[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2688 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2688

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a deadline for the 
  screening of all individuals, goods, property, vehicles, and other 
equipment entering a secure area of an airport, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 26, 2005

   Mrs. Lowey (for herself, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Loretta 
  Sanchez of California, Mr. Andrews, and Mr. McNulty) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                                Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a deadline for the 
  screening of all individuals, goods, property, vehicles, and other 
equipment entering a secure area of an airport, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Guaranteeing Airport Physical 
Screening Standards Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. SCREENING OF ALL INDIVIDUALS AND PROPERTY ENTERING SECURE AREAS 
              OF AN AIRPORT.

    (a) Deadline.--Section 44903(h)(4)(A) of title 49, United States 
Code, is amended by striking ``as soon as practicable after the date of 
enactment of this subsection'' and inserting ``not later than 120 days 
after the date of enactment of the Guaranteeing Airport Physical 
Screening Standards Act of 2005''.
    (b) Screening and Inspection Requirements.--Section 44903(h)(4)(B) 
of such title is amended by inserting before the semicolon at the end 
the following: ``and will include at a minimum physical screening for 
metal objects''.
    (c) Interim Measures.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
require random screenings and inspections of individuals, goods, 
property, vehicles, and other equipment at the entrances of, and 
within, secure areas of an airport until such date as the Secretary has 
fully complied with the requirements of section 44903(h)(4)(A) of such 
title. The random screenings and inspections shall be conducted in a 
manner that assures the level of protection described in section 
44903(h)(4)(B) of such title, as amended by this section. The random 
screenings and inspections shall be unannounced and shall be conducted 
24 hours a day.

SEC. 3. HIRING OF SCREENERS.

    (a) Number of Screeners.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, the Secretary of Homeland Security may hire the number of 
passenger and baggage screeners that the Secretary determines necessary 
to ensure aviation security.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.

SEC. 4. AIRPORT SITE ACCESS AND PERIMETER SECURITY.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
security directives issued by the Acting Administrator of the 
Transportation Security Administration on July 6, 2004, regarding 
security measures concerning access to sensitive airport areas 
constitute an improvement over current practice but are not sufficient 
to provide adequate airport access controls.
    (b) Access to Sterile Areas.--Not later than 6 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
require airport personnel accessing airport sterile areas from 
unrestricted areas to undergo security screening equivalent to 
screening of passengers and carry-on baggage. The Secretary may issue a 
waiver of this provision on an airport-by-airport basis, subject to the 
following requirements:
            (1) The Secretary shall promptly notify Congress of any 
        waivers granted under this section, the purpose for which such 
        waivers were granted, and the duration of the waiver.
            (2) Under no circumstances shall a waiver be granted for 
        more than 7 days, although the Secretary may issue as many 
        waivers to an airport as is deemed appropriate by the 
        Secretary. In the event of multiple waivers, the Secretary 
        shall provide to Congress an estimate of when the airport will 
        be in compliance with this subsection.
    (c) Background Checks for Workers.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
all unescorted airport personnel accessing airport sterile and secured 
areas have successfully undergone a background check. The background 
checks required under this section shall include, at a minimum:
            (1) A fingerprint-based criminal history records check, or, 
        if such a check is not possible, a check of the National 
        Criminal Information Center.
            (2) A local criminal history check.
            (3) Verification of previous employment.
            (4) Verification of identity, to include, but not be 
        limited to, social security number.
            (5) A check of all terrorist watch lists operated by the 
        Federal Government, or upon certification by the Secretary that 
        it is suitably comprehensive, the terrorist watch list operated 
        by the Terrorist Screening Center.
This subsection shall apply to all airport personnel hired more than 3 
months after the date of enactment of this Act and for all airport 
personnel, regardless of the date on which they were hired, no more 
than one year after such date of enactment.
    (d) Report.--The Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security 
(Transportation Security Administration) shall submit to Congress, no 
later than January 31, 2006, a report that contains a description of 
ongoing efforts and projected timelines for_
            (1) developing and implementing uniform screening standards 
        for airport personnel with access to sterile areas;
            (2) completing an assessment of available technologies that 
        are applicable to securing airport perimeters and making this 
        information available to airport operators; and
            (3) developing and implementing a standardized approach to 
        conducting airport vulnerability assessments and compliance 
        inspections.
    (e) Limitation on Statutory Construction.--Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to provide passengers, airport workers, or other 
personnel not granted regular access to secure areas before the date of 
enactment of this Act authority to do so, regardless of whether such 
person has undergone security screening.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions apply:
            (1) Sterile area.--The term ``sterile area'' means any part 
        of an airport that is regularly accessible to passengers after 
        having cleared a passenger security screening checkpoint.
            (2) Secure area.--The term ``secure area'' means parts of 
        an airport complex not typically accessible to passengers, 
        including areas outside of terminal buildings, baggage handling 
        and loading areas, parked aircraft, runways, air control 
        towers, and similar areas.
            (3) Airport personnel.--The term ``airport personnel'' 
        means persons, whether employed by the airport, air carriers, 
        or by companies, that conduct business in airports.
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