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116th Congress } { Rept. 116-203
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { part 1
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VETERANS EXPEDITED TSA SCREENING SAFE TRAVEL ACT
_______
September 12, 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. 3356]
The Committee on Homeland Security, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 3356) to provide PreCheck to certain severely
injured or disabled veterans, 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....................................... 3
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 3
Duplicative Federal Programs..................................... 3
Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff
Benefits.......................................................
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................
Applicability to Legislative Branch..............................
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation................... 3
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 4
Committee Correspondence......................................... 7
Purpose and Summary
The purpose of H.R. 3356, the ``Veterans Expedited TSA
Screening Safe Travel Act'' is require the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) to provide PreCheck airport
security screening to certain severely injured or disabled
veterans.
Background and Need for Legislation
Today, the TSA's standard operating procedures for
screening the public at an airport checkpoint can create undue
hardship to certain veterans that were severely injured or
disabled in service to the country; often, the prosthetics and
devices these veterans rely on daily alarm when going through
screening, requiring veterans to undergo secondary screening.
For this population of traveler, undergoing the protocols for
secondary screening can create physical and emotional stress.
Given the Committee's interest in honoring and supporting the
men and women who were severely injured in the course of
serving in the Armed Forces, the Committee considered H.R.
3356, a bill to provide certain severely disabled or disabled
veterans access to TSA's PreCheck lanes and procedures to get
through airport security screening more seamlessly. TSA's
PreCheck lanes provide expedited screening for known travelers
that are part of low-risk populations. Importantly, H.R. 3356
would waive the cost for PreCheck program enrollment, currently
$85, for eligible severely injured or disabled veterans,
allowing them to take advantage of less invasive and strenuous
procedures for alarm resolution.
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
``TSA Outreach and Traveler Engagement'' and on June 4, 2019, a
hearing entitled ``TSA Policies to Prevent Unlawful
Profiling.''
Committee Consideration
The Committee met on July 17, 2019, with a quorum being
present, to consider H.R. 3356 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. 3356.
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.
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. 3256 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.
3356 would require the TSA to waive the enrollment fee for
PreCheck program enrollment for certain severely injured or
disabled veterans.
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 Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Expedited TSA
Screening Safe Travel Act'' or the ``VETS Safe Travel Act''.
Sec 2. Availability of Precheck Program to certain severely injured or
disabled veterans
This section amends Chapter 449 of subtitle VII of Title 49
to create a new section that provides the availability of the
PreCheck Program to certain severely injured and disabled
veterans. The section describes the criteria for eligibility
for PreCheck enrollment, at no cost to the veteran, under this
Act as a veteran determined by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs (1) to have had a loss, or loss of use, of a limb, or
to have become paralyzed or partially paralyzed and as a result
of that loss or paralyzation, to require the use of a
wheelchair, prosthetic, or assistive device to aid with
mobility; or (2) is a veteran determined by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs to have incurred permanent blindness.
Additionally, the subsection requires that (1) within 180
days after the date of enactment the Administrator of TSA and
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs jointly develop and implement
a process for providing TSA with access to information needed
to validate the eligibility of the veteran enrolling in the
PreCheck Program and (2) submit to Congress a report on the
status of implementing the process developed by the TSA
Administrator and Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
SUBTITLE VII--AVIATION PROGRAMS
* * * * * * *
PART A--AIR COMMERCE AND SAFETY
* * * * * * *
SUBPART III--SAFETY
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 449--SECURITY
* * * * * * *
SUBCHAPTER I--REQUIREMENTS
* * * * * * *
Sec. 44927. Expedited screening for severely injured or disabled
members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or
disabled veterans
(a) Passenger Screening.--The Administrator of the
Transportation Security Administration, in consultation with
the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs,
and organizations identified by the Secretaries of Defense and
Veterans Affairs that advocate on behalf of severely injured or
disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or
disabled veterans, shall develop and implement a process to
support and facilitate the ease of travel and to the extent
possible provide expedited passenger screening services for
severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and
severely injured or disabled veterans through passenger
screening. The process shall be designed to offer the
individual private screening to the maximum extent practicable.
(b) Operations Center.--As part of the process under
subsection (a), the Administrator of the Transportation
Security Administration shall maintain an operations center to
provide support and facilitate the movement of severely injured
or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or
disabled veterans through passenger screening prior to boarding
a passenger aircraft operated by an air carrier or foreign air
carrier in air transportation or intrastate air transportation.
(c) Protocols.--The Administrator of the Transportation
Security Administration shall--
(1) establish and publish protocols, in consultation
with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, and the organizations identified
under subsection (a), under which a severely injured or
disabled member of the Armed Forces or severely injured
or disabled veteran, or the family member or other
representative of such member or veteran, may contact
the operations center maintained under subsection (b)
and request the expedited passenger screening services
described in subsection (a) for that member or veteran;
and
(2) upon receipt of a request under paragraph (1),
require the operations center to notify the appropriate
Federal Security Director of the request for expedited
passenger screening services, as described in
subsection (a), for that member or veteran.
(d) Training.--The Administrator of the Transportation
Security Administration shall integrate training on the
protocols established under subsection (c) into the training
provided to all employees who will regularly provide the
passenger screening services described in subsection (a).
(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall
affect the authority of the Administrator of the Transportation
Security Administration to require additional screening of a
severely injured or disabled member of the Armed Forces, a
severely injured or disabled veteran, or their accompanying
family members or nonmedical attendants, if intelligence, law
enforcement, or other information indicates that additional
screening is necessary.
(f) Reports.--Each year, the Administrator of the
Transportation Security Administration shall submit to Congress
a report on the implementation of this section. Each report
shall include each of the following:
(1) Information on the training provided under
subsection (d).
(2) Information on the consultations between the
Administrator of the Transportation Security
Administration and the organizations identified under
subsection (a).
(3) The number of people who accessed the operations
center during the period covered by the report.
(4) Such other information as the Administrator of
the Transportation Security Administration determines
is appropriate.
(g) Availability of Precheck Program to Certain Severely
Injured or Disabled Veterans.--
(1) In general.--A veteran described in paragraph (2)
is eligible for security screening under the PreCheck
Program under section 44919 at no cost to the veteran
if the veteran is able to meet the background check and
other security requirements for participation in the
program.
(2) Veterans described.--A veteran described in this
paragraph is--
(A) a veteran determined by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs--
(i) to have had a loss, or loss of
use, of a limb, or to have become
paralyzed or partially paralyzed; and
(ii) as a result of that loss or
paralyzation, to require the use of a
wheelchair, prosthetic, or other
assistive device to aid with mobility;
or
(B) a veteran determined by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs to have incurred permanent
blindness.
* * * * * * *
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