[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3399 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3399
To provide standards relating to airline travel by Federal employees
for official business.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 28, 2018
Mr. Merkley (for himself and Mr. Kennedy) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide standards relating to airline travel by Federal employees
for official business.
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 ``Fly Smart Act''.
SEC. 2. AIRLINE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT TRAVEL.
(a) In General.--
(1) Coach-class requirement.--Except as provided in
subsection (b), for official travel, both domestic and
international, a covered employee, including the head of an
agency, shall use coach-class accommodations.
(2) Ban on military aircraft for domestic travel.--A
covered employee, including the head of an agency, may not
travel on a military aircraft for domestic official travel
unless--
(A) the destination of the covered employee is a
military installation; or
(B) the covered employee is serving in, or applying
to, as applicable, a position in the Department of
Defense.
(b) Exceptions.--
(1) First-class and business class.--Subject to the other
provisions of this subsection, the head of the agency employing
a covered employee (or to which a covered employee is applying,
as applicable), or in the case of the head of an agency, the
White House Chief of Staff, may sign a waiver authorizing the
covered employee or the agency head, as applicable, to use--
(A) first-class accommodations for official travel
if--
(i) no coach-class accommodations are
available on any flight that is scheduled to--
(I) leave not more than 24 hours
before the proposed departure time of
the covered employee or the agency
head; or
(II) arrive not more than 24 hours
after the proposed arrival time of the
covered employee or the agency head;
(ii) the use of first-class accommodations
is necessary to accommodate a disability or a
special need that has been certified under
paragraph (4); or
(iii) the use of first-class accommodations
is necessary because of exceptional security
circumstances, which--
(I) shall be established by the
individual signing the waiver;
(II) shall be found only when
required to meet the mission of the
agency in which the covered employee or
the agency head is employed, or to
which the covered employee is applying,
as applicable; and
(III) include a situation in
which--
(aa) the use of
accommodations other than
first-class accommodations
would endanger--
(AA) the life of
the covered employee or
the agency head; or
(BB) Government
property;
(bb) the covered employee
is--
(AA) an agent on
protective detail; and
(BB) accompanying
an individual who is
authorized to use
first-class
accommodations; or
(cc) the covered employee
is a courier or control officer
accompanying controlled pouches
or packages; and
(B) business-class accommodations for official
travel if--
(i) the use of business-class
accommodations is necessary because of a
situation described in clause (ii) or (iii) of
subparagraph (A);
(ii) coach-class accommodations on an
authorized or approved foreign airline do not
provide adequate sanitation or health
standards;
(iii)(I) regularly scheduled flights
between origin and destination points,
including connecting points, provide only other
than coach-class accommodations; and
(II) the covered employee or the agency
head certifies, on the voucher of the covered
employee or the agency head, that the situation
described in subclause (I) applies;
(iv) the transportation costs of the
covered employee or the agency head are paid in
full through the acceptance by the agency in
which the covered employee or the agency head
is employed, or to which the covered employee
is applying, as applicable, of payment from a
non-Federal source in accordance with chapter
300 of title 41, Code of Federal Regulations,
or any successor regulation;
(v) subject to paragraph (5), with respect
to a situation in which the origin or the
destination of the travel is outside the
continental United States--
(I) the scheduled flight time is
more than 14 hours; and
(II) the covered employee or the
agency head is required to report to
duty not later than the day after the
date on which the travel of the covered
employee or the agency head begins;
(vi) the use of the accommodations results
in overall cost savings to the Federal
Government by avoiding additional subsistence
costs, overtime, or lost productive time while
the covered employee or the agency head waits
for coach-class accommodations to become
available;
(vii) no space is available in coach-class
accommodations in time to accomplish the
mission of the agency in which the covered
employee or the agency head is employed, or to
which the covered employee is applying, as
applicable, which is urgent and cannot be
postponed; or
(viii) when required because of the mission
of the agency in which the covered employee or
the agency head is employed, or to which the
covered employee is applying, as applicable,
consistent with the internal procedures of that
agency.
(2) Disclosure of cost.--Not later than 90 days after the
date on which official travel for which the head of an agency
or the White House Chief of Staff has signed a waiver under
paragraph (1) ends, the head of the agency or the White House
Chief of Staff, as applicable, shall disclose on a public
website--
(A) the signed waiver;
(B) the exception under that paragraph on which the
head of the agency or the White House Chief of Staff
relied when authorizing the travel; and
(C) the cost of any flight in other than coach-
class accommodations with respect to the waiver.
(3) No blanket approval.--The head of the agency employing
a covered employee (or to which a covered employee is applying,
as applicable), or in the case of the head of an agency, the
White House Chief of Staff, may authorize a covered employee or
an agency head, as applicable, to use accommodations other than
coach-class accommodations for official travel only on a case-
by-case basis, unless the covered employee or the agency head
has a disability or a special need that has been certified
under paragraph (4).
(4) Certification of disability or special need.--
(A) Disability.--
(i) In general.--A disability described in
paragraph (1)(A)(ii) shall be certified
annually, unless the disability is a lifelong
condition, in which case the disability shall
be certified once.
(ii) Contents.--A certification required
under clause (i) shall include, at a minimum--
(I) a written statement by a
competent medical authority stating
that a special accommodation for the
covered employee is necessary;
(II) an approximate duration of the
special accommodation described in
subclause (I); and
(III) a recommendation regarding
the suitable class of transportation
for the covered employee based on the
disability.
(B) Special need.--The special need of a covered
employee, including the head of an agency, described in
paragraph (1)(A)(ii) shall be certified annually
(unless the special need is a lifelong condition, in
which case the special need shall be certified once) in
accordance with the procedures of the agency in which
the covered employee is employed, or to which the
covered employee is applying, as applicable.
(5) Application of 14-hour rule.--A covered employee,
including the head of an agency, who travels using business-
class accommodations under paragraph (1)(B)(v) shall not be
eligible for a rest stop on the way to, or upon arrival at, the
duty site of the covered employee.
(6) Inclusion of attendant.--If a covered employee,
including the head of an agency, the travel of whom in
accommodations other than coach-class accommodations is
authorized because of a disability or special need that is
certified under paragraph (4), is authorized to have an
attendant accompany that covered employee, the head of the
agency employing the covered employee (or to which a covered
employee is applying, as applicable), or in the case of the
head of an agency, the White House Chief of Staff, may also
authorize the attendant to use other than coach-class
accommodations during that travel.
(7) Limit on delegation.--The head of an agency and the
White House Chief of Staff may not delegate the duties and
authorities under this subsection, except for the duties and
authorities under paragraph (2).
(c) Rules of Construction.--
(1) Upgrades.--Nothing in this section may be construed to
prevent a covered employee from upgrading to first-class
accommodations or business-class accommodations for official
travel at the personal expense of the covered employee,
including through the redemption by the covered employee of
frequent flyer benefits.
(2) Two cabins available.--
(A) Different seat types.--If an airline flight has
2 classes of accommodations available with 2 distinctly
different seating types (including a situation in which
the girth and pitch of the seats between the 2 cabins
are different), the airline terms the front cabin as
business-class accommodations or higher, and the
tickets for the flight are fare-coded as business-class
accommodations, the front cabin shall be construed to
be other than coach-class accommodations for the
purposes of this section.
(B) Identical seat types.--If an airline flight has
2 cabins available with 1 type of seating available for
the entire aircraft (such that the girth and pitch of
the seats are identical in both cabins), the seats in
the front cabin are fare-coded as full-fare economy
class, and only restricted economy fares are available
in the rear cabin, the entire aircraft shall be
construed to be coach-class accommodations for the
purposes of this section.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``agency'' has the meaning given the term
``Executive agency'' in section 105 of title 5, United States
Code;
(2) the term ``business-class accommodations'' means a
premium class of accommodation offered by an airline that--
(A) is more expensive, and offers more amenities,
than coach-class accommodations;
(B) is less expensive, and offers fewer amenities,
than first-class accommodations; and
(C) is occasionally described by the airline using
terms including ``business'', ``business elite'',
``business first'', ``world business'',
``connoisseur'', and ``envoy'';
(3) the term ``coach-class accommodations''--
(A) means the basic class of accommodation offered
to a traveler on an airline and which is normally the
lowest fare offered by the airline, without regard to
the terminology used to describe the accommodations;
and
(B) is occasionally described by an airline using
terms including--
(i) ``tourist class'' or ``economy-class'';
and
(ii) ``single class'' if the airline offers
1 class of accommodations to all travelers;
(4) the term ``covered employee'' means--
(A) an employee traveling on official business;
(B) an individual who is--
(i) interviewing for a position as an
employee; and
(ii) performing pre-employment interview
travel;
(C) an employee who is required to interrupt the
official business travel of the employee to perform
emergency travel as a result of--
(i) an incapacitating illness or injury; or
(ii) a personal emergency situation; or
(D) an employee who--
(i) is employed in a law enforcement or
investigative capacity; and
(ii) along with the family members of the
employee, is required to relocate temporarily
to safeguard the life of the employee, and any
family members of the employee, as applicable,
because of a threat resulting from the assigned
duties of the employee;
(5) the term ``employee'' means an individual employed in
or under an agency, including an individual employed
intermittently in the Government service as an expert or
consultant and paid on a daily when-actually-employed basis and
an individual serving without pay or at $1 a year;
(6) the term ``first-class accommodations'' means the
highest class of accommodation offered by an airline with
respect to cost and amenities;
(7) the term ``other than coach-class accommodations''--
(A) means any class of accommodation above coach-
class accommodations; and
(B) includes first-class accommodations and
business-class accommodations; and
(8) the term ``scheduled flight time''--
(A) with respect to air travel, means the flight
time between the originating departure point of the
travel and the ultimate arrival point of the travel;
(B) includes scheduled non-overnight time spent at
an airport during a change of planes; and
(C) does not include time spent at the originating
or ultimate arrival airport.
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