[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 196 (Monday, December 19, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H9936-H9937]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RISK-BASED SECURITY SCREENING FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES ACT

  Mr. CRAVAACK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in 
the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 1801) to amend title 49, United 
States Code, to provide for expedited security screenings for members 
of the Armed Forces.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the Senate amendment is as follows:

       Senate amendment:
       Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Risk-Based Security 
     Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act''.

     SEC. 2. SECURITY SCREENING FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

       (a) In General.--Section 44903 of title 49, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(m) Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Assistant Secretary of Homeland 
     Security (Transportation Security Administration), in 
     consultation with the Department of Defense, shall develop 
     and implement a plan to provide expedited security screening 
     services for a member of the armed forces, and, to the extent 
     possible, any accompanying family member, if the member of 
     the armed forces, while in uniform, presents documentation 
     indicating official orders for air transportation departing 
     from a primary airport (as defined in section 47102).
       ``(2) Protocols.--In developing the plan, the Assistant 
     Secretary shall consider--
       ``(A) leveraging existing security screening models used to 
     reduce passenger wait times;
       ``(B) establishing standard guidelines for the screening of 
     military uniform items, including combat boots; and
       ``(C) incorporating any new screening protocols into an 
     existing trusted passenger program, as established pursuant 
     to section 109(a)(3) of the Aviation and Transportation 
     Security Act (49 U.S.C. 114 note), or into the development of 
     any new credential or system that incorporates biometric 
     technology and other applicable technologies to verify the 
     identity of individuals traveling in air transportation.
       ``(3) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection 
     shall affect the authority of the Assistant Secretary to 
     require additional screening of a member of the armed forces 
     if intelligence or law enforcement information indicates that 
     additional screening is necessary.
       ``(4) Report to congress.--The Assistant Secretary shall 
     submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on 
     the implementation of the plan.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall 
     implement the plan required by this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Cravaack) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Richardson) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CRAVAACK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and to include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Minnesota?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CRAVAACK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Today I rise in support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 1801.
  H.R. 1801 represents a bipartisan, bicameral effort in honor of the 
members of our Armed Forces by transitioning to an expedited, 
intelligence-driven screening process for all U.S. soldiers at our 
Nation's airports.
  Shortly after the House passed H.R. 1801 by a vote of 404-0, the 
Senate, with the support and leadership of Ranking Member Kay Bailey 
Hutchison and Chairman Jay Rockefeller, amended and passed H.R. 1801 by 
voice vote.
  I have had time to review the Senate amendment, and, quite frankly, I 
think it improves the underlying bill. It requires coordination between 
TSA and the Department of Defense in establishing the expedited 
screening process and clarifies that the TSA Administrator retains the 
authority to require additional screening for a member of the Armed 
Forces should intelligence or law enforcement information raise any 
concerns.
  In addition, the Senate amendment allows TSA to include accompanying 
military family members in the expedited screening process ``to the 
extent possible.''
  Overall, the Senate amendment to H.R. 1801 improves the bill, and I 
urge my colleagues to support it.
  In closing, I'd like to thank Transportation Security Committee 
Chairman Mike Rogers and Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee and Homeland 
Security Committee Chairman Peter King and Ranking Member Bennie 
Thompson for moving this legislation.
  Additionally, I would like to recognize and thank Senators Kay Bailey 
Hutchison and Jay Rockefeller for their leadership in having this 
measure pass in the Senate.
  I would also like to take some time to recognize some of the great 
staff on the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees, especially 
Mandy Bowers, Jennifer Arangio, Amanda Parikh, Steven Giaier, Nicole 
Smith, Jake Vreeburg, and Minnesota's Eighth Congressional District 
Legislative Director Paul Blocher and his staff for all they have done 
in this process.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Senate 
amendment to H.R. 1801, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  As a member of the Committee of Homeland Security and as an ardent 
supporter of the men and women of the armed services, I am pleased to 
return today as we're on the floor to consider the Senate amendment to 
H.R. 1801, the Risk-Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed 
Forces Act.

                              {time}  1630

  This legislation requires the Transportation Security Administration 
to develop a plan for providing expedited screening to our military 
personnel at airport security checkpoints.
  As the gentleman from Minnesota just alluded to, the Senate amendment 
took a good bill and made it even better by expressly including new 
safeguards. Last Congress, on a bipartisan basis, an earlier version of 
this legislation was accepted as an amendment during the consideration 
of the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act, which 
passed this House by 397-25, which was not acted upon by the Senate.
  H.R. 1801 properly recognizes the preciousness of time--nothing more 
important than time--to the patriotic men and women serving in our 
armed services, but it does not compromise aviation security. Our 
troops help keep our country safe. While first ensuring safety, the 
least we can do is devise methods to help speed up the screening 
process for our troops who are in uniform and who are traveling on 
airplanes while on official duty.
  Since 2001, there have been more than 2 million troops deployed to 
Iraq and Afghanistan. As our military presence in Iraq winds down, more 
servicemembers will, thankfully, be coming home. We owe it to them and 
to all of our servicemembers to do all we can to smooth their travels 
so that they can get home and into the arms of their loving families. 
This legislation establishes adequate parameters that will ensure that 
our troops and their families, including the 236,963 military personnel 
in my home State of California, will be given the opportunity to board 
an aircraft in a security-approved expedited manner. If approved today, 
this legislation will go directly to the President for his signature.
  With the enactment of H.R. 1801, we have the opportunity to show the 
country, despite all the acrimony that has been punctuated in this 
112th Congress, we can accomplish good things for the American people 
when we focus on areas of common ground and when compromise is 
embraced. So I urge my colleagues to support this legislation with the 
Senate amendment.
  Mr. Speaker, I am compelled to build upon this current debate of H.R. 
1801 and use this opportunity to urge the Republican leadership to 
bring to the floor additional bipartisan, commonsense homeland security 
legislation. This is the only bill reported by the Committee on 
Homeland Security to be considered before the full House. There are a 
number of other Homeland Security bills on the Union Calendar that 
warrant consideration by the full House as well.
  Among them is H.R. 1447, introduced by Ranking Member Bennie 
Thompson.

[[Page H9937]]

This legislation seeks to enhance TSA's coordination with private-
sector stakeholders on aviation policy. Also on the Union Calendar is 
H.R. 1165, authored by Representative Jackson Lee, which would 
strengthen the TSA Ombudsman office.
  With bipartisan support, both of these bills were ordered reported by 
the Committee on Homeland Security. Despite having received bipartisan 
support from the committee, these bills have lingered on the Union 
Calendar for 40-plus days. I urge the Republican leadership to schedule 
these bills for consideration, as I am confident they will return to 
this House with overwhelming bipartisan support.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CRAVAACK. I have no further requests for time, and I continue to 
reserve the balance of my time to close.
  Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from 
Nevada (Ms. Berkley).
  Ms. BERKLEY. I thank the gentlelady from California for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I think expedited screening for military servicemembers 
is very important. I am glad that we are taking this bill up on a 
bipartisan basis, but I think there are some other things happening 
right now that should also be given our complete attention with regard 
to what we will be talking about.
  With the highest unemployment rate in the Nation, far too many 
Nevadans are worrying about how they're going to make ends meet. 
Nevada's middle class families who still have jobs cannot afford a 
massive tax increase in January, but that's exactly the direction we 
appear to be heading thanks to the Tea Party extremists in the House of 
Representatives. They're holding middle-income families hostage; 
they're holding unemployed people hostage; and they're holding senior 
citizens hostage.
  One would ask, Why? It's to protect their special interest buddies--
Wall Street millionaires, Big Oil executives, and corporations that 
ship American jobs overseas.
  Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. It would be a disaster if the House 
Republicans refused to stand up to Wall Street today and extend the 
middle class tax cuts. In Nevada, 1.2 million people would see their 
taxes rise as much as $1,247 in January if this House of 
Representatives, led by the Republicans, doesn't do the right thing. 
With families struggling just to pay rent, put food on their tables, 
and put gas in their cars, that's not acceptable.
  It's time for the Tea Party extremists in the Republican Party to let 
go and get their priorities straight. Middle class families in Nevada 
and across the country come first, not Wall Street millionaires. The 
time for political games is over. The clock is ticking. We have to take 
care of those who are unemployed through no fault of their own. We have 
to take care of middle-income families who are struggling just to get 
by and who need that extra $1,000 this year. Rather than have it taken 
out of their taxes, we also need to ensure that seniors get the medical 
care they need.
  The time is over for game-playing. On behalf of Nevada's struggling 
families, I demand that this House not allow a massive middle class tax 
increase. Let us do our business before we go home and not shame 
ourselves and the American people by leaving them in the lurch during 
the holiday season.
  I applaud Congresswoman Richardson for putting this legislation on, 
and I hope that we truly address what's important to millions and 
millions of Americans across the country by doing the right thing later 
this evening and by making sure that we pass this middle-income tax 
cut.
  Ms. RICHARDSON. I yield myself the balance of my time.
  As you've heard, Mr. Speaker, the measure before us represents 
discrete, commonsense homeland security legislation. I urge my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of this motion 
to suspend the rules and to concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 1801 
so that this measure can be presented to the President for his 
signature.
  I would like to congratulate the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Cravaack) and the staffs on both sides of the aisle for their work not 
only in this Congress but for their work in the 111th Congress, which 
was when this was brought forward in the prior TSA act.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CRAVAACK. In closing, I would like to thank the gentlelady from 
California for her refocusing of the debate on who deserves this the 
most--our troops.
  With that, I would urge all of my colleagues to support this. This is 
a very big amendment for our troops; so let's give them a Christmas 
present that really means something to them. I look forward to bringing 
home the Minnesota Red Bulls safe and sound.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as the Ranking Member of the 
Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Transportation 
Security, I am pleased that we are on the floor today to consider the 
Senate amendment to H.R. 1801.
  Approval of this measure today will, for the first time this 
Congress, result in transportation security legislation reaching the 
President's desk.
  In this budgetary climate, we must ensure that the Transportation 
Security Administration is maximizing its resources and adequately 
integrating efficient screening process across its checkpoint security 
programs.
  This legislation strives to do that by ensuring that an expedited 
screening program is established for members of the Armed Forces, which 
includes over 20,000 men and women in the Houston metro area.
  These men and women sacrifice their time and family life to defend 
our liberty.
  Affording them the opportunity to be respectfully screened in an 
expedited manner will ensure that we continue to honor their service 
and what their commitment means to the American public.
  H.R. 1801 represents common-sense legislation with bipartisan 
support.
  The Senate amendment ensures that there is a strong collaboration 
between the Department of Defense and the Transportation Security 
Administration.
  Furthermore, H.R. 1801 establishes parameters for expedited screening 
process for members of the Armed Services without compromising 
security.
  I am happy that I was able to work with Mr. Rogers and other members 
of the Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Full Committee on 
Homeland Security on this bill.
  However, I hope that we do not stop here. This legislation represents 
only a small slice of the legislative action we must act on to 
adequately address transportation security.
  Transportation security threats are evolving and more work must be 
done.
  I look forward to continuing our work on the Committee on Homeland 
Security and producing additional bipartisan measures that strive to 
enhance our Nation's transportation security efforts.
  With that Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Cravaack) that the House suspend the 
rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 1801.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. CRAVAACK. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________