[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 119 (Monday, July 27, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5502-H5504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SECURING EXPEDITED SCREENING ACT
Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 2127) to direct the Administrator of the Transportation Security
Administration to limit access to expedited airport security screening
at an airport security checkpoint to participants of the PreCheck
program and other known low-risk passengers, and for other purposes, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2127
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 ``Securing Expedited Screening
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Aviation and Transportation Security Act (Public
Law 107-71) authorized the Transportation Security
Administration to ``establish requirements to implement
trusted passenger programs and use available technologies to
expedite the security screening of passengers who participate
in such programs, thereby allowing security screening
personnel to focus on those passengers who should be subject
to more extensive screening.''.
(2) In October 2011, the Transportation Security
Administration began piloting the PreCheck program in which a
limited number of passengers who were participants in the
frequent flyer programs of domestic air carriers were
directed to special screening lanes for expedited security
screening.
(3) In December 2013, the Transportation Security
Administration opened the PreCheck program to eligible
passengers who submit biographic and biometric information
for a security risk assessment.
(4) Today, expedited security screening is provided to
passengers who, in general, are members of populations
identified by the Administrator of the Transportation
Security Administration as presenting a low risk to aviation
security, including members of populations known and vetted
by the Administrator or through another Department of
Homeland Security trusted traveler program, and to passengers
who are selected by expedited screening on a case-by-case
basis through the Transportation Security Administration's
Managed Inclusion process and other procedures.
(5) According to the Transportation Security
Administration, the Managed Inclusion process ``combines the
use of multiple layers of security to indirectly conduct a
real-time assessment of passengers'' through the use of
Passenger Screening Canine teams, Behavior Detection
Officers, Explosives Trace Detection (ETD) machines, and
other activities.
(6) In December 2014, the Comptroller General of the United
States concluded in a report entitled ``Rapid Growth in
Expedited Passenger Screening Highlights Need to Plan
Effective Security Assessments'' that ``it will be important
for TSA to evaluate the security effectiveness of the Managed
Inclusion process as a whole, to ensure that it is
functioning as intended and that passengers are being
screened at a level commensurate with their risk''.
(7) On March 16, 2015, the Inspector General of the
Department of Homeland Security released a report entitled
``Allegation of Granting Expedited Screening through TSA
PreCheck Improperly'', in which the Inspector General
determined that the Transportation Security Administration
granted expedited security screening at a PreCheck security
lane to a passenger who had served time in prison for
felonies committed as a member of a domestic terrorist group
and who was not a participant in the PreCheck program.
SEC. 3. LIMITATION; PRECHECK OPERATIONS MAINTAINED; ALTERNATE
METHODS.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (d), not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Administrator of the Transportation Security
Administration shall direct that access to expedited airport
security screening at an
[[Page H5503]]
airport security checkpoint be limited to only the following:
(1) A passenger who voluntarily submits biographic and
biometric information for a security risk assessment and
whose application for the PreCheck program has been approved,
or a passenger who is a participant in another trusted or
registered traveler program of the Department of Homeland
Security.
(2) A passenger traveling pursuant to section 44903 of
title 49, United States Code (as established under the Risk-
Based Security for Members of the Armed Forces Act (Public
Law 112-86)), section 44927 of such title (as established
under the Helping Heroes Fly Act (Public Law 113-27)), or
section 44928 of such title (as established under the Honor
Flight Act (Public Law 113-221)).
(3) A passenger who did not voluntarily submit biographic
and biometric information for a security risk assessment but
is a member of a population designated by the Administrator
of the Transportation Security Administration as known and
low-risk and who may be issued a unique, known traveler
number by the Administrator determining that such passenger
is a member of a category of travelers designated by the
Administrator as known and low-risk.
(b) PreCheck Operations Maintained.--In carrying out
subsection (a), the Administrator of the Transportation
Security Administration shall ensure that expedited airport
security screening remains available to passengers at or
above the level that exists on the day before the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(c) Minors and Seniors.--The Administrator of the
Transportation Security Administration may provide access to
expedited airport security screening at an airport security
checkpoint to a passenger who is--
(1) 75 years old or older; or
(2) 12 years old or under and who is traveling with a
parent or guardian who is a participant in the PreCheck
program.
(d) Frequent Fliers.--If the Administrator of the
Transportation Security Administration determines that such
is appropriate, the date specified in subsection (a) may be
extended by up to one year to implement such subsection with
respect to the population of passengers who did not
voluntarily submit biographic and biometric information for
security risk assessments but who nevertheless receive
expedited airport security screening because such passengers
are designated as frequent fliers by air carriers. If the
Administrator uses the authority provided by this subsection,
the Administrator shall notify the Committee on Homeland
Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate of
such phased-in implementation.
(e) Alternate Methods.--The Administrator of the
Transportation Security Administration may provide access to
expedited airport security screening to additional passengers
pursuant to an alternate method upon the submission to the
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate of an independent assessment of
the security effectiveness of such alternate method that is
conducted by an independent entity that determines that such
alternate method is designed to--
(1) reliably and effectively identify passengers who likely
pose a low risk to the United States aviation system;
(2) mitigate the likelihood that a passenger who may pose a
security threat to the United States aviation system is
selected for expedited security screening; and
(3) address known and evolving security risks to the United
States aviation system.
(f) Information Sharing.--The Administrator of the
Transportation Security Administration shall provide to the
entity conducting the independent assessment under subsection
(c) effectiveness testing results that are consistent with
established evaluation design practices, as identified by the
Comptroller General of the United States.
SEC. 4. REPORTING.
Not later than three months after the date of the enactment
of this Act and annually thereafter, the Administrator of the
Transportation Security Administration shall report to the
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate on the percentage of all
passengers who are provided expedited security screening, and
of such passengers so provided, the percentage who are
participants in the PreCheck program (who have voluntarily
submitted biographic and biometric information for security
risk assessments), the percentage who are participants in
another trusted traveler program of the Department of
Homeland Security, the percentage who are participants in the
PreCheck program due to the Administrator's issuance of known
traveler numbers, and for the remaining percentage of
passengers granted access to expedited security screening in
PreCheck security lanes, information on the percentages
attributable to each alternative method utilized by the
Transportation Security Administration to direct passengers
to expedited airport security screening at PreCheck security
lanes.
SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act may be construed to--
(1) authorize or direct the Administrator of the
Transportation Administration to reduce or limit the
availability of expedited security screening at an airport;
or
(2) limit the authority of the Administrator to use
technologies and systems, including passenger screening
canines and explosives trace detection, as a part of security
screening operations.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Katko) and the gentlewoman from New York (Miss Rice) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
General Leave
Mr. KATKO. 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. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2127, the Securing
Expedited Screening Act. This important piece of legislation directs
TSA to suspend the use of alternative methods for granting passengers
access to PreCheck expedited screening unless the agency can prove the
security effectiveness of such methods.
Specifically, this bill requires that expedited screening be limited
to passengers who have successfully enrolled in the PreCheck program or
who are eligible for PreCheck by being part of an already identified
low-risk population.
Managed Inclusion is intended to conduct a ``real-time'' threat
assessment to identify passengers who are eligible for TSA PreCheck on
a flight-by-flight basis through the use of already present layers of
security at the airports. However, travelers who experience expedited
screening through Managed Inclusion are not subject to a criminal
history background check, have not paid for TSA PreCheck--unlike other
passengers--are often unaware of the reason they are receiving
expedited screening, and are generally not encouraged to enroll in TSA
PreCheck during the experience.
While Managed Inclusion may help reduce wait times and increase
utilization of TSA PreCheck lanes, it has not been tested or proven to
improve the experience of travelers or, more importantly, reduce the
security risks to aviation.
On the contrary, passengers who go through the TSA PreCheck
enrollment process and pay $85 for expedited screening are not seeing
the benefits that were promised to them. This is because passengers who
did not enroll, have not submitted to a background check, and are
unfamiliar with TSA PreCheck are being ushered into those expedited
screening lanes.
This bill, along with a piece of legislation that I introduced, H.R.
2843, the TSA PreCheck Expansion Act, will ensure that we are providing
expedited screening in a manner that is both deliberate and secure, and
that we are expanding the known traveler population so that we can
focus our resources on unknown travelers.
I am very pleased to join my colleagues Mr. Thompson and Miss Rice as
a cosponsor of this important legislation. I urge my other colleagues
to join me in supporting H.R. 2127, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
Miss RICE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2127, the Securing
Expedited Screening Act.
The Transportation Security Administration is charged with the great
responsibility of keeping commercial aviation passengers safe and
keeping criminals, terrorists, and dangerous objects off of flights.
They do so using limited resources, relying on a risk-based approach
that focuses those resources on the passengers about whom we know the
least. The PreCheck program is a key element of this approach, granting
expedited screening to trusted or ``known'' passengers who have
undergone an extensive vetting process.
But even as TSA expanded the PreCheck program, it was also granting
expedited screening to other supposedly ``low-risk'' passengers through
the Managed Inclusion process--passengers who hadn't gone through the
PreCheck application process, hadn't been vetted, and were not known to
be low risk.
[[Page H5504]]
Numerous classified reports from both the Department of Homeland
Security inspector general and the Government Accountability Office
have detailed the security risks created by the Managed Inclusion
process. We must take action to eliminate this vulnerability, and we
can do so by passing H.R. 2127.
Ranking Member Thompson's bipartisan legislation will require TSA to
limit expedited screening to the population for which it was intended:
those travelers who have been vetted and are known to be low risk.
I urge my colleagues to join Ranking Member Thompson, Chairman Katko,
and me in supporting this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Miss RICE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
In closing, I would like to again thank Members for supporting this
legislation. H.R. 2127 will eliminate a significant gap in our aviation
security and ensure that each passenger who boards a commercial flight
receives the appropriate level of screening.
I urge all my colleagues to join us in supporting this legislation,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I once again urge my colleagues to support this strong,
bipartisan piece of legislation.
H.R. 2843, which we just spoke about, and H.R. 2127, this bill, work
side by side with each other, and it is a good example of the
bipartisan nature which permeates this committee. One bill deals with
the expansion of PreCheck; the other one deals with the constriction on
the other side of PreCheck, and that is the Managed Inclusion, which
none of us think is a good idea, long term, for security purposes.
I am proud to be part of this legislation. I am proud of the
bipartisan work we are doing on this committee, and I look forward to
much more production moving forward.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Katko) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 2127, 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.
____________________