[House Report 114-495]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


114th Congress   }                                      {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session      }                                      {      114-495

======================================================================
 
                    NO FLY FOR FOREIGN FIGHTERS ACT

                                _______
                                

 April 15, 2016.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Goodlatte, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 4240]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 4240) to require an independent review of the 
operation and administration of the Terrorist Screening 
Database (TSDB) maintained by the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation and subsets of the TSDB, and for other purposes, 
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an 
amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page

The Amendment....................................................     1
Purpose and Summary..............................................     2
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     2
Hearings.........................................................     3
Committee Consideration..........................................     3
Committee Votes..................................................     3
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     4
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     4
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     5
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings..............................     5
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     5
Advisory on Earmarks.............................................     5
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     5

                             The Amendment

    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``No Fly for Foreign Fighters Act''.

SEC. 2. GAO STUDY ON THE TERRORIST SCREENING DATABASE.

  (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a 
study and submit, to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, a 
report on--
          (1) whether past weaknesses in the operation and 
        administration of the Terrorist Screening Database (hereinafter 
        referred to as the ``TSDB'') and subsets of the TSDB have been 
        addressed; and
          (2) the extent to which existing vulnerabilities to the 
        United States may be addressed or mitigated through additional 
        changes to the TSDB and subsets of the TSDB, thereby enhancing 
        America's security and defenses.
  (b) Required Information.--The study and report under subsection (a) 
shall include information on the extent to which--
          (1) information is being integrated into the TSDB from all 
        relevant sources across the government in a timely manner;
          (2) agencies are able to comply with increased demands for 
        information to improve the TSDB;
          (3) the TSDB, and relevant subsets of the TSDB, are 
        accessible to agencies, authorities, and other entities, as 
        appropriate; and
          (4) the TSDB is capable of enabling users to identify known 
        or suspected terrorists in the most timely and comprehensive 
        manner possible.

                          Purpose and Summary

    This legislation requires the U.S. Government 
Accountability Office to conduct an independent review of the 
operation and administration of the Terrorist Screening 
Database and its subsets.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    Pursuant to Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6, the 
Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) was established to create and 
maintain the U.S. government's consolidated watchlist--the 
Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB)--and to provide for the use 
of watchlist records during security-related and other 
screening processes.\1\ The watchlisting and screening 
processes are intended to support the U.S. government's efforts 
to combat terrorism by consolidating the terrorist watchlist 
and providing screening and law enforcement agencies with 
information to help them respond appropriately during 
encounters with known or suspected terrorists, among other 
things.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-6, Integration and 
Use of Screening Information (Sept. 16, 2003).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) previously 
conducted a study of the terrorist watchlist following the 
December 25, 2009, attempted bombing of Northwest flight 253. 
That study exposed certain weaknesses in how the Federal 
Government nominated individuals to the terrorist watchlist and 
gaps in how agencies used the list to screen individuals. The 
GAO specifically recommended in its May 2012 unclassified 
report that the Assistant to the President for Homeland 
Security and Counterterrorism establish mechanisms or use 
existing interagency bodies to routinely assess:

         Lhow the watchlisting guidance has impacted 
        the watchlisting community--including its capacity to 
        submit and process nominations in accordance with 
        provisions in the guidance--and whether any adjustments 
        to agency programs or the guidance are needed, and

         Lwhether use of the watchlist during agency 
        screening processes is achieving intended results, 
        including whether the overall outcomes and impacts of 
        screening on agency resources and the traveling public 
        are acceptable and manageable or if adjustments to 
        agency programs or the watchlisting guidance are 
        needed.

    In July 2010, the Federal Government finalized guidance to 
address these identified weaknesses in the watchlist 
nominations process and to clarify how agencies are to nominate 
individuals to the watchlist. In 2011, an interagency policy 
committee began an initiative to assess the initial impacts the 
changes in watchlisting guidance had on nominating agencies. At 
the time the GAO report was published in 2012, agencies were 
also pursuing staffing, technology, and other solutions to 
address challenges in processing the volumes of information.
    The GAO stated in its 2012 watchlisting report that 
routine, government-wide assessments of the outcomes and 
impacts of agencies' watchlist screening or vetting programs 
could help ensure that these programs are achieving their 
intended results or identify if revisions are needed. Such 
assessments could also help identify broader issues that 
require attention, determine if impacts on agency resources and 
the traveling public are acceptable, and communicate to key 
stakeholders how the nation's investment in the watchlist 
screening or vetting processes is enhancing security of the 
nation's borders, commercial aviation, and other security-
related activities.

                                Hearings

    The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R. 
4240.

                        Committee Consideration

    On January 12, 2016, the Committee met in open session and 
ordered the bill H.R. 4240 favorably reported, with an 
amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present.

                            Committee Votes

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there 
were no recorded votes during the Committee's consideration of 
H.R. 4240.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

               New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does 
not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax 
expenditures.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with 
respect to the bill, H.R. 4240, the following estimate and 
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, January 29, 2016.
Hon. Bob Goodlatte, Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4240, the ``No Fly 
for Foreign Fighters Act.''If you wish further details on this 
estimate, we will be pleased to provide them. The CBO staff 
contact is Matthew Pickford, who can be reached at 226-2860.
            Sincerely,
                                                Keith Hall,
                                                  Director.

Enclosure

cc:
        Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
        Ranking Member




              H.R. 4240--No Fly for Foreign Fighters Act.

      As ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary 
                          on January 12, 2015.




    H.R. 4240 would direct the Government Accountability Office 
to prepare a study within 1 year of enactment on the operation 
and administration of the Terrorist Screening Database 
(commonly referred to as the Terrorist Watchlist) maintained by 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The database consolidates 
all terrorist information collected by the Federal Government 
for all terrorist screening systems. The report to the Congress 
would weigh whether weaknesses and vulnerabilities that have 
been identified in the database have been corrected. Based on 
the cost of similar studies, CBO estimates the report would 
cost less than $500,000 over the 2016-2017 period; such 
spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated 
funds.
    Because enacting the bill would not affect direct spending 
or revenues, pay-as-you go procedures do not apply. CBO 
estimates that enacting H.R. 4240 would not increase direct 
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
10-year periods beginning in 2026.
    H.R. 4240 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of State, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                    Duplication of Federal Programs

    No provision of H.R. 4240 establishes or reauthorizes a 
program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of 
another Federal program, a program that was included in any 
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program 
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance.

                  Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings

    The Committee estimates that H.R. 4240 specifically directs 
to be completed no specific rule makings within the meaning of 
5 U.S.C. 551.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R. 
4240, requires the U.S. Government Accountability Office to 
conduct an independent review of the operation and 
administration of the Terrorist Screening Database and its 
subsets.

                          Advisory on Earmarks

    In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, H.R. 4240 does not contain any 
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 
benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of Rule XXI.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    The following discussion describes the bill as reported by 
the Committee.
    Sec. 1. Short title. Section 1 sets forth the short title 
of the bill as the ``No Fly for Foreign Fighters Act.''
    Sec. 2. GAO Study on the Terrorist Screening Database. 
Section 2 provides that the GAO conduct a study and submit a 
report on whether past weaknesses in the operation and 
administration of the TSDB and subsets of the TSDB have been 
addressed, and the extent to which vulnerabilities to the 
United States may be addressed or mitigated through additional 
changes to the TSDB.

                                  [all]