2019 US Code
Title 10 - Armed Forces
Subtitle A - General Military Law
Part II - Personnel
Chapter 80 - Miscellaneous Investigation Requirements and Other Duties
Sec. 1564b - Security vetting for foreign nationals

(a) Standards and Process.—(1) The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Security Executive Agent established pursuant to Executive Order 13467 (73 Fed. Reg. 38103; 50 U.S.C. 3161 note), shall develop uniform and consistent standards and a centralized process for the screening and vetting of covered foreign individuals requiring access to systems, facilities, personnel, information, or operations, of the Department of Defense, including with respect to the background investigations of covered foreign individuals requiring access to classified information.

(2) The Secretary shall ensure that the standards developed under paragraph (1) are consistent with relevant directives of the Security Executive Agent.

(3) The Secretary shall designate an official of the Department of Defense to be responsible for executing the centralized process developed under paragraph (1) and adjudicating any information discovered pursuant to such process.

(b) Other Uses.—In addition to using the centralized process developed under subsection (a)(1) for covered foreign individuals, the Secretary may use the centralized process in determining whether to grant a security clearance to any individual with significant foreign influence or foreign preference issues, in accordance with the adjudicative guidelines under part 147 of title 32, Code of Federal Regulations, or such successor regulation.

(c) Covered Foreign Individual Defined.—In this section, the term "covered foreign individual" means an individual who meets the following criteria:

(Added Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title XVI, §1622(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 2117.)

Executive Order 13467, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), is Ex. Ord. No. 13467, June 30, 2008, 73 F.R. 38103, which is set out as a note under section 3161 of Title 50, War and National Defense.