[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 189 (Tuesday, December 11, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H15270-H15273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ADDRESSING VULNERABILITIES IN AVIATION SECURITY

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1413) to direct the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security 
(Transportation Security Administration) to address vulnerabilities in 
aviation security by carrying out a pilot program to screen airport 
workers with access to secure and sterile areas of airports, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1413

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

     SECTION 1. ENHANCED PERIMETER SECURITY AND ACCESS CONTROL 
                   THROUGH COMPREHENSIVE SCREENING OF AIRPORT 
                   WORKERS.

       (a) Pilot Program.--Not later than 120 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary of 
     Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration) 
     shall carry out a pilot program at 7 service airports to 
     screen all individuals with unescorted access to secure and 
     sterile areas of the airport in accordance with section 
     44903(h) of title 49, United States Code.
       (b) Participating Airports.--At least 2 of the airports 
     participating in the pilot program shall be large hub 
     airports (as defined in section 40102 of title 49, United 
     States Code). At least 1 of the airports participating in the 
     pilot program shall be a category III airport. Each of the 
     remaining airports participating in the pilot program shall 
     represent a different airport security risk category (as 
     defined by the Assistant Secretary).
       (c) Screening Standards.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided under paragraphs (2) 
     and (3), screening for individuals with unescorted access 
     under the pilot program shall be conducted under the same 
     standards as apply to passengers at airport security 
     screening checkpoints and, at a minimum of 1 airport, shall 
     be carried out by a private screening company that meets the 
     standards in accordance with section 44920(d) of title 49, 
     United States Code. That airport shall be an airport that 
     uses such a private screening company to carry out passenger 
     screenings as of the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (2) Designated screening lane.--In addition to the 
     requirements under paragraph (1), each airport participating 
     in the pilot program shall designate at least one screening 
     lane at each airport security screening checkpoint to be used 
     to screen individuals with unescorted access on a priority 
     basis under the pilot program. Such lane may also be used to 
     screen passengers.
       (3) Alternative means of screening.--At 1 of the 7 airports 
     participating in the pilot program, the Assistant Secretary 
     shall deploy, instead of the screening standards required 
     under paragraphs (1) and (2), alternative means of screening 
     all individuals with unescorted access to secure and sterile 
     areas of the airport. Alternative means of screening may 
     include--
       (A) biometric technology for airport access control;
       (B) behavior recognition programs;
       (C) canines to screen individuals with unescorted access to 
     secure and sterile areas of the airport;
       (D) targeted physical inspections of such individuals;
       (E) video cameras; and
       (F) increased vetting, training, and awareness programs for 
     such individuals.

[[Page H15271]]

       (d) Vulnerability Assessments.--As part of the pilot 
     program under this section, the Assistant Secretary shall 
     conduct a vulnerability assessment of each airport 
     participating in the pilot program. Each such assessment 
     shall include an assessment of vulnerabilities relating to 
     access badge and uniform controls.
       (e) Technology Assessments.--Airport operators at each 
     airport at which the pilot program under this section is 
     implemented shall conduct an assessment of the screening 
     technology being used at that airport and submit the results 
     of the assessment to the Assistant Secretary. The Assistant 
     Secretary shall compile the results of all the assessments 
     and provide them to each airport participating in the pilot 
     program.
       (f) Operational Assessments.--As part of the pilot program 
     under this section, the Assistant Secretary shall conduct an 
     operational assessment at each airport participating in the 
     pilot program. Each such assessment shall include an 
     evaluation of--
       (1) the effect on security of any increase in terminal 
     congestion created as a result of screening individuals with 
     unescorted access under the pilot program;
       (2) the average wait times at screening checkpoints for 
     passengers and individuals with unescorted access;
       (3) any additional personnel required to screen individuals 
     with unescorted access;
       (4) the effect of screening individuals with unescorted 
     access on other security-related activities at the airport;
       (5) any lost productivity of individuals with unescorted 
     access associated with airport participation in the pilot 
     program; and
       (6) the rate at which ``prohibited items'' are detected and 
     confiscated from individuals with unescorted access.
       (g) Duration.--The pilot program shall be carried out for a 
     period of not less than 180 days.
       (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out 
     this section.
       (i) Report.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the last day 
     of the pilot program, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to 
     the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
     Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
     Transportation of the Senate a report on the results of the 
     pilot program.
       (2) Contents of report.--The report shall include the 
     following:
       (A) An assessment of the effect of screening all airport 
     workers with access to secure and sterile airport areas on 
     screening and logistical resources.
       (B) An assessment of the security improvements that are 
     achieved from screening such workers.
       (C) An assessment of the costs of screening such workers.
       (D) The results of the vulnerability assessments conducted 
     under subsection (d).
       (E) An estimate of the infrastructure and personnel 
     requirements necessary to implement a screening program for 
     individuals with unescorted access at all commercial service 
     airports in the United States in order to process each such 
     individual and each passenger through each screening 
     checkpoint in fewer than 10 minutes.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Lowey) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny 
Brown-Waite) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on this bill and include therein any extraneous material.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1413 creates a pilot program screening airport 
workers at seven airports. Screening passengers but giving workers open 
access is like installing a home security system but leaving the back 
door open. We know criminal activity has resulted from this loophole 
and we cannot take a chance that terrorists will exploit it. H.R. 1413 
is a bipartisan approach to ensure security at our airports, and I urge 
my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  I rise in strong support of H.R. 1413, legislation sponsored by my 
good friend and fellow New Yorker, Nita Lowey, and me that seeks to 
close an important loophole in the airport security program.
  Since 9/11, Congress and the airline industry have taken strong 
affirmative actions to tighten security at our Nation's airports. 
However, one of the few areas of security that has grown unchanged 
since the horrific events of 9/11 is airport workers screening. While 
airline passengers are searched from head to foot before we board a 
plane or reach the gate, most airports do not screen 100 percent of 
their employees when entering into secure areas.
  Earlier this year at the Orlando International Airport just outside 
my congressional district, airport employees were able to smuggle 
loaded weapons onto a plane bound for Puerto Rico. This significant 
breach in security could have been avoided with 100 percent screening 
of airport workers. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and the employees' 
intent was not to incite terror. However, had those guns been used to 
hijack a plane to commit a larger terrorist act, I am confident that we 
would have 100 percent screening at all our airports and that would 
already be in place as we speak.
  Let's not wait for such an attack to occur before we take action. 
H.R. 1413 will create a pilot program for TSA to test the plausibility 
of screening of all airport workers at seven airports. While some have 
objected to the 100 percent worker screening in principle, they have no 
broad federally operated test case upon which to base this opinion. The 
value of this pilot project is that it allows TSA to evaluate 
thoroughly the strengths and weaknesses of 100 percent airport worker 
screening on a small scale. While no one wants more bureaucracy for 
bureaucracy's sake, we do need to protect the traveling public.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the 
gentleman from Florida from the airport that, I might add, does have 
100 percent screening.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, I had the honor and 
privilege of chairing the House Aviation Subcommittee for some 6 years. 
I inherited that responsibility some months after September 11 and 
concluded my service as the Chair of that important subcommittee 
January of this year. I now am the ranking member on the Transportation 
and Infrastructure Committee.
  Just by way of my background, I have been involved in both the 
creation of TSA and the evolution of TSA over these years, and, trying 
to make certain, as I know Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite is doing, 
Representative Nita Lowey is trying to do, and I think they are very 
well intended and actually I hope to work with them, I just found out 
about this proposal coming up today last night, and I do pledge to work 
with them to try to make their intent the most effective intent, 
protecting the American public. And I know that is what Ms. Ginny 
Brown-Waite does. That is her intent. And I think that is Mrs. Lowey's 
intent here.
  But what we have got to do is make certain that we aren't doing 
something that really won't achieve the results. And I think the normal 
screening of workers, as it has been done as we screen passengers, 
would not be that effective. So I have no objection to a demonstration 
project, but I think what we need is one that is sophisticated to try 
to deal with finding out what the bad intent of supposedly good 
aviation system workers may be.

                              {time}  1645

  Most of what we have at the airport today, I hate to tell you, the 
technology does not deal with the current threat. The current threat is 
not someone taking a gun or a weapon, as we traditionally know it, 
through airport screening checkpoints. In fact, USA Today has shown 
even how flawed this system is, in revealing some of the results of 
taking through not only those type items but also other items that may 
pose a risk today.
  The problem we have is people with bad intent who obtain employment 
in this industry can do great harm. What we need to do is focus the 
screening on going after that bad intent, because once they get past 
the worker screening or passenger screening point, a worker has access 
to chemicals, substances, tools, a treasure trove of items that can be 
used to take down an aircraft, and that is what we want to prevent.
  So I am not going to try to kill this measure. That is not my intent. 
In fact, I didn't come out here to call for

[[Page H15272]]

a roll call vote on this. But what I would like to do is work with them 
to see that their intent, which is to make certain that workers who may 
pose danger to the system, we find a way to screen them that would be 
most effective in protecting our passengers.
  The worst thing we can do, and I will tell you this, I helped create 
the Department of Homeland Security, I helped author the TSA bill. But 
TSA and the Department of Homeland Security is 177,000 employees. I 
compare it to sort of like pigeons you may see in a plaza, and when 
Congress claps its hands, they will all fly off in whatever direction 
we send them, but it may not always be the best-intended.
  I give you one final example. We ban lighters from being carried 
onboard aircraft. We ban lighters, but we didn't ban cell phones or 
cameras with a battery. Here's my cell phone. This is much more 
dangerous as an ignition electronic device than any lighter that you 
can carry onboard.
  So sometimes we do things here with good intentions, like the lighter 
ban, but they may not have the results we would like to achieve. So I 
came here to tell both of the sponsors I appreciate what they are 
trying to do, but I think we can take and craft their demonstration 
project into a demonstration project that truly screens workers in a 
way that will be beneficial to catch the potentially bad players and 
that we can make this system safer.
  So I compliment you on your well-intended efforts. I pledge to work 
with you, and we will take it from there.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his wisdom and for 
his willingness to work with us. I have no more speakers, and I urge 
the Members to support this critical legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted Mr. 
Mica does want to work with us. Certainly, the type of screening he is 
talking about, where we are able to determine or hopefully determine 
the intent of the workers coming in, is a very good one. But I think we 
also need to be very vigilant to make sure that they are not bringing 
in suitcase bombs in what may look like a worker's toolbox.
  This situation was actually brought to my attention by TSA workers 
who, at one of the airports that I was at, said to me, You know, we 
have to screen you, but would you believe people are coming in the back 
door without any kind of screening at all, other than a swipe card? 
These are people who may work at the airport; they work at the 
concession stands. And certainly the TSA workers are screened, Members 
of Congress are screened, candidates for President are screened when 
they go through the airport, but imagine this, that individuals are 
coming in the back door with just a swipe card.
  We need to make sure that money is well spent, I agree with Mr. Mica, 
and I think that what we need is a variety of ways to deter any acts of 
terrorism, and that clearly is what this pilot program is all about. I 
look forward to working with Mr. Mica and being able to utilize his 
many years of experience on this.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong 
support of H.R. 1413.
  H.R. 1413 was introduced by Representatives Lowey and Brown-Waite to 
establish a pilot program to test the viability of physically screening 
airport workers at seven (7) airports. I am pleased to report that this 
bipartisan bill, as amended in Committee, not only requires TSA to test 
physical screening but also alternative forms of screening, including: 
biometrics, behavior recognition, and canine teams.
  Consideration of H.R. 1413 is timely in light of the October 2007 
arrest of 10 airline employees for operating a drug smuggling ring at 
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The ring leader 
allegedly directed JFK airport employees from inside the airport on how 
to move heroin and cocaine into so-called ``safe areas'' of the 
airport.
  Mr. Speaker, most people that work in our nation's airports are 
hardworking, trustworthy people who pose no threat to the traveling 
public. However, in a post-9/11 world, we have to address the risk of 
an ``inside job''--where an attack is planned and executed by an 
airport worker who exploits security gaps. H.R. 1413 does just that.
  H.R. 1413 does so in a manner that strives to assure that that people 
that keep the planes flying are able to do their job. Specifically, 
H.R. 1413 creates a 180-day pilot program where all the people that 
access the terminal and the airplanes, not just the American Flying 
Public, are screened.
  To those who think this can't be done, I'm here to tell you ``it can 
be done.'' They do it at London's Heathrow airport. They do it at 
DeGaulle Airport in Paris. I understand that there are those who don't 
want us to look at this approach. But in a post-9/11 world, failing to 
do so is just plain wrong.
  Under the leadership of Subcommittee Chairwoman Jackson-Lee, H.R. 
1413 was agreed to ``as amended,'' on April 24th by voice vote. The 
full committee considered, voted and reported favorably on August 1. I 
strongly urge passage of this bill that takes a reasonable approach to 
exploring how to better secure our airports, airplanes and travelers.
  Mrs. Lowey and Ms. Brown-Waite are to be commended for their 
leadership on this critical legislation. I look forward to continuing 
to work with the bills sponsors and other interested parties to ensure 
that TSA structures the pilot in a manner that provides Congress with 
the best guidance on how to address this gap in security. I strongly 
urge passage on this important homeland security measure.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of 
H.R. 1413, to direct the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security 
(Transportation Security Administration) to address vulnerabilities in 
aviation security by carrying out a pilot program to screen airport 
workers with access to secure and sterile areas of airports, introduced 
by my distinguished colleague from New York, Representative Lowey. As a 
member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Chair of the 
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure Protect, I believe 
that this important piece of legislation, of which I am a proud 
cosponsor, is absolutely imperative for insuring the protection of our 
nation.
  Today, aviation security is high on the list of priorities of air 
travelers, the Federal Government, and the international air community. 
Since September 11th we have made many improvements in the security of 
our nation's transportation infrastructure. However our job is far from 
over, whether it's more improvements to be made or gaps to close. In 
matters of security, we must not become complacent--as our enemies 
adapt, so must we. And we did, we now have a federal screening 
workforce, we screen 100 percent of the checked baggage, we are in the 
process of moving to 100 percent screening of air cargo and we are 
constantly trying to find new technology to help all of these 
functions. In addition we armed pilots and barricaded the cabin door, 
still there is much more that needs to be done and this legislation is 
an important step in the direction of making our nation more secure.
  This important legislation includes a number of provisions that will 
make American airports safer by directing the Assistant Secretary of 
Homeland Security to implement a number of new programs. In this day 
and age when Presidential candidates and Members of Congress must go 
through airport security and screening, it is unfathomable that airport 
employees with access to sterile areas of the airport are still excused 
from such screening. This legislation calls for the implementation of a 
pilot program at five commercial service airports that will screen all 
airport workers with access to sterile areas of the airport. This 
program calls for screening of airport employees to be conducted under 
the same standards as apply to passengers at security screening 
checkpoints and to be carried out by private screeners at a designated 
screening lane for their exclusive use at a minimum of two airports. 
This will ensure that airport employees are held to the same standards 
as all other people wishing to enter an airport. In order to further 
ensure security, this bill requires that each airport participating in 
said program is subject to a vulnerability assessment by the Department 
of Homeland Security.

  An endemic problem in the national security system is the lack of 
specificity of legislation that is meant to secure our nation's 
airports. This bill escapes that by specifying that at least two of the 
participating airports be large hub airports, with the remaining 
airports representing different airport security risk categories, 
therefore ensuring a holistic assessment of our airports current 
security risks. This legislation further specifies that each 
participating airport operator conduct an assessment of the screening 
technology used at the airport and to submit the results to the 
Assistant Secretary. Following this comprehensive program, the United 
States will be able to better assess the real security of its nation's 
airports.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to cosponsor H.R. 1413 and I call on my 
colleagues to support this important piece of legislation because I 
strongly believe that it will strengthen our nation's efforts to 
confront the existing vulnerabilities our current airport security 
system and consequently make our nation more secure.
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the 
balance of my time.

[[Page H15273]]

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1413, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``A bill to direct the Assistant 
Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration) 
to address vulnerabilities in aviation security by carrying out a pilot 
program to screen airport workers with access to secure and sterile 
areas of airports, and for other purposes.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________