(a) Authority.—To achieve the objective stated in subsection (b), the Secretary of Defense may regulate the amount of total compensation that is provided for senior executives of nonappropriated fund instrumentalities who, for the fixing of pay by administrative action, are under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military department.

(b) Pay Parity.—The objective of an action taken with respect to the compensation of senior executives under subsection (a) is to provide for parity between the total compensation provided for such senior executives and total compensation that is provided for Department of Defense employees in Senior Executive Service positions or other senior executive positions.

(c) Standards of Comparability.—Subject to subsection (d), the Secretary of Defense shall prescribe the standards of comparison that are to apply in the making of the determinations necessary to achieve the objective stated in subsection (b).

(d) Establishment of Pay Rates.—The Secretary of Defense shall apply subsections (a) and (b) of section 5382 of title 5 in the regulation of compensation under this section.

(e) Relationship to Pay Limitation.—The Secretary of Defense may exercise the authority provided in subsection (a) without regard to section 5373 of title 5.

(f) Definitions.—In this section:

(1) The term "compensation" includes rate of basic pay.

(2) The term "Senior Executive Service position" has the meaning given such term in section 3132 of title 5.