[House Report 116-93]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


116th Congress   }                                              {  Report
                          HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session     }                                              {  116-93

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



 
  STRENGTHENING LOCAL TRANSPORTATION SECURITY CAPABILITIES ACT OF 2019

                                _______
                                

  May 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. 2539]

    The Committee on Homeland Security, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 2539) to require the Secretary of Homeland 
Security to prioritize the assignment of certain officers and 
intelligence analysts from the Transportation Security 
Administration and the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of 
the Department of Homeland Security to locations with 
participating State, local, and regional fusion centers in 
jurisdictions with a high-risk surface transportation asset in 
order to enhance the security of such assets, including by 
improving timely sharing of classified information regarding 
terrorist and other threats, 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..............................................     2
 Background and Need for Legislation.............................     2
 Hearings........................................................     2
 Committee Consideration.........................................     3
 Committee Votes.................................................     3
 Committee Oversight Findings....................................     3
 C.B.O. Estimate, New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, 
  and Tax Expenditures...........................................     4
 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......................................     4
 Advisory Committee Statement....................................
 Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................
 Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation..................     4

                          PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    The purpose of H.R. 2539, the Strengthening Local 
Transportation Security Capabilities Act of 2019, is to improve 
threat information sharing and law enforcement training for 
surface transportation security. This bill requires the 
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to 
prioritize the assignment of officers and intelligence analysts 
from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the 
DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) to fusion centers 
in jurisdictions with high-risk surface transportation assets, 
in order to participate in the generation and dissemination of 
intelligence products, and to make security clearances 
available to appropriate stakeholders. This bill also enables 
the Secretary to develop a training program through the Federal 
Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) to enhance the 
protection, preparedness, and response capabilities of law 
enforcement agencies for terrorism incidents at surface 
transportation assets.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    In the surface transportation sector, State and local law 
enforcement, as well as owners and operators of transportation 
assets, play a major role in securing the traveling public. A 
common complaint from stakeholders is that TSA and other 
Federal government partners do not provide sufficient 
information for them to adequately prepare for threats. Much of 
the needed information is classified, and many stakeholders 
lack the necessary security clearances to receive such 
information. Introduced by Nanette Barragan (D-CA), H.R. 2539 
seeks to address these issues by increasing information sharing 
and making security clearances available to appropriate 
stakeholders.
    Additionally, this bill seeks to assist surface 
transportation asset owners and operators to secure their 
systems by developing a training program for law enforcement 
with a focus on surface transportation threats. It is 
imperative that TSA collaborate with both public and private 
stakeholders in order to sufficiently overcome the unique 
challenges to securing surface transportation. This bill will 
ensure that TSA improves its relationships with transportation 
facility stakeholders, as well as state and local law 
enforcement.

                                HEARINGS

    The Committee did not hold a legislative hearing on H.R. 
2539 in the 116th Congress. However, this legislation was 
informed by a joint Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime 
Security and Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure 
Protection, and Innovation hearing on February 22, 2019, 
entitled, ``Securing U.S. Surface Transportation from Cyber 
Attacks.'' The Subcommittees received testimony from Ms. Sonya 
Proctor, Director of Surface Division, Office of Security 
Policy and Industry Engagement, TSA; Mr. Bob Kolasky, Director 
of National Risk Management Center, Cybersecurity and 
Infrastructure Security Agency; Mr. James Lewis, Senior Vice 
President and Director, Technology Policy Program, Center for 
Strategic & International Studies; Ms. Rebecca Gagliostro, 
Director of Security, Reliability and Resilience, Interstate 
Natural Gas Association of America; Mr. Erik Robert Olson, Vice 
President, Rail Security Alliance; and Mr. John Hultquist, 
Director of Intelligence Analysis, FireEye.
    This legislation was also informed by a joint Subcommittee 
on Transportation and Protective Security and Subcommittee on 
Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications hearing on 
January 30, 2018 entitled ``Securing our Surface Transportation 
Systems: Examining the Department of Homeland Security's Role 
in Surface Transportation Technologies.'' The Subcommittee 
received testimony from Ms. Sonya Proctor, Director of Surface 
Division, Office of Security Policy and Industry Engagement, 
Transportation Security Administration; Mr. Robert Pryor, 
Director of Intermodal Division, Office of Requirements and 
Capabilities Analysis, Transportation Security Administration; 
Mr. Donald E. Roberts, Program Manager of Explosive Threat 
Detection, Explosives Division, Homeland Security Advanced 
Research Projects Agency, DHS Science and Technology 
Directorate; and Mr. Brian Michael Jenkins, Director, National 
Transportation Security Center of Excellence, Mineta 
Transportation Institute.
    Finally, this legislation was also informed by a 
Subcommittee on Transportation and Protective Security hearing 
on November 28, 2017 entitled ``Securing Public Areas of 
Transportation Systems: Stakeholder Perspectives.'' The 
Subcommittee received testimony from Mr. Charles Cunningham, 
Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 
Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) Public Safety/PATCO; Mr. 
Thomas J. Nestel, III, Chief of Transit Police, Southeastern 
Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA); Mr. Douglas 
Lemanowicz, Lieutenant of Special Operations Section, New 
Jersey State Police; and Mr. Christopher Trucillo, Chief of 
Transit Police, New Jersey Transit.

                        COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    The Committee met on May 15, 2019, with a quorum being 
present, to consider H.R. 2539 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. 2539.

                      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 has requested 
but not received a cost estimate for this bill from the 
Director of Congressional Budget Office.
    The Committee has requested but not received from the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office a statement as to 
whether this bill contains any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.

                       FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

    An estimate of Federal mandates prepared by the Director of 
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the 
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Chairman 
of the Committee shall cause such estimate to be printed in the 
Congressional Record upon its receipt by the Committee.

                      DUPLICATIVE FEDERAL PROGRAMS

    Pursuant to clause 3(c) of rule XIII, the Committee finds 
that H.R. 2539 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. 
2539 seeks to improve threat information sharing and law 
enforcement training for transportation security.

                          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 
``Strengthening Local Transportation Security Capabilities Act 
of 2019''.

Sec. 2. Definitions

    This section defines the terms used in this act including: 
``public and private sector stakeholders'' and ``surface 
transportation asset''.

Sec. 3. Threat information sharing

    This section requires the DHS Secretary to prioritize the 
locations of officers and intelligence analysts to 
jurisdictions that have a high-risk surface transportation 
asset in order to enhance the security of such assets and 
improve timely information sharing regarding terrorist threats. 
These locations are jurisdictions with participating State, 
local, and regional fusion centers.
    Additionally, this section requires these officers and 
analysts to participate in generating and disseminating 
transportation security intelligence products that have an 
emphasis on threats to surface transportation.
    Further, this section permits the Secretary to allow access 
to the application process for security clearances for 
individuals that would foster greater information sharing 
regarding threats to surface transportation.

Sec. 4. Local law enforcement security training

    This section permits the Secretary to develop a training 
program through the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers to 
enhance the capabilities of law enforcement agencies with 
respect to terrorism and other events at surface transportation 
sites. Additionally, this section outlines the requirements of 
the training program, should the Secretary develop it.