[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.

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