; (2) the term Commissioner means the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection; (3) the term Director means the Director of the Office of Personnel Management; (4) the term Secretary means the Secretary of Homeland Security; and (5) the term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Oversight and Reform, the Committee on Homeland Security, and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Finance of the Senate. (b) Direct hire authority; recruitment and relocation bonuses; retention bonuses (1) Direct hire authority The Secretary may appoint, without regard to sections 3309 through 3319, candidates to positions in the competitive service within U.S. Customs and Border Protection if the Secretary has given public notice of such positions before making any such appointment. (2) Recruitment and relocation bonuses The Secretary may pay a recruitment or relocation bonus of up to 50 percent of the annual rate of basic pay to an individual CBP employee as of the first day of the applicable service period (as prescribed by a written service agreement described in subparagraph (B)) multiplied by the number of years (including a fractional part of a year) in the service period if— (A) the Secretary determines that conditions consistent with the conditions described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b) of section 5753 are satisfied with respect to the individual (without regard to the regulations referenced in subsection (b)(2)(B)(ii)(I)); and (B) the individual enters into a written service agreement with the Secretary— (i) under which the individual is required to complete a period of employment as a CBP employee of not less than 2 years; and (ii) that includes— (I) the commencement and termination dates of the required service period (or provisions for the determination thereof); (II) the amount of the bonus