[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 559 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 559

 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish an appeal and 
  redress process for individuals wrongly delayed or prohibited from 
 boarding a flight, or denied a right, benefit, or privilege, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 15, 2009

 Ms. Clarke (for herself, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Perlmutter, 
  and Mr. King of New York) introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Homeland Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish an appeal and 
  redress process for individuals wrongly delayed or prohibited from 
 boarding a flight, or denied a right, benefit, or privilege, 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 ``Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely 
Redress Act of 2009'' or the ``FAST Redress Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF APPEAL AND REDRESS PROCESS FOR INDIVIDUALS 
              WRONGLY DELAYED OR PROHIBITED FROM BOARDING A FLIGHT, OR 
              DENIED A RIGHT, BENEFIT, OR PRIVILEGE.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle H of title VIII of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:

``SEC. 890A. APPEAL AND REDRESS PROCESS FOR PASSENGERS WRONGLY DELAYED 
              OR PROHIBITED FROM BOARDING A FLIGHT, OR DENIED A RIGHT, 
              BENEFIT, OR PRIVILEGE.

    ``(a) Establishment.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish a timely and 
fair process for individuals who believe they were delayed or 
prohibited from boarding a commercial aircraft or denied a right, 
benefit, or privilege because they were wrongly identified as a threat 
when screened against any terrorist watchlist or database used by the 
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) or any office or component 
of the Department.
    ``(b) Office of Appeals and Redress.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish in the 
        Department an Office of Appeals and Redress to implement, 
        coordinate, and execute the process established by the 
        Secretary pursuant to subsection (a). The Office shall include 
        representatives from the TSA and such other offices and 
        components of the Department as the Secretary determines 
        appropriate.
            ``(2) Comprehensive cleared list.--The process established 
        by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (a) shall include the 
        establishment of a method by which the Office, under the 
        direction of the Secretary, will maintain and appropriately 
        disseminate a comprehensive list, to be known as the 
        `Comprehensive Cleared List', of individuals who--
                    ``(A) were misidentified as an individual on any 
                terrorist watchlist or database;
                    ``(B) completed an approved Department of Homeland 
                Security appeal and redress request and provided such 
                additional information as required by the Department to 
                verify the individual's identity; and
                    ``(C) permit the use of their personally 
                identifiable information to be shared between multiple 
                Departmental components for purposes of this section.
            ``(3) Use of comprehensive cleared list.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall--
                            ``(i) except as provided in subparagraph 
                        (B), transmit to the TSA or any other 
                        appropriate office or component of the 
                        Department, other Federal, State, local, and 
                        tribal entities, and domestic air carriers and 
                        foreign air carriers that use any terrorist 
                        watchlist or database, the Comprehensive 
                        Cleared List and any other information the 
                        Secretary determines necessary to resolve 
                        misidentifications and improve the 
                        administration of the advanced passenger 
                        prescreening system and reduce the number of 
                        false positives; and
                            ``(ii) ensure that the Comprehensive 
                        Cleared List is taken into account by all 
                        appropriate offices or components of the 
                        Department when assessing the security risk of 
                        an individual.
                    ``(B) Termination.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The transmission of the 
                        Comprehensive Cleared List to domestic air 
                        carriers and foreign air carriers under clause 
                        (i) of subparagraph (A) shall terminate on the 
                        date on which the Federal Government assumes 
                        terrorist watchlist or database screening 
                        functions.
                            ``(ii) Written notification to congress.--
                        Not later than 15 days after the date on which 
                        the transmission of the Comprehensive Cleared 
                        List to the air carriers referred to in clause 
                        (i) of this subparagraph terminates in 
                        accordance with such clause, the Secretary 
                        shall provide written notification to the 
                        Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
                        Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
                        Science, and Transportation and the Committee 
                        on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
                        of the Senate of such termination.
            ``(4) Intergovernmental efforts.--The Secretary may--
                    ``(A) enter into memoranda of understanding with 
                other Federal, State, local, and tribal agencies or 
                entities, as necessary, to improve the appeal and 
                redress process and for other purposes such as to 
                verify an individual's identity and personally 
                identifiable information; and
                    ``(B) work with other Federal, State, local, and 
                tribal agencies or entities that use any terrorist 
                watchlist or database to ensure, to the greatest extent 
                practicable, that the Comprehensive Cleared List is 
                considered when assessing the security risk of an 
                individual.
            ``(5) Handling of personally identifiable information.--The 
        Secretary, in conjunction with the Chief Privacy Officer of the 
        Department, shall--
                    ``(A) require that Federal employees of the 
                Department handling personally identifiable information 
                of individuals (in this paragraph referred to as `PII') 
                complete mandatory privacy and security training prior 
                to being authorized to handle PII;
                    ``(B) ensure that the information maintained under 
                this subsection is secured by encryption, including 
                one-way hashing, data anonymization techniques, or such 
                other equivalent technical security protections as the 
                Secretary determines necessary;
                    ``(C) limit the information collected from 
                misidentified passengers or other individuals to the 
                minimum amount necessary to resolve an appeal and 
                redress request;
                    ``(D) ensure that the information maintained under 
                this subsection is shared or transferred via an 
                encrypted data network that has been audited to ensure 
                that the anti-hacking and other security related 
                software functions perform properly and are updated as 
                necessary;
                    ``(E) ensure that any employee of the Department 
                receiving the information maintained under this 
                subsection handles such information in accordance with 
                section 552a of title 5, United States Code, the 
                Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 
                (Public Law 107-296), and other applicable laws;
                    ``(F) only retain the information maintained under 
                this subsection for as long as needed to assist the 
                individual traveler in the appeal and redress process;
                    ``(G) engage in cooperative agreements with 
                appropriate Federal agencies and entities, on a 
                reimbursable basis, to ensure that legal name changes 
                are properly reflected in any terrorist watchlist or 
                database and the Comprehensive Cleared List to improve 
                the appeal and redress process and to ensure the most 
                accurate lists of identifications possible (except that 
                section 552a of title 5, United States Code, shall not 
                prohibit the sharing of legal name changes among 
                Federal agencies and entities for the purposes of this 
                section); and
                    ``(H) conduct and publish a privacy impact 
                assessment of the appeal and redress process 
                established under this section and transmit the 
                assessment to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 
                House of Representatives, and the Committee on 
                Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee 
                on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
                Senate.
            ``(6) Initiation of appeal and redress process at 
        airports.--At each airport at which--
                    ``(A) the Department has a presence, the Office 
                shall provide written information to air carrier 
                passengers to begin the appeal and redress process 
                established pursuant to subsection (a); and
                    ``(B) the Department has a significant presence, 
                provide the written information referred to in 
                subparagraph (A) and ensure a TSA supervisor who is 
                trained in such appeal and redress process is available 
                to provide support to air carrier passengers in need of 
                guidance concerning such process.
            ``(7) Report to congress.--Not later than 240 days after 
        the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 
        submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
        Transportation and the Committee on Homeland Security and 
        Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on the status of 
        information sharing among users at the Department of any 
        terrorist watchlist or database. The report shall include the 
        following information:
                    ``(A) A description of the processes and the status 
                of the implementation of this section to share the 
                Comprehensive Cleared List with other Department 
                offices and components and other Federal, State, local, 
                and tribal authorities that utilize any terrorist 
                watchlist or database.
                    ``(B) A description of the extent to which such 
                other Department offices and components are taking into 
                account the Comprehensive Cleared List.
                    ``(C) Data on the number of individuals who have 
                sought and successfully obtained redress through the 
                Office of Appeals and Redress.
                    ``(D) Data on the number of individuals who have 
                sought and were denied redress through the Office of 
                Appeals and Redress.
                    ``(E) An assessment of what impact information 
                sharing of the Comprehensive Cleared List has had on 
                misidentifications of individuals who have successfully 
                obtained redress through the Office of Appeals and 
                Redress.
                    ``(F) An updated privacy impact assessment.
    ``(c) Terrorist Watchlist or Database Defined.--In this section, 
the term `terrorist watchlist or database' means any terrorist 
watchlist or database used by the Transportation Security 
Administration or any office or component of the Department of Homeland 
Security or specified in Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6, in 
effect as of the date of the enactment of this section.''.
    (b) Incorporation of Secure Flight.--Section 44903(j)(2) of title 
49, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C)(iii)--
                    (A) by redesignating subclauses (II) through (VII) 
                as subclauses (III) through (VIII), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after subclause (I) the following 
                new subclause:
                                    ``(II) ensure, not later than 30 
                                days after the date of the enactment of 
                                the FAST Redress Act of 2009, that the 
                                procedure established under subclause 
                                (I) is incorporated into the appeals 
                                and redress process established under 
                                section 890A of the Homeland Security 
                                Act of 2002;'';
            (2) in subparagraph (E)(iii), by inserting before the 
        period at the end the following: ``, in accordance with the 
        appeals and redress process established under section 890A of 
        the Homeland Security Act of 2002''; and
            (3) in subparagraph (G)--
                    (A) in clause (i), by adding at the end the 
                following new sentence: ``The Assistant Secretary shall 
                incorporate the process established pursuant to this 
                clause into the appeals and redress process established 
                under section 890A of the Homeland Security Act of 
                2002.''; and
                    (B) in clause (ii), by adding at the end the 
                following new sentence: ``The Assistant Secretary shall 
                incorporate the record established and maintained 
                pursuant to this clause into the Comprehensive Cleared 
                List established and maintained under such section 
                890A.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Title 49, United States Code, is amended 
by striking section 44926 (and the item relating to such section in the 
analysis for chapter 449 of title 49).
    (d) Clerical Amendment.--Section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act 
of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101(b)) is amended by adding after the item relating 
to section 890 the following new item:

``Sec. 890A. Appeal and redress process for passengers wrongly delayed 
                            or prohibited from boarding a flight, or 
                            denied a right, benefit, or privilege.''.
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