[House Report 116-201]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
116th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 116-201
======================================================================
TSA REACHING ACROSS NATIONALITIES, SOCIETIES, AND LANGUAGES TO ADVANCE
TRAVELER EDUCATION ACT
_______
September 11, 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. 3691]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Homeland Security, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 3691) to require the TSA to develop a plan to
ensure that TSA material disseminated in major airports can be
better understood by more people accessing such airports, 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.................................................. 3
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 3
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.......................................................
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................
Applicability to Legislative Branch..............................
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation................... 5
Minority Views...................................................
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
The purpose of H.R. 3691, the ``Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) Reaching Across Nationalities, Societies,
and Languages to Advance Traveler Education Act'' or
``TRANSLATE Act'' requires the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) to identify the languages that are primary
to individuals that work at and travel through each major
airport in the United States and to develop a plan to
disseminate materials in major airports to improve
communications with those populations. This includes materials
for those with vision and hearing impairments.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
TSA screens more than 2.2 million passengers and crew
members daily. International flights travel to and from 270
foreign airports and over 100 countries into and out of the
United States. Tourists visit the U.S. to shop, sightsee, and
visit national parks, monuments, and theme parks. Tourism is
important to the economy of the nation as well as local
communities, accounting for approximately $1.1 trillion of
travel spending annually in the U.S. and supporting 15.7
million jobs. The aviation industry contributes 5 percent to
the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. For many Americans and
international visitors, going through TSA security screening
represents the most common and intimate interaction they have
with the U.S. Government. Ensuring tourists and travelers have
the best experience possible is vital to our nation's economy.
This bill seeks to make the security screening process as
effective and efficient as possible by improving TSA's signage
and communications to be better understood by the diverse
passenger population transiting our Nation's airports.
Supporting the needs of TSA's frontline workforce to carry
out the agency's mission is of the utmost importance to this
Committee. Many challenges are present at the checkpoint and
communication between Transportation Security Officers and the
traveling public is necessary at every step to ensure
cooperation. To the extent that the public is better informed
of what is being asked of them and what they can expect, the
passenger screening experience will go by more efficiently and
expeditiously. A seamless experience best serves the public and
TSA's frontline workforce and in the end the agency's mission
to protect the traveling public and the nation's aviation
system.
HEARINGS
For the purpose of section 103(i) of H. Res. 6. Of the
116th Congress the following related hearing was held:
The Committee held a hearing on July 10, 2019 entitled
``About Face: Examining the Department of Homeland Security's
Use of Facial Recognition and other Biometric Technologies''
where the importance of understandable signage and TSA
materials was discussed.
COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
The Committee met on July 17, 2019, with a quorum being
present, to consider H.R. 3691 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. 3691.
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 28, 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. 3691, the
TRANSLATE Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director.
Enclosure.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
H.R. 3691 would require the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) to make security information more
accessible to travelers at airports who do not speak English
and to people with vision or hearing impairments. TSA would
need to develop a plan and implement the bill within one year
of enactment. H.R. 3691 also would require the Government
Accountability Office to report on the implementation.
Using information from TSA, CBO estimates that implementing
H.R. 3691 would have no significant effect on the federal
budget. According to the agency, most of the requirements in
the bill are already being planned and implemented.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew
Pickford. 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. 3691 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.
3691 would require the TSA Administrator to develop a plan to
ensure that TSA materials can be better understood by more
people accessing major airports.
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 states that the Act may be cited as the ``TSA
Reaching Across Nationalities, Societies, and Languages to
Advance Traveler Education Act'' or the ``TRANSLATE Act.''
Sec. 2. Plan
This section requires the TSA Administrator to submit, no
later than 180 days after enactment of the section, a plan to
Congress on how TSA can disseminate materials in major airports
to be better understood by more individuals accessing major
airports.
Secondly, the plan must include identification of the most
common languages other than English of individuals who work and
travel through each major airport. The plan is required to
account for communication to individuals with vision or hearing
impairments or other barriers to understanding.
Next, the TSA Administrator, acting through the Office of
Civil Rights and Liberties, Ombudsman and Traveler Engagement,
must take into consideration data regarding international
enplanements and the local populations surrounding major
airports. The Committee believes that TSA's consideration
should include evaluation of available federal, state, and
locally-held data on local populations, including data that may
not have previously been in TSA's possession, to accurately
assess local populations.
Then, the TSA Administrator must implement the plan within
180 days following the submission of the above referenced plan
to Congress.
Afterward, within a year of implementation, the Government
Accountability Office will submit a review of TSA's
implementation of the plan submitted to Congress.
The final provision defines the terms used in this act
including: ``airport,'' ``major airports,'' and ``TSA
material.''
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