Sec. 1663. Unidentified aerial phenomena reporting procedures
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Notwithstanding the terms of any written or oral nondisclosure agreement, order, or other instrumentality or means, that could be interpreted as a legal constraint on reporting by a witness of an unidentified aerial phenomena, reporting in accordance with the system established under subsection
(b)is hereby authorized and shall be deemed to comply with any regulation or order issued under the authority of Executive Order 13526 ( 50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to classified national security information) or chapter 18 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 ( 42 U.S.C. 2271 et seq. ). The head of the Office, on behalf of the Secretary of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence, shall establish a secure system for receiving reports of— any event relating to unidentified aerial phenomena; and any Government or Government contractor activity or program related to unidentified aerial phenomena. The system established pursuant to paragraph
(1)shall serve as a mechanism to prevent unauthorized public reporting or compromise of properly classified military and intelligence systems, programs, and related activity, including all categories and levels of special access and compartmented access programs, current, historical, and future. The system established pursuant to paragraph
(1)shall be administered by designated and widely known, easily accessible, and appropriately cleared Department of Defense and intelligence community employees or contractors assigned to the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force or the Office. The system established under paragraph
(1)shall provide for the immediate sharing with Office personnel and supporting analysts and scientists of information previously prohibited from reporting under any nondisclosure written or oral agreement, order, or other instrumentality or means, except in cases where the cleared Government personnel administering such system conclude that the preponderance of information available regarding the reporting indicates that the observed object and associated events and activities likely relate to a special access program or compartmented access program that, as of the date of the reporting, has been explicitly and clearly reported to the congressional defense committees and congressional intelligence committees, and is documented as meeting those criteria. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of the Office, on behalf of the Secretary and the Director, shall— submit to the congressional intelligence committees, the congressional defense committees, and congressional leadership a report detailing the system established under paragraph (1); and make available to the public on a website of the Department of Defense information about such system, including clear public guidance for accessing and using such system and providing feedback about the expected timeline to process a report. Section 1683 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 ( 50 U.S.C. 3373 ) is amended— in subsection (h)— in paragraph (1), by inserting and congressional leadership after appropriate congressional committees ; and in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: A summary of the reports received using the system established under title XVI of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. ; and in subsection (l)— by redesignating paragraphs
(2)through
(5)as paragraphs
(3)through (6), respectively; and by inserting after paragraph
(1)the following new paragraph (2): The term congressional leadership means— the majority leader of the Senate; the minority leader of the Senate; the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and the minority leader of the House of Representatives. . The Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the heads of such other departments and agencies of the Federal Government that have supported investigations of the types of events covered by subparagraph
(A)of subsection (b)(1) and activities and programs described subparagraph
(B)of such subsection, and contractors of the Federal Government supporting such activities and programs shall conduct comprehensive searches of all records relating to nondisclosure orders or agreements or other obligations relating to the types of events described in subsection
(a)and provide copies of all relevant documents to the Office. The head of the Office shall— make the records compiled under paragraph
(1)accessible to the congressional intelligence committees, the congressional defense committees, and congressional leadership; and not later than September 30, 2023, and at least once each fiscal year thereafter through fiscal year 2026, provide to such committees and congressional leadership briefings and reports on such records. It shall not be a violation of section 798 of title 18, United States Code, or any other provision of law, and no cause of action shall lie or be maintained in any court or other tribunal against any person, for reporting any information through, and in compliance with, the system established pursuant to subsection (b)(1). An employee of a Federal agency and an employee of a contractor for the Federal Government who has authority to take, direct others to take, recommend, or approve any personnel action, shall not, with respect to such authority, take or fail to take, or threaten to take or fail to take, a personnel action, including the revocation or suspension of security clearances, with respect to any individual as a reprisal for any reporting as described in paragraph (1). In a case in which an employee described in paragraph
(2)takes a personnel action against an individual in violation of such paragraph, the individual may bring a private civil action for all appropriate remedies, including injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive damages, against the Government or other employer who took the personnel action, in the United States Court of Federal Claims. Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense and the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community shall each— conduct an assessment of the compliance with the requirements of this section and the operation and efficacy of the system established under subsection (b); and submit to the congressional intelligence committees, the congressional defense committees, and congressional leadership a report on their respective findings with respect to the assessments they conducted under paragraph (1). In this section: The term congressional intelligence committees has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 ( 50 U.S.C. 3003 ). The term congressional leadership means— the majority leader of the Senate; the minority leader of the Senate; the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and the minority leader of the House of Representatives. The term intelligence community has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 ( 50 U.S.C. 3003 ). The term Office means the office established under section 1683(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 ( 50 U.S.C. 3373(a) ). The term personnel action has the meaning given such term in section 1104(a) of the National Security Act of 1947 ( 50 U.S.C. 3234(a) ). The term unidentified aerial phenomena has the meaning given such term in section 1683(l) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 ( 50 U.S.C. 3373(l) ).
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Sec. 1663
Unidentified aerial phenomena reporting procedures
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