[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 22, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H6604-H6606]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TSA OFFICE OF INSPECTION ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2014
Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4803) to require the Transportation Security Administration
to conform to existing Federal law and regulations regarding criminal
investigator positions, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4803
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 ``TSA Office of Inspection
Accountability Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Consistent with Federal law and regulations, for law
enforcement officers to qualify for premium pay as criminal
investigators, the officers must, in general, spend on
average at least 50 percent of their time investigating,
apprehending, or detaining individuals suspected or convicted
of offenses against the criminal laws of the United States.
(2) According to the Inspector General of the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS IG), the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) does not ensure that its cadre of
criminal investigators in the Office of Inspection are
meeting this requirement, even though they are considered law
enforcement officers under TSA policy and receive premium
pay.
(3) Instead, TSA criminal investigators in the Office of
Inspection primarily monitor the results of criminal
investigations conducted by other agencies, investigate
administrative cases of TSA employee misconduct, and carry
out inspections, covert tests, and internal reviews, which
the DHS IG asserts could be performed by employees other than
criminal investigators at a lower cost.
(4) The premium pay and other benefits afforded to TSA
criminal investigators in the Office of Inspection who are
incorrectly classified as such will cost the taxpayer as much
as $17,000,000 over 5 years if TSA fails to make any changes
to the number of criminal investigators in the Office of
Inspection, according to the DHS IG.
(5) This may be a conservative estimate, as it accounts for
the cost of Law Enforcement Availability Pay, but not the
costs of law enforcement training, statutory early retirement
benefits, police vehicles, and weapons.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the
Transportation Security Administration.
(2) Assistant secretary.--The term ``Assistant Secretary''
means the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security
(Transportation Security) of the Department of Homeland
Security.
(3) Inspector general.--The term ``Inspector General''
means the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland
Security
SEC. 4. INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEW.
(a) Review.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Inspector General shall analyze
the data and methods that the Assistant Secretary uses to
identify employees of the Administration who meet the
requirements of sections 8331(20), 8401(17) and 5545a of
title 5, United States Code, and provide the relevant
findings to the Assistant Secretary, including a finding on
whether the data and methods are adequate and valid.
(b) Prohibition on Hiring.--If the Inspector General finds
that such data and methods are inadequate or invalid, the
Administration may not hire any new employee to work in the
Office of Inspection of the Administration until--
(1) the Assistant Secretary makes a certification described
in section 5 to the Committee on Homeland Security of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and
(2) the Inspector General submits to such Committees a
finding, not later than 30 days after the Assistant Secretary
makes such certification, that the Assistant Secretary
utilized adequate and valid data and methods to make such
certification.
SEC. 5. TSA OFFICE OF INSPECTION WORKFORCE CERTIFICATION.
(a) Certification to Congress.--The Assistant Secretary
shall, by not later than 90 days after the date the Inspector
General provides its findings to the Assistant Secretary
under section 4(a), document and certify in writing to the
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate that only those employees of the
Administration who meet the requirements of sections
8331(20), 8401(17), and 5545a of title 5, United States Code,
are classified as criminal investigators and are receiving
premium pay and other benefits associated with such
classification.
(b) Employee Reclassification.--The Assistant Secretary
shall reclassify criminal investigator positions in the
Office of Inspection as noncriminal investigator positions or
non-law enforcement positions if the individuals in those
positions do not, or are not expected to, spend an average of
at least 50 percent of their time performing criminal
investigative duties.
(c) Projected Cost Savings.--
(1) In general.--The Assistant Secretary shall estimate the
total long-term cost savings to the Federal Government
resulting from the implementation of subsection (b), and
provide such estimate to the Committee on Homeland Security
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate by not
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
(2) Contents.--Such estimate shall identify savings
associated with the positions reclassified under subsection
(b) and include, among other factors the Assistant Secretary
considers appropriate, savings from--
(A) law enforcement training;
(B) early retirement benefits;
(C) law enforcement availability pay; and
(D) weapons, vehicles, and communications devices.
SEC. 6. INVESTIGATION OF FEDERAL AIR MARSHAL SERVICE USE OF
FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSE.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, or as soon as practicable, 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--
(1) any materials in the possession or control of the
Department of Homeland Security associated with the Office of
Inspection's review of
[[Page H6605]]
the use of a Federal firearms license by Federal Air Marshal
Service officials to obtain discounted or free firearms for
personal use; and
(2) information on specific actions that will be taken to
prevent Federal Air Marshal Service officials from using a
Federal firearms license, or exploiting, in any way, the
Service's relationships with private vendors to obtain
discounted or free firearms for personal use.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
South Carolina (Mr. Sanford) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr.
Richmond) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from South Carolina.
General Leave
Mr. SANFORD. 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 materials on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from South Carolina?
There was no objection.
Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hudson).
Mr. HUDSON. I thank the gentleman for his work on this important
piece of legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4803, the TSA Office of
Inspection Accountability Act of 2014. Again, I would like to commend
the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Sanford) for developing this
commonsense bill, which increases accountability within TSA and saves
precious taxpayer dollars by requiring the agency to correctly
designate criminal investigators within the Office of Inspection.
According to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general,
TSA does not ensure that its criminal investigators in the Office of
Inspection are meeting the Federal workload requirements for law
enforcement officers, even though they are considered law enforcement
officers and are receiving premium pay and other benefits.
If nothing is done to correct this problem, the misclassification
will cost taxpayers roughly $17 million over the next 5 years. This
type of waste is simply unacceptable.
As chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation Security, I held a
hearing on this topic and was both surprised and encouraged to hear the
head of the Office of Inspection admit that his office would reduce the
number of criminal investigator positions based on the office's
workload.
Although an acknowledgement is a step in the right direction, TSA
needs to go one step further. It is time for them to take real action
on this issue and achieve tangible results, which is precisely what
this legislation requires.
In addition to ensuring that the proper classification is placed on
criminal investigators, the Committee on Homeland Security agreed to an
amendment offered by the ranking member of the full committee, Mr.
Thompson, that would require TSA to submit to Congress any materials
associated with the Office of Inspection's review of the Federal
firearms license by Federal Air Marshals Service officials to obtain
discounted or free firearms for their own personal use, as well as
specific actions that will be taken to prevent air marshals from
exploiting their positions to obtain free or discounted firearms from
vendors for their personal use.
I have been concerned with TSA's failure to notify Congress of the
ongoing Office of Inspection investigations into potential unethical
activity related to the acceptance of free and discounted firearms for
personal use among FAMS employees, including senior officials.
I am pleased that this bill would ensure the committee receives
access to information that is necessary to carry out its important
oversight role, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 4803, the TSA Office of Inspection
Accountability Act of 2014. The Committee on Homeland Security is
tasked with conducting oversight over the various components within the
Department of Homeland Security.
As the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Transportation Security,
I have a particular interest in ensuring that the Transportation
Security Administration is operating both effectively and efficiently.
Thanks to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general, we
learned late last year that the Office of Inspection is not operating
efficiently.
Specifically, we learned that this office was designating some
personnel as criminal investigators who did not perform investigative
duties to justify such a classification or the salary and benefits
conferred a person with that title.
H.R. 4803 seeks to address this problem by requiring the TSA to
certify that all persons designated as criminal investigators are
working on criminal investigations at least 50 percent of their time.
There is no justification for providing personnel with the enhanced
benefits and pay associated with criminal investigators when they are
not doing the job of a criminal investigator.
This legislation is not intended to punish the entire Office of
Inspection. It recognizes that there are legitimate criminal
investigators within the office that have undoubtedly helped to thwart
plots and other criminal enterprises that put our Nation at risk. This
legislation simply encourages good government and the careful
stewardship of taxpayer dollars.
We need to ensure that the resources are used effectively, so that we
can keep citizens safe while operating at maximum efficiency. This
legislation is a step in the right direction.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for his leadership on the
subcommittee. I would say the same to my colleague from Louisiana, for
their respective pieces of work on this important bill.
As has already been noted by both of my colleagues, H.R. 4803 calls
for, I guess, the institution of a fairly simple premise, and that is,
we pay for what we get in government.
{time} 1615
That is what they do in the private sector. That is what individuals
do in the household. And if you stop and think about it, you wouldn't
pay somebody who could run a backhoe or a bulldozer--heavy equipment,
if you will--if all you needed was somebody who could run a shovel. You
wouldn't pay a chemical engineer to come and clean your pool or mix the
chemicals in the pool. You wouldn't hire Wolfgang Puck to come over and
fix you a piece of grilled cheese. It may be the greatest piece of
grilled cheese you could find, but it isn't what you would be paying
for.
So this bill incorporates that commonsense notion of, in government,
we ought to get what we pay for. And as has already been noted,
criminal investigators in this case do not meet Federal standards with
regard to the 50 percent threshold.
This bill does a couple of very, very simple things. It sets in place
a standard by which to track whether or not they are doing so. And for
the work that isn't to that standard, it eliminates this additional
pay, the so-called LEAP pay. LEAP pay is law enforcement availability
pay. As has already been noted, again, there is a 25 percent premium,
but in many cases, this is the tip of the iceberg, because if you look
at additional benefits in terms of early retirement or enhanced
training, there is a real cost to the taxpayer that goes with
continuing the road that we have been on.
This bill attempts to change that. It has teeth, and it freezes any
hiring in the Office of Inspection going forward if these changes
aren't made. As my colleague from North Carolina just noted, there are
real savings: $17 million. It is small by Federal standards, but think
about how many neighborhoods it takes to accumulate $17 million in
taxes. It is a step in the right direction in saving taxpayer money.
Mr. Speaker, for all those reasons, I urge additional support of this
bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would just like to thank the gentleman
from
[[Page H6606]]
South Carolina (Mr. Sanford) for introducing this piece of legislation
and the chairman of the subcommittee, Chairman Hudson, and, of course,
our ranking member, Mr. Bennie Thompson, for the bipartisan work on
this bill.
What this bill stands for is just a commonsense approach to
government and making sure that we pay for what we get, and it is that
very simple premise. So I am honored to be standing here today with my
colleagues from the other side of the aisle to do something that just
makes common sense.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I would urge my colleagues to support it, and
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North
Carolina (Mr. Hudson), my chairman.
Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, again, thank you to the gentleman from South
Carolina (Mr. Sanford) for this commonsense legislation. Also, I would
like to thank the ranking member of the committee, Mr. Richmond, for
not only his work on this bill, but in the way we have worked together
to make a difference for the American people.
The American people sent us to Congress to get things done, to make
their lives better, and to make sure we are scrutinizing every tax
dollar that is spent here. I think this piece of legislation, as my
colleague from Louisiana said, is a commonsense piece of legislation
that does just that.
So I am proud to stand here in support of it. I am proud of the work
that Mr. Sanford put into this bill, and I would urge my colleagues to
vote for this piece of legislation.
Mr. SANFORD. All that could be said has been said, and with that, I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4803, the
TSA Office of Inspection Accountability Act of 2014, sponsored by the
Gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Sanford.
The DHS Inspector General has reported that TSA's Office of
Inspection does not operate efficiently and could save significant tax
dollars by reclassifying criminal investigators in the Office of
Inspection to other less costly positions while still performing the
same work. The DHS IG specifically found that criminal investigators in
the Office of Inspection primarily monitor the results of criminal
investigations conducted by other agencies, investigate administrative
cases of TSA employee misconduct, and carry out inspections, covert
tests, and internal reviews.
While each of these functions is important, and in many cases a
criminal investigator may be well suited to perform them, they do not
represent the equivalent of a criminal investigation and should
therefore not be the primary functions of those employees who receive
premium pay and other benefits associated with being a criminal
investigator.
This bill addresses this issue by requiring a review of these
positions by TSA and the DHS Inspector General to determine how many
employees should be reclassified.
I am proud to be a cosponsor of this common-sense bill, and would
like to thank the Congressman from South Carolina, Mr. Sanford, both
for his work on this issue and his strong participation in the
Committee's oversight and legislative efforts this Congress. I would
also like to commend the Gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Hudson, for
his leadership as well.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R.
4803.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of
H.R. 4803, the ``TSA Office of Inspection Accountability Act of 2014''.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the gentleman from South
Carolina, Representative Sanford, for his leadership on this
legislation.
Upon its creation, TSA was given broad authority to hire, fire, and
set the terms of employment of its personnel.
This has resulted in employees, such as Transportation Security
Officers, lacking the due process rights afforded other Federal
employees.
It has also resulted, in some cases, of abuses of the system for the
gain of a few.
According to the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland
Security, TSA's Office of Inspection has been gaming the system by
employing a bloated number of personnel as ``criminal investigators''
for years.
Those who are designated as ``criminal investigators'' receive
additional compensation and are afforded the right to retire early.
H.R. 4803 will put an end to these abuses by requiring the Inspector
General to approve the method used by TSA to designate personnel as
criminal investigators and by requiring TSA to certify to Congress that
only those individuals performing the requisite criminal investigation
work are designated as ``criminal investigators''.
According to the Inspector General, properly classifying individuals
within TSA's Office of Inspection could save taxpayers as much as $17
million over five years.
During Committee consideration of this measure, I offered an
amendment on behalf of Representative Loretta Sanchez that addresses
revelations about misuse of Federal Air Marshal Service official's
relationships with private vendors to obtain discounted or free
firearms by TSA personnel.
Specifically, in April, the Committee became aware that the former
director of the Federal Air Marshal Service bought several guns from an
employee who is under investigation for using his position to obtain
free and discounted firearms.
Unfortunately, TSA was less than forthcoming with Congress regarding
this investigation, leaving many questions unanswered about how the
investigation was conducted and the number of FAMs officials involved.
The exploitation of official relationships for personal gain is a
serious matter.
Such misuse occurring within the Federal Air Marshal Service, the Law
Enforcement component within TSA is unacceptable.
To address the lack of transparency regarding the investigation, the
Committee accepted language I offered to require TSA to provide
information and materials associated with the Office of Inspection's
review of the allegations to Congress.
With that Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4803.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Homeland
Security Committee and a former chair of the Transportation Security
Subcommittee, I rise in support of H.R. 4803, the ``TSA Office of
Inspection Accountability Act of 2014.''
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member
Thompson for their leadership in bringing this legislation to the
floor.
H.R. 4803 will save the taxpayers hundreds of thousands dollars
annually by requiring the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
to conform its personnel classification practices to existing Federal
law and regulations regarding criminal investigator positions.
According to a report by the Homeland Security Department's Inspector
General (IG), about half of the employees in the Office of Inspection
(OII) are classified as criminal investigators even though their duties
do not involve responsibilities that can be characterized as criminal
investigation activities.
Instead, the responsibilities of these employees primarily consist of
administrative duties such as duties of such investigating cases of TSA
employee misconduct and conducting internal reviews.
Classifying these employees as ``law enforcement'' personnel,
however, makes them eligible for premium pay and other significant
economic benefits.
If TSA fails to reclassify criminal investigator positions as
noncriminal investigator positions or non-law-enforcement positions,
this will cost taxpayers as much as $17,000,000 over 5 years.
This money could be utilized to ensure that law enforcement agencies,
which identify, apprehend, and prosecute criminals, have the- tools,
resources, and training necessary to do their job efficiently,
effectively, and economically.
Mr. Speaker, I have always strongly supported providing the resources
needed by law enforcement and first responders and will continue to do
in future.
But we have an obligation to the American people to be responsible
stewards of the public fisc and it is not responsible to provide
premium pay and benefits intended for law enforcement personnel to
employees who do not perform the dangerous duties of law enforcement
officers.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 803, which directs
the Office of Inspection to reclassify its current criminal
investigator positions to conform to the requirements of applicable law
and save the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Sanford) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4803, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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