[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1140 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1140

   To enhance the security operations of the Transportation Security 
 Administration and stability of the transportation security workforce 
by applying the personnel system under title 5, United States Code, to 
  employees of the Transportation Security Administration who provide 
   screening of all passengers and property, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 11, 2019

Mr. Thompson of Mississippi (for himself and Mrs. Lowey) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland 
Security, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To enhance the security operations of the Transportation Security 
 Administration and stability of the transportation security workforce 
by applying the personnel system under title 5, United States Code, to 
  employees of the Transportation Security Administration who provide 
   screening of all passengers and property, 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 ``Rights for Transportation Security 
Officers Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) On September 11, 2001, nineteen terrorists, who 
        underwent airport security screening prior to boarding domestic 
        flights, were able to commandeer four airplanes and use those 
        airplanes to perpetrate the most deadly terrorist attack ever 
        to be executed on United States soil.
            (2) In the aftermath of those attacks, Congress passed the 
        Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), enacted by 
        President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001 (Public Law 107-
        71), to enhance the level of security screening throughout our 
        aviation system and transfer responsibility for such screening 
        from the private sector to a new Federal agency, the 
        Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
            (3) TSA was established in recognition of the need to raise 
        the level of screener performance and that achieving such 
        performance is directly linked to employment and training 
        standards, pay and benefits, and the creation of an 
        experienced, committed Federal screening workforce.
            (4) The Aviation and Transportation Security Act included a 
        statutory footnote allowing the TSA Administrator to ``employ, 
        appoint, discipline, terminate, and fix the compensation'', 
        including the ``terms, and conditions of employment of Federal 
        Service for such a number of individuals as the [Administrator] 
        determines to be necessary to carry out the screening functions 
        of the Under Secretary under section 44901 of title 49, United 
        States Code''.
            (5) TSA has cited the ATSA footnote as the basis for 
        developing a personnel system for the TSO workforce, while all 
        other Transportation Security Administration employees, 
        including managers, are under the Federal personnel system 
        provided under title 5, United States Code, as incorporated in 
        title 49 of such Code.
            (6) In November 2006, the International Labor Organization 
        ruled that the Bush administration violated international labor 
        law when it prohibited Transportation Security Officers from 
        engaging in collective bargaining.
            (7) After the Federal Labor Relations Board approved a 
        petition for the election of an exclusive representative, on 
        February 4, 2011, then-TSA Administrator John Pistole issued a 
        binding determination stating in part ``it is critical that 
        every TSA employee feels that he or she has a voice and feels 
        safe raising issues and concerns of all kinds. This is 
        important not just for morale; engagement of every employee is 
        critically important for security''.
            (8) Subsequently, in 2014, then-Administrator Pistole 
        issued a second determination, which was superseded by a 2016 
        determination, which changed the previous guidelines for 
        collective bargaining and limited the subjects that can be 
        bargained as well as issues in dispute that may be raised to an 
        independent, third-party neutral decisionmaker.
            (9) The 2011, 2014, and 2016 determinations cited the ATSA 
        footnote as authority to create a personnel system that denies 
        the Transportation Security Officer workforce the same rights 
        and protections under title 5, United States Code, as other 
        Federal workers, including the right to present grievances to a 
        neutral third party, fair pay under the General Services wage 
        system, including access to overtime pay and earned leave, and 
        Fair Labor Standards Act protections.
            (10) The Transportation Security Officer workforce is an 
        integral component of the security framework in place since the 
        terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and responsible for 
        screening more than 738 million passengers annually.
            (11) In the course of their work, Transportation Security 
        Officers not only identify aviation security threats but also 
        identify kidnapping and trafficking victims and prevent 
        firearms from being brought on planes in carry-on bags. In 2018 
        alone, 4,239 firearms were discovered by Transportation 
        Security Officers at aviation security checkpoints.
            (12) Every day, Transportation Security Officers put their 
        safety on the line to protect the flying public and on November 
        1, 2013, a Transportation Security Officer, Gerardo Hernandez, 
        gave his life to protect the flying public when he was killed 
        by a gunman who attacked the Los Angeles International Airport.
            (13) Transportation Security Officers are vital to aviation 
        security and have kept the American aviation system secure, 
        even during lapses in appropriations, when they were not paid. 
        For 16 days in 2013, three days in 2018, and, most recently, 35 
        days in at the end of 2018 through early 2019, the TSA 
        workforce worked without pay alongside airplane safety 
        specialists, air traffic controllers, and other Federal workers 
        responsible for the aviation security and safety framework that 
        has protected United States air travel since 2001.
            (14) The adverse impact of two missed paychecks during the 
        shutdown that took place between December 22, 2018, and January 
        25, 2019, was felt disproportionately by the Transportation 
        Security Officer workforce, with many Officers receiving 
        starting salaries of as low as $32,000.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
Transportation Security Administration's personnel system for the 
Transportation Security Officer workforce provides insufficient 
benefits and workplace protections to these frontline personnel who 
secure the United States aviation system, and that such personnel 
should be provided protections and benefits under title 5, United 
States Code.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``covered position'' means--
                    (A) a position within the Transportation Security 
                Administration; and
                    (B) any position within the Department of Homeland 
                Security, not described in subparagraph (A), the duties 
                and responsibilities of which involve providing 
                transportation security in furtherance of the purposes 
                of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (Public 
                Law 107-71), as determined by the Secretary;
            (2) the term ``covered employee'' means an employee who 
        holds a covered position;
            (3) the term ``employee'' has the meaning given such term 
        by section 2105 of title 5, United States Code;
            (4) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland 
        Security;
            (5) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
        the Transportation Security Administration;
            (6) the term ``TSA personnel management system'' means any 
        personnel management system, as established or modified under--
                    (A) section 111(d) of the Aviation and 
                Transportation Security Act; or
                    (B) section 114(n) of title 49, United States Code;
            (7) the term ``agency'' means an Executive agency, as 
        defined by section 105 of title 5, United States Code; and
            (8) the term ``conversion date'' means the date as of which 
        paragraphs (1) through (3) of section 4(b) take effect.

SEC. 4. CONVERSION OF SCREENING PERSONNEL.

    (a) Termination of Certain Personnel Authorities.--Effective as of 
the date of the enactment of this Act--
            (1) each provision of law cited in section 3(6) is 
        repealed, and any authority to establish or modify a TSA 
        personnel management system under either such provision of law 
        shall terminate;
            (2) all authority to establish or adjust a human resources 
        management system under chapter 97 of title 5, United States 
        Code, shall terminate with respect to covered employees and 
        covered positions; and
            (3) section 44935 note of title 49, United States Code, is 
        repealed.
    (b) Covered Employees and Positions Made Subject to Same Personnel 
Management System as Applies to Civil Service Employees Generally.--
Effective as of the date determined by the Secretary, but in no event 
later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act--
            (1) all TSA personnel management policies, letters, 
        guidelines, and directives, including the August 2016 
        Determination, shall cease to be effective;
            (2) any human resources management system established or 
        adjusted under chapter 97 of title 5, United States Code, to 
        the extent otherwise applicable with respect to covered 
        employees or covered positions, shall cease to be effective; 
        and
            (3) covered employees and covered positions shall become 
        subject to the provisions of title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 5. TRANSITION RULES.

    (a) Nonreduction in Rate of Pay.--Any conversion of an employee 
from a TSA personnel management system to the provisions of law made 
applicable with respect to such employee by section 4(b)(3) shall be 
effected, under pay conversion rules prescribed by the Secretary, 
without any reduction in the rate of basic pay payable to such 
employee.
    (b) Preservation of Other Rights.--In the case of each individual 
who is a covered employee as of the conversion date, the Secretary 
shall take any actions which may be necessary to ensure that--
            (1) all TSA personnel management policies, letters, 
        guidelines, and directives, including the August 2016 
        Determination, shall cease to be effective;
            (2) all annual leave, sick leave, or other paid leave 
        accrued, accumulated, or otherwise available to a covered 
        employee immediately before the conversion date shall remain 
        available to the employee, until used, so long as such 
        individual remains continuously employed by the Department of 
        Homeland Security; and
            (3) the Government share of any premiums or other periodic 
        charges under the provisions of law governing group health 
        insurance shall remain the same as was the case immediately 
        before the conversion date, so long as such individual remains 
        continuously employed by the Department of Homeland Security.

SEC. 6. CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Exclusive Representative.--The labor organization certified by 
the Federal Labor Relations Authority on June 29, 2011, or successor 
shall be treated as the exclusive representative of full- and part-time 
non-supervisory personnel carrying out screening functions under 
section 44901 of title 49, United States Code, as that term is used in 
section 111(d) of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act and 
shall be the exclusive representative for the employees under chapter 
71 of title 5, United States Code, with full rights under such chapter 
71. Any collective bargaining agreement on the effective date of this 
legislation shall remain in effect.
    (b) Consultation Rights.--Within 14 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall consult with the exclusive 
representative for employees under chapter 71 of title 5, United States 
Code, on the formulation of plans and deadlines to carry out the 
conversion of covered employees and covered positions under this Act. 
The Secretary shall provide in writing to the exclusive representative 
the final plans in accordance with which the Secretary intends to carry 
out the conversion of covered employees and covered positions under 
this Act, including with respect to such matters as--
            (1) the proposed conversion date; and
            (2) measures to ensure compliance with section 5.
    (c) Required Agency Response.--If any views or recommendations are 
presented under subsection (b)(2) by the exclusive representative, the 
Secretary shall consider the views or recommendations before taking 
final action on any matter with respect to which the views or 
recommendations are presented and provide the exclusive representative 
a written statement of the reasons for the final actions to be taken.
    (d) Sunset Provision.--The provisions of this section shall cease 
to be effective as of the conversion date.

SEC. 7. NO RIGHT TO STRIKE.

    Nothing in this Act shall be considered--
            (1) to repeal or otherwise affect--
                    (A) section 1918 of title 18, United States Code 
                (relating to disloyalty and asserting the right to 
                strike against the Government); or
                    (B) section 7311 of title 5, United States Code 
                (relating to loyalty and striking); or
            (2) to otherwise authorize any activity which is not 
        permitted under either provision of law cited in paragraph (1).

SEC. 8. REGULATIONS.

    The Secretary may prescribe any regulations necessary to carry out 
this Act.

SEC. 9. DELEGATIONS TO ADMINISTRATOR.

    The Secretary may, with respect to any authority or function vested 
in the Secretary under any of the preceding provisions of this Act, 
delegate any such authority or function to the Administrator of the 
Transportation Security Administration under such terms, conditions, 
and limitations, including the power of redelegation, as the Secretary 
considers appropriate.

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act.
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