S 1461 IS

107th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1461

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require that the screening of passengers and property on flights in air transportation be carried out by employees of the Federal Aviation Administration, and to assist small- to medium-size airports with security enhancements.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

September 25, 2001

Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

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A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require that the screening of passengers and property on flights in air transportation be carried out by employees of the Federal Aviation Administration, and to assist small- to medium-size airports with security enhancements.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Airline Passenger Safety Enhancement Act of 2001'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) The screening of passengers and property at United States airports is, by law, the responsibility of airlines.

(2) There are more than 18,000 airport security personnel in the United States who do the screening.

(3) The security personnel are employed by private companies that perform the screening under contract with the airlines. The personnel are generally paid at rates that are at or only slightly above minimum wage. They receive minimal benefits.

(4) The General Accounting Office has found that the average employment turnover rate for airport screening personnel at 19 major United States airports was 125 percent. The turnover rate in some cases was as high as 416 percent.

(5) Other countries have registered employment turnover rates for airport screening personnel that are less than 50 percent, including Belgium, which has a turnover rate of four percent.

(6) In addition to identifying the instability in the workforce of airport screening personnel, the General Accounting Office has found that insufficient security precautions are being taken at airport entrances and checkpoints where airport employees are screened, including entrances and checkpoints for ramp areas.

(7) Investigators of the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation, in unannounced tests, have successfully gained access to supposedly secure areas of United States airports without proper credentials in 68 percent of those tests, and have then been able to board aircraft unchallenged 117 times.

(8) The General Accounting Office has determined that undercover agents have been able to penetrate restricted areas of United States commercial airports with counterfeit or otherwise invalid badges or other credentials, giving those agents the opportunity (if they so intended) to carry weapons, explosives, chemical or biological agents, or other dangerous materials into those areas.

SEC. 3. AIRPORT SECURITY STUDY.

(a) REQUIREMENT FOR STUDY- The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall carry out a comprehensive study to determine how the performance of security functions at airports in the United States should be organized and carried out, in cooperation with air carriers and airport administrators, to secure the safety of passengers and workers in all areas of airports and into the aircraft boarded at the airports.

(b) PLAN- The Administrator shall develop a comprehensive plan for ensuring security at airports in the United States. The Administrator shall consider the results of the study under subsection (a) in developing the plan.

(c) REPORT- The Administrator shall submit a report on the results of the study, together with the plan, to Congress. The report shall include any recommendations for legislation that the Administrator considers necessary to achieve the objective stated in subsection (a).

(d) TIME FOR COMPLETION- The Administrator shall complete the study under subsection (a) and the development of the plan under subsection (b), and shall submit the report under subsection (c), not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. SCREENING OF AIR PASSENGERS AND PROPERTY BY FAA.

(a) REQUIREMENT- Section 44901 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--

(1) in the second sentence of subsection (a)--

(A) by inserting after `used or operated by' the following: `an employee of the United States pursuant to subsection (d) (or by'; and

(B) by inserting before the period at the end the following: `before subsection (d) is fully implemented)'; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

`(d) SCREENING TO BE CONDUCTED BY FEDERAL EMPLOYEES- The screening of passengers and property under subsection (a) shall be carried out by employees of the Federal Aviation Administration or other employees of the United States. The Administrator may expand and prioritize the undertaking of screening responsibilities with respect to an airport based on the Administrator's assessment of the security threat to the airport.'.

(b) TRANSITION- (1) The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall complete the full implementation of subsection (d) of section 44901 of title 49, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), as soon as is practicable. The Administrator may make or continue such arrangements for the screening of passengers and property under that section as the Administrator determines necessary pending full implementation of subsection (d) of such section.

(2) The Administrator shall promptly direct the operators of airports in the United States to make immediate arrangements for armed, uniformed law enforcement personnel to be stationed at passenger and property screening

points in the airports to monitor the performance of screening at those points and to be stationed at airport employee security checkpoints in the airports. The Administrator shall require that the arrangements be maintained until full implementation of the plan developed under section 3(b).

(c) OTHER SECURITY PERSONNEL- (1) Subchapter II of chapter 449 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

`Sec. 44939. Airport security personnel

`(a) RESPONSIBILITIES OF FEDERAL PERSONNEL- At airports in the United States, employees of the United States shall perform all functions that relate to the security of passengers and airport personnel under the direction of the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.

`(b) SOURCE OF PERSONNEL- In carrying out the responsibilities under subsection (a), the Administrator may--

`(1) employ security personnel within the Federal Aviation Administration;

`(2) use security personnel detailed by other agencies of the United States; and

`(3) in cooperation with the Secretary of Transportation, establish any organization, including any Government corporation or Government controlled corporation (as defined in section 103 of title 5), that the Administrator determines appropriate and effective for employing and providing the security personnel for airports in the United States.'.

(2) The analysis for subchapter II of chapter 449 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

`44939. Airport security personnel.'.

(d) FUNDING- Section 45301 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--

(1) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the following new paragraphs:

`(3) Passenger and property screening under section 44901 of this title and other airport security services.'; and

(2) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the following new paragraph:

`(3) FEE FOR SECURITY OPERATIONS- The fee imposed under subsection (a)(3) may not exceed $1.00 per domestic flight segment. Amounts collected under subsection (a)(3) are hereby made available for obligation and expenditure to carry out sections 44901 and 44939 of this title.'.

SEC. 5. SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZE AIRPORTS.

The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall develop a plan to provide small- to medium-size airports with technical support to enhance security operations, including screening operations, and to provide such airports with financial assistance to defray the costs of security enhancements.