AMENDMENTS TO FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT.

SEC. 311. AMENDMENTS TO FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT. (a) Exception to Consumer Disclosure Requirement.—Section 604(b) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(b)) (as amended by chapter 1 of subtitle D of the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(4) Exception for national security investigations.— “(A) In general.—In the case of an agency or department of the United States Government which seeks to obtain and use a consumer report for employment purposes, paragraph (3) shall not apply to any adverse action by such agency or department which is based in part on such consumer report, if the head of such agency or department makes a written finding that— “(i) the consumer report is relevant to a national security investigation of such agency or department; “(ii) the investigation is within the jurisdiction of such agency or department; “(iii) there is reason to believe that compliance with paragraph (3) will— “(I) endanger the life or physical safety of any person; “(II) result in flight from prosecution; “(III) result in the destruction of, or tampering with, evidence relevant to the investigation; “(IV) result in the intimidation of a potential witness relevant to the investigation; “(V) result in the compromise of classified information; or “(VI) otherwise seriously jeopardize or unduly delay the investigation or another official proceeding. “(B) Notification of consumer upon conclusion of investigation.—Upon the conclusion of a national security investigation described in subparagraph (A), or upon the determination that the exception under subparagraph (A) is no longer required for the reasons set forth in such subparagraph, the official exercising the authority in such subparagraph shall provide to the consumer who is the subject of the consumer report with regard to which such finding was made— “(i) a copy of such consumer report with any classified information redacted as necessary; “(ii) notice of any adverse action which is based, in part, on the consumer report; and “(iii) the identification with reasonable specificity of the nature of the investigation for which the consumer report was sought. “(C) Delegation by head of agency or department.—For purposes of subparagraphs (A) and (B), the head of any agency or department of the United States 111 STAT. 2256Government may delegate his or her authorities under this paragraph to an official of such agency or department who has personnel security responsibilities and is a member of the Senior Executive Service or equivalent civilian or military rank. “(D) Report to the congress.—Not later than January 31 of each year, the head of each agency and department of the United States Government that exercised authority under this paragraph during the preceding year shall submit a report to the Congress on the number of times the department or agency exercised such authority during the year. “(E) Definitions.—For purposes of this paragraph, the following definitions shall apply: “(i) Classified information.—The term ‘classified information' means information that is protected from unauthorized disclosure under Executive Order No. 12958 or successor orders. “(ii) National security investigation.—The term ‘national security investigation’ means any official inquiry by an agency or department of the United States Government to determine the eligibility of a consumer to receive access or continued access to classified information or to determine whether classified information has been lost or compromised.”. (b) Resale of Consumer Report to a Federal Agency or Department.—Section 607(e) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (12 U.S.C. 1681e(e)) (as amended by chapter 1 of subtitle D of the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(3) Resale of consumer report to a federal agency or department.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or (2), a person who procures a consumer report for purposes of reselling the report (or any information in the report) shall not disclose the identity of the end-user of the report under paragraph (1) or (2) if— “(A) the end user is an agency or department of the United States Government which procures the report from the person for purposes of determining the eligibility of the consumer concerned to receive access or continued access to classified information (as defined in section 604(b)(4)(E)(i)); and “(B) the agency or department certifies in writing to the person reselling the report that nondisclosure is necessary to protect classified information or the safety of persons employed by or contracting with, or undergoing investigation for work or contracting with the agency or department.”. (c) Effective Date.—The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect as if such amendments had been included in chapter 1 of subtitle D of the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 as of the date of the enactment of such Act.