[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 30, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H3239-H3241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
APPLICABILITY OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT
RIGHTS ACT TO THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 3670) to require the Transportation Security
Administration to comply with the Uniformed Services Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3670
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. APPLICABILITY OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES EMPLOYMENT
AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT TO THE
TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.
(a) In General.--Section 111(d) of the Aviation and
Transportation Security Act (49 U.S.C. 44935 note; Public Law
107 71) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Notwithstanding'' and inserting the
following:
``(1) General authority.--Except as provided in paragraph
(2), and notwithstanding''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Uniformed services employment and reemployment rights
act.--In carrying out the functions authorized under
paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall be subject to the
provisions set forth in chapter 43 of title 38, United States
Code.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall take effect on the date that is 270 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
York (Mr. King) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
{time} 1800
General Leave
Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I will say again to the ranking member that this is a very vital
bill. In the interest of time, because we still have this and three
other pieces of legislation to pass in the next half hour, I will limit
my remarks other than to say that the gentleman from Minnesota deserves
tremendous credit for this bill.
H.R. 3670 is absolutely vital. It's necessary. It would guarantee
that TSA employees who are called to active duty would keep their jobs
when they come home and would further ensure that existing protections
could not be in any way changed by potentially conflicting rules or
regulations.
I also want to commend the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis),
who was the original cosponsor of this bill.
And, again, I just want to say with reference to my friend from
Minnesota, he has dedicated a life of service to his country in the
military, and he's continuing that outstanding service here in the
United States Congress.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3670, sponsored by the
gentleman from Minnesota, Mr. Walz.
This bipartisan bill addresses a fundamental gap in the protection of
veterans' employment rights, which could easily be remedied.
I want to take this opportunity to recognize the efforts of my good
friend from Florida, Congressman Bilirakis, Chairman of the Emergency
Preparedness, Response and Communications Subcommittee, for his work on
this issue and for being an original co-sponsor of the bill.
Veterans make up roughly 20 percent of TSA's workforce. This bill
simply requires TSA to comply with the Uniformed Services Employment
and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA. This would guarantee that TSA
employees who are called to active duty could keep their jobs when they
come home.
In recent testimony submitted for the record to the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs, TSA stated that its current practice already
conforms to the requirements of H.R. 3670. This bill would simply
ensure existing protections could not be changed later on by
potentially conflicting rules or regulations.
This is a common sense bill and I urge all of my colleagues to
support it.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of
H.R. 3670 and yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, Memorial Day is a time not only to honor members of our
armed services who gave their lives in defense of our liberty, but also
to convey our support for veterans and servicemembers. With the
commemoration of Memorial Day earlier this week, it is fitting that
we're considering H.R. 3670 today.
H.R. 3670, by conferring job protections for servicemembers, conveys
our commitment to help reservists and other members of the uniformed
services return to civilian life. Specifically, the bill would ensure
that the protections afforded under the Uniformed Services Employment
and Reemployment Rights Act apply to Transportation Security
Administration employees and applicants, just as they do everywhere in
the public and private sector.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to acknowledge TSA's leadership in
hiring veterans. Currently, veterans make up over 23 percent of TSA's
workforce. I would encourage my colleagues and the
[[Page H3240]]
general public to keep that number in mind when they encounter a TSA
worker at an airport checkpoint. There is a one in four chance that the
person conducting the screening is a veteran and deserves the respect
and appreciation commensurate with that title.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. KING of New York. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida
(Mr. Stearns).
Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman King for the time. I also
rise today in strong support of H.R. 3670, a bill introduced by my good
friend, Mr. Walz from Minnesota.
This bill extends reemployment protections to employees of the
Transportation Security Administration by making them subject to the
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA.
USERRA is a law that protects the reemployment rights of
servicemembers so they are able to keep their jobs, benefits, and
seniority in their civilian jobs after serving on active duty.
When TSA was created soon after
9/11, it was given a USERRA exemption to allow the agency to hire new
employees without delay for airport screenings. There is no evidence
that applying USERRA to TSA will impede TSA's mission of protecting our
Nation's air travel system. In fact, bringing TSA under USERRA will
strengthen their ability to recruit and retain highly qualified
veterans.
Mr. Speaker, I would note that in testimony submitted for the record
on H.R. 3670, TSA stated that its current practice already conforms to
the requirements that H.R. 3670 would put into statute. Therefore,
enactment of H.R. 3670 would ensure existing protections could not be
weakened by a change in administration rules or regulations.
I want to thank my good friend Mr. Walz for introducing this
legislation. I also thank Chairman Jeff Miller of Florida and Ranking
Member Filner of California for their support, and I thank Mr. King.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the original sponsor of the legislation under consideration,
the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz).
Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and the
chairman for bringing this bill to the floor. More importantly, I thank
you both for your unwavering defense of this Nation in smart policy and
an unwavering commitment to make sure we get it right.
I, like my colleagues and millions of other Americans, spent Monday
at Memorial Day observances. That's the date we give thanks to those
brave patriots who gave the supreme sacrifice so we could all live in
freedom. But as the gentleman from Mississippi also said, it's also a
time to think of the responsibility we have for those who have served
and have come back.
Our responsibility to our veterans is our Nation's highest moral
responsibility. After years of war, we have millions of returning
veterans who deserve our respect and support. This piece of legislation
helps us keep a promise to those brave warriors. As you heard from my
colleagues, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights
Act was passed by this Congress--a smart piece of legislation--in 1994.
It simply says if you serve this Nation in uniform, you will not be
disadvantaged in your civilian-sector job; you will have prompt
reemployment when that service is done; and you will not be
discriminated against because of current or past military service. It's
keeping that commitment that if you put your life on the line, you put
your health on the line, you shouldn't have to sacrifice your career
progression against your peers just because you were willing to serve
this Nation.
That piece of legislation was very clear also that the Federal
Government should be a model employer. Also as the gentleman from
Mississippi stated, TSA has a very important job of securing this
Nation. They have done a wonderful job of hiring veterans. The issue at
hand here is asking TSA to abide by the same rules as countless other
agencies have. There is not a police force, a firefighting force, a
school, or a private employer that hasn't sent a guardsman or a
reservist off to do duty. They've had to change schedules and bring
them back. In many small towns in my district, when you get a call up
from the National Guard unit, most of the police department is gone
with them. They've figured out how to do this, and they've done it by
abiding by USERRA when they came back home and welcomed them back. It's
absolutely unconscionable that TSA wouldn't.
As the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) noted, they say they're
already complying with most of the regulations. They've had time to
adjust to this. We need to make sure at a time of high unemployment
against our veterans, that we of all people--the Federal Government--
throws up no barriers in front of them, but welcomes them back,
replaces them in their jobs, and moves them forward. That's not only
morally the right thing to do; that's the right thing to do for
national defense. These are our best and brightest willing to put their
lives on the line. I want them at the front lines at our airports and
ports and other places, and we should get them back into it.
I want to thank these two gentlemen for their unwavering work and
also the chairman of the VA, Mr. Miller, and Mr. Filner. As was stated
earlier, I thank an absolute champion of veterans rights, Mr.
Bilirakis, who is the original cosponsor of this.
Mr. KING of New York. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentlelady from Florida (Ms. Brown).
Ms. BROWN of Florida. Thank you, Chairman King and Ranking Member
Thompson, for bringing this bill to the floor as we return from
Memorial Day events with our constituents.
When the TSA was formed in the wake of 9/11, the worst terrorist
attack in the history of the United States, Congress was attempting to
consolidate many of the Nation's security duties that were spread out
over all of the Departments. We were dedicated to the proposition that
this event should never be repeated. Our response was quick that our
civilian transportation system should never be used for attack ever
again.
Out of the need for better airport security, the Transportation
Security Administration was born. However, at the time, Republicans did
not want to give the same rights to those Members of the Federal
workforce as other Federal employees enjoy. One of those rights was
USERRA, the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
Under USERRA, individuals retain certain rights when that person
needs to be absent from his or her civilian employment to serve in this
country's uniformed services.
This bill would require the TSA to comply with USERRA when dealing
with air transportation passengers and property screeners.
I support this legislation as a good first step toward giving the
same rights available to all Federal employees.
And let me just take this moment to thank TSA for their hard work and
dedication in keeping us safe. Sometimes I know it is inconvenient to
the traveling public, but remember that they're there to protect us and
they would not be there if 9/11 had not occurred. Thank you for your
service.
Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I advise my colleague that I am
prepared to close as I have no further speakers.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
{time} 1810
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I thank you for yielding, and
I thank the chairman of the full committee and the ranking member.
As a ranking member of the Transportation Security Subcommittee, it's
my privilege to rise to support H.R. 3670.
Let me thank the author of the bill, the gentleman from Minnesota,
for his leadership--he is always speaking eloquently but fighting for
our veterans, and we thank you very much both for your service and your
leadership--and also to thank the gentlelady from Florida for her kind
and astute remarks regarding the importance of TSA.
In the last 24 hours, there was a breach of security in San Diego
when an individual went through a secured door and boarded a plane. The
immediate response of some of the commentators was: What was TSA doing?
I
[[Page H3241]]
think the only comment is: They were doing their job.
And that breach obviously occurred before any entering into the
secured area, but it tells us how important TSA really is and being on
the front line of securing this Nation and being part of the team that
has allowed us to not have a tragic incident on our soil since 9/11.
It is important to have the TSA comply with the Uniformed Services
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. The Uniformed Services
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, USERRA, ensures that our valued
citizens who have served in the Armed Forces, Reserves, National Guard,
or other uniformed services are not disadvantaged in their civilian
careers because of their service. They deserve this protection.
Under current law, the TSA is not required to comply with certain
provisions of Federal labor laws, including USERRA. This is not right.
Currently the TSA, which has more than 50,000 employees, is not
required to hold positions and promotions for employees who are called
away for military service. Ten thousand veterans serve on the TSA's
workforce. That is one-fifth, or 20 percent, of their entire workforce.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30
seconds.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. The head of my airport, Bush
Intercontinental Airport, Colonel Testa, is retired military. The law
specifies certain rank for individuals who serve in the uniformed
services, including those in the Reserves or the National Guard who are
called to duty. I join with my colleagues to support this legislation
to ensure that TSA complies with USERRA.
Just 2 days ago we celebrated Memorial Day, and I would offer to say
that we must continue to support our veterans but also mourn those who
are lost, but in their name, it's important to support this
legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to debate H.R. 3670, ``To require the
Transportation Security Administration to comply with the Uniformed
Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.'' The Uniformed
Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) ensures that
our valued citizens who serve or have served in the Armed Forces,
Reserves, National Guard or other ``uniformed services'' are not
disadvantaged in their civilian careers because of their service.
Under current law, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
is not required to comply with certain provisions of federal labor
laws, including USERRA. This is not right.
Currently the TSA, which has more than 50,000 employees, is not
required to hold positions and promotions for employees who are called
away for military service. 10,000 veterans serve on the TSA's
workforce. That is \1/5\ or 20 percent of their entire workforce.
The law specifies certain rights for individuals who serve in the
uniformed services, including those in the reserves or the National
Guard who are called to active duty.
In particular, USERRA prohibits employers from discriminating on the
basis of military service or obligation and protects covered
individuals' rights to be reemployed upon returning from duty.
H.R. 3670 requires the TSA to comply with USERRA. According to TSA,
the agency's existing policies regarding individuals who leave TSA to
undertake uniformed service are already consistent with USERRA. We want
to make absolutely sure that our veterans, servicemen, and future
soldiers are protected by the laws that govern our great Nation. We
have to ensure that they are taken care of. They are courageous enough
to defend, and sometimes give their lives for the United States. We
should do what we can to honor their bravery.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that H.R. 3670 would
not significantly affect the TSA's costs nor would enacting the bill
affect direct spending or revenues.
I strongly support our troops and the brave men and women who have
served in our armed forces. After their honorable service they should
not have to face obstacles in finding civilian employment due to their
service.
We must do everything in our power to ensure Members of our Armed
Services are discriminated against based upon past, present, or future
military service. They have sacrificed for their country and when they
return to their civilian life that sacrifice should be honored not
viewed as a negative. The federal government should be a ``model
employer'' under USERRA, which is why H.R. 3670 is such a vital piece
of legislation. Again, I urge you to honor the sacrifice of our troops.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to close.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3670 enjoys bipartisan support of both the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on Homeland Security
and deserves the support of the full House today.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. KING of New York. It's only because of the late hour--we have
three more pieces of vital legislation to pass in the next 15 or 20
minutes--that I am not speaking at length on this issue because it is
so vital. I thank the gentleman from Minnesota for it.
I urge Members to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3670, to
require the Transportation Security Administration, TSA, to comply with
the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act,
USERRA, is intended to ensure that persons who serve or have served in
the Armed Forces, Reserves, National Guard or other uniformed services:
(1) are not disadvantaged in their civilian careers because of their
service, (2) are promptly reemployed in their civilian jobs upon their
return from duty, and (3) are not discriminated against in employment
based on past, present, or future military service.
Soon after the attacks of 9/11, TSA was given USERRA exemption to
allow the agency to hire new employees without delay for airport
screenings. USERRA protects service members so they are able to keep
their job, benefits, and seniority in their civilian job if they are
called up to Active Duty. TSA has voluntarily adopted some USERRA
provisions for their employees, but TSA no longer requires special
hiring authorities that it required when newly created. With more than
10,000 veterans among the agency's employees, counting for 20 percent
of the Transportation Security Officer workforce, TSA, like any other
federal agency, should be required to comply with the same USERRA rules
as other Federal agencies and private employers.
With the month of May and National Military Appreciation Month
concluding, we must continue to appreciate and support our service
members by supporting this legislation. Our veterans and servicemembers
do not choose our conflicts and we cannot allow employers to punish
them for their unrelenting dedication to our nation's freedom.
Mr. Speaker, requiring the Transportation Security Administration to
comply with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights
Act is the right thing to. That is why I strongly support H.R. 3670 and
I urge my colleagues to support our servicemembers and veterans by
supporting H.R. 3670.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New York (Mr. King) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 3670.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________