Recap: PSC Participates in Congressional Roundtable on Security Clearance Reforms

May 27, 2021 | By Cate Benedetti, Vice President, Government Relations, PSC

On May 26, 2021, the Professional Services Council (PSC) participated in a virtual roundtable before the House Committee Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on Government Operations, hosted by Chairman Gerry Connolly, on security clearance procedures and reforms. The roundtable included government and industry and provided an opportunity to highlight ongoing issues with the government-wide security clearance process. 

View the recording of the roundtable here.

Stephanie Kostro, PSC’s Executive Vice President for Policy, provided testimony on key challenges for federal contractors, and set the stage for the conversation by laying out three topics that remain as top concerns for industry: reciprocity, the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) platform, and information sharing and communication.

“PSC is grateful for Chairman Connolly’s leadership on this issue and his continued focus to make the clearance process better, faster and more secure,” said Kostro. “There has been real and tangible progress, but there are also remains persistent challenges that need prioritization.”  



The roundtable also included PSC member companies, Director Bill Lietzau and representatives of Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, and Brian Mazanec from the Government Accountability Office. In addition to Chairman Connolly, Ranking Member Jody Hice and Representatives Don Beyer and Eleanor Holmes Norton participated. 


 
“Chairman Connolly noted that it is incumbent on the government to communicate with industry and that this is a partnership,” Kostro continued. “PSC looks forward to continuing this dialog to ensure that our member companies can recruit and retain the trusted workforce needed for mission success.”



Learn more about what PSC is doing to improve the government-wide personnel security clearance process by visiting our Security Clearance Resource Center or contact policy@pscouncil.org. 

Check out media coverage on the roundtable:

New Background Investigation Initiative Will Include Everyone by End of 2023 (Federal Times | 5/26/21)
DCSA’s new program for continuously monitoring individuals with security clearances, Trusted Workforce 2.0, should have all agencies and contractors onboarded by the end of 2023, the agency’s director, William Lietzau.

Defense Department Making Security Clearance Progress, But Reciprocity, IT Issues Remain (Nextgov | 5/26/21)
During a House Committee on Oversight and Reform government operations subcommittee roundtable hosted by Rep. Gerry Connolly, chairman of the subcommittee, William Lietzau, DCSA director, reported progress on multiple fronts.

Industry urges DCSA to accelerate security clearance transformation efforts (Federal News Network | 5/27/21)
After years of complaints with a record-high backlog and an outdated suitability, credentialing and security clearance process, industry sees agencies making steady, if not slow, progress.

Tech can help, but clearance reciprocity is a policy issue (FCW | 5/27/21)
The backlog of security clearance investigations has continued to drop from a 2018 high of 725,000 to a steady state inventory of 200,000, but agencies and contractors continue to struggle with reciprocity issues.