[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 61 (Wednesday, April 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2042-S2043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED:
  S. 4019. A bill to protect airline crew members, security screening 
personnel, and passengers by banning abusive passengers from commercial 
aircraft flights, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Protection from 
Abusive Passengers Act, a bill that is aimed at eliminating the rash of 
violence and abuse that is occurring on commercial flights across the 
country. I am pleased to be joined in this effort by Representative 
Eric Swalwell of California, who is introducing companion legislation 
in the other body. The goal of our bill is to send a clear signal that 
individuals who engage in serious abusive or violent behavior on an 
aircraft or at an airport security checkpoint will be banned from 
flying.
  Since 2020, we have seen an extraordinary increase in the number of 
cases of violence and abuse against crewmembers and airline passengers. 
In 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration received 5,981 reports of 
``unruly passengers.'' Those complaints led to 1,124 investigations, 
nearly the same number of investigations as the previous 10 years 
combined. From those investigations, the Federal Aviation 
Administration, FAA, has initiated 350 enforcement actions and proposed 
$5 million in fines. In February, it was widely reported that the FAA 
had referred 80 cases to the FBI for criminal investigation. Clearly, 
these are not minor infractions. Here some recent examples:
  In December 2021, the FAA proposed a record $52,500 fine against a 
passenger who tried to open the cockpit door on a Delta flight from 
Honolulu to Seattle, struck a flight attendant twice, and threatened 
him.
  The FAA also proposed a $45,000 fine against a passenger ``for 
throwing objects, including his carry-on luggage, at other passengers; 
refusing to stay seated; lying on the floor in the aisle, refusing to 
get up, and then grabbing a flight attendant by the ankles and putting 
his head up her skirt.''
  It proposed a $30,000 fine against a passenger on a Jan. 3, 2021, 
flight from Atlanta for ``allegedly interfering with the flight 
attendants' deplaning procedures upon arrival. He attempted to gain 
entry to the flight deck by physically assaulting two flight 
attendants, threatening to kill one of them, and demanding them to open 
the door.''
  Last December, a passenger on Southwest Airlines pleaded guilty to 
punching a flight attendant in the face multiple times in a May 2021 
incident in Sacramento. According to prosecutors, the flight attendant 
was taken to a hospital with injuries that included a swollen eye, a 
bruised arm, and a cut under her eye that had to be stitched. She also 
had three chipped teeth, two of which: had to be replaced with crowns.
  Such actions in any setting would be deplorable and reprehensible, 
but on an airplane, such behavior can also represent a real threat to 
all passengers. Clearly, the existing regime of civil and criminal 
penalties has not been enough to deter the upsurge in cases. We need to 
send a signal that such types of behavior will not be tolerated.
  The Protection from Abusive Passengers Act would require the 
Transportation Security Administration, TSA, to create and manage a 
program which bars passengers who are fined or convicted of serious 
physical violence and abuse from flying. Transparency and notice will 
be provided to banned individuals, including guidelines for removal. 
The bill would also permanently ban abusive passengers from 
participating in the TSA PreCheck or Customs' Global Entry programs.
  The bill provides appropriate fairness and due process by ensuring 
that only

[[Page S2043]]

individuals who have been assessed a civil or criminal penalty for 
abusive and violent behavior will be included on the list of banned 
fliers. The bill also requires the TSA to explain how it will maintain 
its list of banned fliers, provide an explanation of how long the 
individual may be barred from flying based on the severity of the 
offense, and provide how the individual can seek to be removed from the 
list of banned fliers.
  I believe this bill strikes the appropriate balance to assure 
fairness and transparency while sending a strong signal that violent 
and abusive behavior will not be tolerated. I am pleased that the bill 
is supported by both labor and the airlines, including American 
Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, the Association of Flight 
Attendants-CWA, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, 
Transport Workers Union of America, and the Transportation Trades 
Department of the AFL-CIO. I hope that my colleagues will join me in 
supporting this important bill.

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