Under regulations to be prescribed by the President, the Secretary concerned shall provide a system of continuous screening of units and members of the Ready Reserve to ensure the following:

(1) That there will be no significant attrition of those members or units during a mobilization.

(2) That there is a proper balance of military skills.

(3) That except for those with military skills for which there is an overriding requirement, members having critical civilian skills are not retained in numbers beyond the need for those skills.

(4) That with due regard to national security and military requirements, recognition will be given to participation in combat.

(5) That members whose mobilization in an emergency would result in an extreme personal or community hardship are not retained in the Ready Reserve.

The transfer or discharge of an individual who is both a member of the Ready Reserve and a Member of Congress may be ordered—

(1) In applying Ready Reserve continuous screening under this section, an individual who is both a member of the Ready Reserve and a Member of Congress may not be transferred to the Standby Reserve or discharged on account of the individual’s position as a Member of Congress.

The transfer or discharge of an individual who is both a member of the Ready Reserve and a Member of Congress may be ordered—

(A) only by the Secretary of Defense or, in the case of a Member of Congress who also is a member of the Coast Guard Reserve, the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating when it is not operating as a service in the Navy; and

(B) only on the basis of the needs of the service, taking into consideration the position and duties of the individual in the Ready Reserve.

(3) In this subsection, the term “Member of Congress” includes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to Congress and a Member-elect.

Under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, and by the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, a member of the Ready Reserve who is designated as a member not to be retained in the Ready Reserve as a result of screening under subsection (a) shall, as appropriate, be—

(1) transferred to the Standby Reserve;

(2) discharged; or

(3) if the member is eligible and applies therefor, transferred to the Retired Reserve.

(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2974; amended Pub. L. 107–296, title XVII, § 1704(b)(1), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2314; Pub. L. 114–92, div. A, title V, § 511, Nov. 25, 2015, 129 Stat. 808.)