[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12770-12772]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       IMPROVED SECURITY VETTING FOR AVIATION WORKERS ACT OF 2015

  Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 2750) to reform programs of the Transportation Security 
Administration, streamline transportation security regulations, and for 
other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2750

       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 ``Improved Security Vetting 
     for Aviation Workers Act of 2015''.

     SEC. 2. AVIATION SECURITY.

       (a) In General.--Subtitle A of title XVI of the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 561 et seq.) is amended by 
     adding after section 1601 the following new section:

     ``SEC. 1602. VETTING OF AVIATION WORKERS.

       ``(a) In General.--By not later than December 31, 2015, the 
     Administrator, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary 
     for Policy of the Department, shall request from the Director 
     of National Intelligence access to additional data from the 
     Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) data and

[[Page 12771]]

     any or other terrorism-related information to improve the 
     effectiveness of the Administration's credential vetting 
     program for individuals with unescorted access to sensitive 
     areas of airports.
       ``(b) Security Inspection.--By not later than December 31, 
     2015, the Administrator shall issue guidance for 
     Transportation Security Inspectors to annually review airport 
     badging office procedures for applicants seeking access to 
     sensitive areas of airports. Such guidance shall include a 
     comprehensive review of applicants' Criminal History Records 
     Check (CHRC) and work authorization documentation during the 
     course of an inspection.
       ``(c) Information Sharing.--By not later than December 31, 
     2015, the Administrator may conduct a pilot program of the 
     Rap Back Service, in coordination with the Director of the 
     Federal Bureau of Investigation, to determine the feasibility 
     of full implementation of a service through which the 
     Administrator would be notified of a change in status of an 
     individual holding a valid credential granting unescorted 
     access to sensitive areas of airports across eligible 
     Administration-regulated populations.
       ``(d) Procedures.--The pilot program under subsection (c) 
     shall evaluate whether information can be narrowly tailored 
     to ensure that the Administrator only receives notification 
     of a change with respect to a disqualifying offense under the 
     credential vetting program under subsection (a), as specified 
     in 49 C.F.R. 1542.209, and in a manner that complies with 
     current regulations for fingerprint-based criminal history 
     records checks. The pilot program shall be carried out in a 
     manner so as to ensure that, in the event that notification 
     is made through the Rap Back Service of a change but a 
     determination of arrest status or conviction is in question, 
     the matter will be handled in a manner that is consistent 
     with current regulations. The pilot program shall also be 
     carried out in a manner that is consistent with current 
     regulations governing an investigation of arrest status, 
     correction of Federal Bureau of Investigation records and 
     notification of disqualification, and corrective action by 
     the individual who is the subject of an inquiry.
       ``(e) Determination and Submission.--If the Administrator 
     determines that full implementation of the Rap Back Service 
     is feasible and can be carried out in a manner that is 
     consistent with current regulations for fingerprint-based 
     criminal history checks, including the rights of individuals 
     seeking credentials, the Administrator shall submit such 
     determination, in writing, to 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, 
     together with information on the costs associated with such 
     implementation, including the costs incurred by the private 
     sector. In preparing this determination, the Administrator 
     shall consult with the Chief Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 
     Officer of the Department to ensure that protocols are in 
     place to align the period of retention of personally 
     identifiable information and biometric information, including 
     fingerprints, in the Rap Back Service with the period in 
     which the individual who is the subject of an inquiry has a 
     valid credential.
       ``(f) Credential Security.--By not later than September 30, 
     2015, the Administrator shall issue guidance to airports 
     mandating that all federalized airport badging authorities 
     place an expiration date on airport credentials commensurate 
     with the period of time during which an individual is 
     lawfully authorized to work in the United States.
       ``(g) Aviation Worker Lawful Status.--By not later than 
     December 31, 2015, the Administrator shall review the denial 
     of credentials due to issues associated with determining an 
     applicant's lawful status in order to identify airports with 
     specific weaknesses and shall coordinate with such airports 
     to mutually address such weaknesses, as appropriate.
       ``(h) Reports to Congress.--Upon completion of the 
     determinations and reviews required under this section, the 
     Administrator shall brief the Committee on Homeland Security 
     and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 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 on the 
     results of such determinations and reviews.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of the 
     Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after 
     the item relating to section 1601 the following new item:

``Sec. 1602. Vetting of aviation workers.''.

     SEC. 3. STATUS UPDATE ON RAP BACK SERVICE PILOT PROGRAM.

       Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Administrator of the Transportation Security 
     Administration shall submit to 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 a 
     report on the status of plans to conduct a pilot program in 
     coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the 
     Rap Back Service in accordance with subsection (c) of section 
     1602 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by 
     section 2 of this Act. The report shall include details on 
     the business, technical, and resource requirements for the 
     Transportation Security Administration and pilot program 
     participants, and provide a timeline and goals for the pilot 
     program.

  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.
  Today we will consider four bipartisan bills that address security 
vulnerabilities and improvements to the Transportation Security 
Administration.
  I am proud of the bipartisan work this subcommittee has done and will 
continue to do to address the issue. I would like to thank Chairman 
McCaul, Ranking Member Thompson of the Homeland Security Committee, as 
well as my colleague, Ranking Member Rice, from the Subcommittee on 
Transportation Security for their leadership.
  These four bills being on the floor today demonstrate that, when we 
work together, we can get things done. I look forward to continuing to 
work together on these issues.
  Mr. Speaker, today I rise in strong support of H.R. 2750, the 
Improved Security Vetting for Aviation Workers Act of 2015.
  In June of this year, the Department of Homeland Security inspector 
general released a report that found a stunning 73 aviation workers 
that had possible ties to terrorism.
  The findings of this report were indeed alarming, and 14 years after 
9/11 findings like this are simply unacceptable.
  This vital piece of bipartisan legislation will strengthen the 
vetting of these workers, close these security gaps, and ensure the 
safety and security of our Nation's aviation system.
  The inspector general's June report found that TSA does not have 
access to all the data it may need to thoroughly check an aviation 
worker's potential ties to terrorism.
  However, what is even more alarming is that a memo was sent to the 
TSA Administrator noting the need for additional information and TSA 
has still yet to resolve this gap.
  The report also found that airports do not match the expiration date 
of an employee's credential to the expiration of their legal work 
authorization in the United States.

                              {time}  1630

  Again, while TSA stated they are working to resolve this issue by the 
end of the year, it raises serious concern that this gap exists in the 
first place. That is why this legislation is so critical, in order to 
guarantee that TSA addresses these known vulnerabilities.
  Since the start of this Congress, as chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Transportation Security of the Committee on Homeland Security, I have 
actively examined a number of alarming aspects related to TSA's 
operations, policies, and procedures. Through hearings, oversight 
inquiries, and legislation, I have been working to get to the bottom of 
these issues and raise awareness of the urgent need to fix them.
  Unfortunately, these findings by the inspector general are not an 
anomaly. In May, the inspector general released a report that found 
that TSA did not have the appropriate controls in place to ensure that 
screening equipment has necessary maintenance work performed, an issue 
that Miss Rice's bill, H.R. 2770, addresses.

[[Page 12772]]

  Last month, news outlets reported test results showing that screeners 
failed to detect prohibited threat items 96 percent of the time--96 
percent.
  These more recent findings come on the heels of revelations earlier 
this year of security breaches by employees at major airports across 
this country involving a nationwide gun smuggling ring and an employee 
of the FAA bypassing security and flying with a loaded firearm using 
his SIDA badge, and this month, four airport workers from Dallas were 
arrested for exploiting their access to aircraft to smuggle what they 
believed to be cocaine and other drugs.
  All of these findings individually are concerning and, in the 
aggregate, shake public's confidence and only further display the need 
for this legislation.
  Aviation workers are supposed to be thoroughly vetted due to their 
continuing access to sensitive areas of airports and the fact that they 
hold a position of trust within the transportation system. However, the 
findings by the inspector general and the dozens of arrests of aviation 
workers this year demonstrate that the status quo is not working.
  The insider threat is the hardest threat to combat, and while this 
bill will not eliminate this threat, H.R. 2750 will indeed give TSA and 
the airports the ability to more thoroughly vet these employees and 
have a better understanding of whom we are granting secured access to.
  The reality is that, in this post-9/11 world, the terrorist threat is 
metastasizing; and we, as a Nation, must remain responsive to any holes 
in the security of our transportation systems and ensure that protocols 
keep place with the ever-evolving threat landscape.
  Improving the vetting of the aviation workers who have access to 
sensitive areas of airports can help close another backdoor 
vulnerability at our Nation's airports.
  I would like to thank Chairman McCaul, Ranking Member Rice, 
Congresswoman McSally, Congressman Keating, and Congressman Payne for 
joining me as cosponsors of this bill. I urge my other colleagues to 
join me in supporting this critical piece of legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Miss RICE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise in strong support of H.R. 2750, the Improved Security Vetting 
for Aviation Workers Act of 2015.
  Mr. Speaker, a recent review by the Department of Homeland Security's 
inspector general found that, although TSA's multilayered process for 
vetting airport workers is generally effective, there were instances 
where the process did not detect airport workers with potential links 
to terrorism.
  In total, the inspector general identified 73 aviation workers with 
possible links to terrorism after running data against the so-called 
TIDE database, which is maintained by the National Counterterrorism 
Center.
  TSA does not have access to this database under current interagency 
watch listing policies. Chairman Katko introduced H.R. 2750 to rectify 
this situation, and I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this 
bipartisan bill.
  H.R. 2750 will put TSA on a path to accessing terrorism-related data 
in order to more effectively vet employees who work in our Nation's 
airports. In addition, this bill will require TSA to conduct an annual 
review of the procedures for issuing security credentials to employees 
seeking to work in highly sensitive, secure areas of our airports.
  Lastly, under H.R. 2750, TSA is authorized to pilot the FBI's Rap 
Back Service, which provides near real-time information about changes 
in an airport worker's criminal history. The possibility of someone 
with ties to terrorism getting a job in an American airport is a very 
real threat, one of many that we live with every day and one that we 
must do everything in our power to prevent. H.R. 2750 will help 
neutralize that threat. I urge my colleagues to give it their full 
support.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, together with Chairman Katko, I am proud of 
the work that we have done on the Subcommittee on Transportation 
Security to address this and other pressing transportation security 
issues within TSA in a constructive, bipartisan way.
  The four bipartisan TSA bills that we are considering today are a 
testament to that effort and to what we can accomplish when we work 
together to solve real problems. I hope that we will continue to make 
progress together, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2750.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to 
close.
  Mr. Speaker, I once again urge my colleagues to support this strong, 
bipartisan piece of legislation.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2750, 
the Improved Security Vetting for Aviation Workers Act, which directs 
the Transportation Security Administrator to annually review airport 
badging office procedures for applicants seeking access to sensitive 
areas of airports.
  I commend the bipartisan work of Chairman McSally and Ranking Member 
Payne for their work on this bill.
  The bill would direct the Transportation Security Administrator to 
coordinate with the Secretary of Homeland Security and consult with the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation to conduct a pilot program of the Rap 
Back Service in preparation for possible full implementation.
  The Administrator is further directed to determine the lawful status 
of aviation workers in order to identify airports with specific 
weaknesses.
  The Administrator will brief the House Committees on Homeland 
Security and Transportation and Infrastructure as well as the Senate 
Committees on Homeland Security and Government Affairs and Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation on the results of the determinations and 
reviews.
  This is a good step forward in support of security at our nation's 
airports.
  As the Committee charged with the responsibility of improving 
security at our nation's airports this forward looking bill will allow 
a pilot program to determine if there are better resources for assuring 
the security of the traveling public.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of H.R. 2750.
  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. 2750, 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.

                          ____________________