PUBLIC LAW 104-201—SEPT. 23, 1996 110 STAT. 2695 (d) 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. (e) GAO REVIEW. —The Comptroller General of the United Reports. States shall assess the criteria used by the Secretary of Defense to develop recojnmendations 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. SEC. 1214. GUARD AND RESERVE TECHNICIANS. Section 10216 of title 10, United States Code, as amended by section 413, is amended— (1) by redesignating subsections (a), (b), and (c) as subsections (b), (c), and (d), respectively; (2) by inserting after the section heading the following new subsection (a): "(a) IN GENERAL.— Military technicians are Federal civilian employees hired under title 5 and title 32 who are required to maintain dual-status as drilling reserve component members as a condition of their Federal civilian employment. Such employees shall be authorized and accounted for as a separate category of dual-status civilian employees, exempt as specified in subsection (b)(3) from any general or regulatory requirement for adjustments in Department of Defense civilian personnel."; and (3) in paragraph (3) of subsection (b), as redesignated by paragraph (1), by striking out "in high-priority units and organizations specified in paragraph (1)". Subtitle B—Reserve Component Accessibility 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 EMER- GENCIES.— 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
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