[House Report 116-191]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


116th Congress    }                                     {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session      }                                     {      116-191

======================================================================



 
      TRUSTED TRAVELER RECONSIDERATION AND RESTORATION ACT OF 2019

                                _______
                                

August 30, 2019.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, from the Committee on Homeland Security, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3675]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 3675) to require a review of Department of 
Homeland Security trusted traveler programs, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Summary..............................................     1
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     2
Hearings.........................................................     2
Committee Consideration..........................................     2
Committee Votes..................................................     2
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     2
C.B.O. Estimate, New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and 
  Tax Expenditures...............................................     3
Federal Mandates Statement.......................................     4
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............     4
Duplicative Federal Programs.....................................     4
Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff 
  Benefits.......................................................     4
Federal Mandates Statement
Advisory Committee Statement
Applicability to Legislative Branch
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation...................     4

                          PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    The purpose of H.R. 3675, the ``Trusted Traveler 
Reconsideration and Restoration Act of 2019'' is to require the 
Comptroller General to review the Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS) trusted traveler programs to evaluate the 
process for review and redress when someone is denied 
enrollment in a program due to incorrect information.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    DHS maintains a number of trusted traveler programs where 
travelers identified as low risk are provided expedited 
screening, allowing DHS to focus on those that pose a greater 
threat. They include the Transportation Security 
Administration's PreCheck program and United States Customs and 
Border Protection's Global Entry, Nexus, Sentri, and FAST 
programs. Over the years, there have been accounts of instances 
where individuals have been erroneously deemed to not meet the 
security parameters for enrollment in DHS trusted traveler 
programs. Misidentification or misinformation impair an 
agency's ability to appropriately make these determinations and 
limit the public's willingness to invest in trusted traveler 
enrollments. H.R. 3675 requires the Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) to undertake a close review of DHS's trusted 
traveler programs to identify issues with identity-matching and 
redress processes. Such a review will allow DHS to ensure that 
trusted traveler programs are working effectively and that 
individuals seeking to participate are subject to consistent 
processes that ensure fair treatment.

                                HEARINGS

    For the purpose of section 103(i) of H. Res 6. Of the 116th 
Congress the following related hearings were held:
    On February 27, 2018, the Committee held a hearing entitled 
``The Public Face of TSA: Examining the Agency's Outreach and 
Traveler Engagement Efforts,'' and on June 4, 2019, the 
Committee held a hearing entitled ``Perspectives on TSA 
Policies to Prevent Unlawful Profiling.''

                        COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    The Committee met on July 17, 2019, with a quorum being 
present, to consider H.R. 3675 and ordered the measure to be 
reported to the House with a favorable recommendation, without 
amendment, by unanimous consent.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires the Committee to list the recorded 
votes on the motion to report legislation and amendments 
thereto.
    No recorded votes were requested during consideration of 
H.R. 3675.

                      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.

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT 
                    AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect 
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, The Committee adopts as its 
own the cost estimate prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office.

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, August 6, 2019.
Hon. Bennie G. Thompson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3675, the Trusted 
Traveler Reconsideration and Restoration Act of 2019.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Madeleine 
Fox.
            Sincerely,
                                             Mark P. Hadley
                                 (For Phillip L. Swagel, Director).
    Enclosure.

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    H.R. 3675 would require the Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) to conduct a review of the Department of Homeland 
Security's (DHS) trusted traveler programs, which expedites the 
security process at airports. Using information about the cost 
of other GAO studies, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3675 
would cost less than $500,000.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Madeleine Fox. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                       FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

    The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared 
by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.

                      DUPLICATIVE FEDERAL PROGRAMS

    Pursuant to clause 3(c) of rule XIII, the Committee finds 
that H.R. 3675 does not contain any provision that establishes 
or reauthorizes a program known to be duplicative of another 
Federal program.

                    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. 
3675 would require the Comptroller General to review all 
trusted traveler programs to ensure the public is able to apply 
for reconsideration and restoration of their enrollment in a 
program for which they were mistakenly denied enrollment.

                          ADVISORY ON EARMARKS

    In compliance with rule XXI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, this bill, as reported, contains no 
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 
benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of the rule 
XXI.

             SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION

Section 1. Short title

    This section provides that this bill may be cited as the 
``Trusted Traveler Reconsideration and Restoration Act of 
2019.''

Section 2. Comptroller general review

    This section requires that within one year after enactment 
of this Act, the Government Accountability Office conduct a 
review of the Department of Homeland Security's trusted 
traveler programs. This review must include (1) the extent to 
which the Department tracks data and monitors trends related to 
trusted traveler programs including root causes for identity-
matching errors resulting in an individual's enrollment being 
reinstated; (2) whether the Department coordinates with the 
heads of other relevant Federal, State, local, Tribal, or 
territorial entities regarding redress procedures for 
disqualifying offenses not covered by the Department's redress 
processes but that impact enrollment in a trusted traveler 
program; (3) how the Department may improve access to 
reconsideration processes to address a disqualifying offense 
that requires involvement by another Federal, State, local, 
Tribal, or territorial entity for enrollment in a trusted 
traveler program; and (4) the extent to which travelers are 
informed about reconsideration procedures pertaining to 
enrollment in a trusted traveler program.

Section 3. Enrollment redress

    This section requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
extend enrollment in a trusted traveler program for an 
individual who was revoked in error, notwithstanding any other 
provision of law. The extension must be equal to the period of 
revocation when re-enrollment by the individual in the trusted 
program occurs.

                                  [all]