[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.
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