[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5909 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5909

   To amend the Aviation and Transportation Security Act to prohibit 
advance notice to certain individuals, including security screeners, of 
  covert testing of security screening procedures for the purpose of 
 enhancing transportation security at airports, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 24, 2008

  Mrs. Lowey introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Homeland Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Aviation and Transportation Security Act to prohibit 
advance notice to certain individuals, including security screeners, of 
  covert testing of security screening procedures for the purpose of 
 enhancing transportation security at airports, 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. PROHIBITION OF ADVANCE NOTICE OF COVERT TESTING TO SECURITY 
              SCREENERS.

    Section 111 of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (Public 
Law 107-71) is amended--
            (1) by striking the section enumerator and heading and 
        inserting the following:

``SEC. 111. TRAINING, EMPLOYMENT, AND TESTING OF SECURITY SCREENING 
              PERSONNEL.'';

        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Prohibition of Advance Notice of Covert Testing to Security 
Screeners.--
            ``(1) In general.--Before a covert test relating to 
        transportation security occurs, any covered employee shall not 
        provide any information concerning the covert test to any 
        individual.
            ``(2) Exception for select staff.--Notwithstanding 
        paragraph (1), a covered employee may provide information 
        concerning a covert test to employees or officers of the 
        Federal Government selected by one or more of the following:
                    ``(A) The Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security 
                (Transportation Security Administration).
                    ``(B) The Inspector General of the Department of 
                Homeland Security.
                    ``(C) The Comptroller General of the United States.
            ``(3) Monitoring and security of testing personnel.--Each 
        head of a covert testing office shall ensure that a person or 
        group of persons conducting a covert test for a covert testing 
        office is accompanied at the site of the test by a secondary 
        team of employees of the covert testing office for the purpose 
        of monitoring the covert test and confirming the identity of 
        personnel involved in the covert test under paragraph (4).
            ``(4) Responsibility of the secondary team.--The secondary 
        team shall--
                    ``(A) monitor the covert test; and
                    ``(B) confirm, notwithstanding paragraph (1), the 
                identity of any authorized personnel conducting the 
                covert test to any appropriate individual if a security 
                screener or other individual who is not a covered 
                employee identifies the personnel conducting the test 
                as a potential threat.
            ``(5) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection the 
        following definitions apply:
                    ``(A) Appropriate individual.--The term 
                `appropriate individual', as used with respect to a 
                covert test, means any individual that the secondary 
                team monitoring the test under paragraph (3) determines 
                needs to know the identity of the individual conducting 
                the test after the individual conducting the test has 
                been identified as attempting to inappropriately gain 
                access to a secure or sterile area of an airport.
                    ``(B) Covered employee.--The term `covered 
                employee' means an employee or contractor of the 
                Transportation Security Administration who has access 
                to information concerning the timing or location of the 
                covert test before such test occurs.
                    ``(C) Covert test.--The term `covert test' means an 
                exercise conducted by a covert testing office during 
                which security screening procedures related to 
                transportation security are intentionally tested or 
                transportation security systems are intentionally 
                compromised or circumvented to identify vulnerabilities 
                in transportation security systems if, before such 
                exercise begins, information about such test is 
                provided only to covered employees and employees or 
                officers selected under paragraph (2).
                    ``(D) Covert testing office.--The term `covert 
                testing office' means any of the following offices:
                            ``(i) The Office of the Inspector General 
                        of the Department of Homeland Security.
                            ``(ii) The Office of Inspection of the 
                        Transportation Security Administration.
                            ``(iii) The Office of Security Operations 
                        of the Transportation Security Administration.
                            ``(iv) The United States Government 
                        Accountability Office.
                    ``(E) Employee of a covert testing office.--The 
                term `employee of a covert testing office' includes an 
                individual who is an employee of a covert testing 
                office or a contractor or an employee of a contractor 
                of a covert testing office.''.
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