without any time constraint. (B) That the Secretary of Defense develop and support establishment of an appropriate national level compact for interstate sharing of resources, including the domestic capabilities of the national guards of the States, during emergencies and disasters. (C) That Federal level contingency stocks be created to support the National Guard in domestic disasters. (D) That Federal funding and regulatory support be provided for Federal-State disaster emergency response planning exercises. (c) Matters Related to Presidential Reserve Call-Up Authority.— The report under this section shall specifically address matters related to the authority of the President to activate for service on active duty units and members of reserve components under sections 12301, 12302, and 12304 of title 10, United States Code, including— (1) whether such authority is adequate to meet the full range of reserve component missions for the 21st century, particularly with regard to the time periods for which such units and members may be on active duty under those authorities and the ability to activate both units and individual members; and (2) whether the three-tiered set of statutory authorities (under such sections 12301, 12302, and 12304) should be consolidated, modified, or in part eliminated in order to facilitate current and future use of Reserve units and individual reserve component members for a broader range of missions, and, if so, in what manner. (d) Matters Related to Release From Active Duty.— The report under this section shall include findings and recommendations (based upon a review of current policies and procedures) concerning procedures for release from active duty or units and members of reserve components who have been involuntarily called or ordered to active duty under section 12301, 12302, or 12304 of title 10, United States Code, with specific recommendations concerning the desirability of statutory provisions to— (1) establish specific guidelines for when it is appropriate (or inappropriate) to retain on active duty such reserve component units when active component units are available to perform the mission being performed by the reserve component unit; (2) minimize the effects of frequent mobilization of the civilian employers, as well as the effects of frequent mobilization on recruiting and retention in the reserve components; and (3) address other matters relating to the needs of such members of reserve components, their employers, and (in the case of such members who own businesses) their employees, while such members are on active duty. 110 STAT. 2697 (e) Reserve Forces Policy Board Participation.— The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the Reserve Forces Policy Board participates in the internal Department of Defense process for development of the recommendations of the Secretary contained in the report under subsection (a). If the Board submits to the Secretary any comments or recommendations for inclusion in the report, the Secretary shall transmit them to Congress, with the report, in the same form as that in which they were submitted to the Secretary. (f) GAO Review.— The Comptroller General of the United States shall assess the criteria used by the Secretary of Defense to develop recommendations for purposes of the report under this section and shall submit to Congress, not later than 30 days after the date on which the report of the Secretary under this section is submitted, a report setting forth the Comptroller General’s conclusions concerning the adequacy and completeness of the recommendations made by the Secretary in the report.