[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.''

                                  [all]