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[Senate Report 114-223]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                      Calendar No. 383
114th Congress    }                                      {      Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session       }                                      {     114-223  
_______________________________________________________________________

                       TSA PRECHECK EXPANSION ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

           COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                                   on

                               H.R. 2843

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                 March 7, 2016.--Ordered to be printed
                                 ______

                      U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 

59-010                        WASHINGTON : 2016                
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                    one hundred fourteenth congress
                             second session

                   JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
 ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi         BILL NELSON, Florida
 ROY BLUNT, Missouri                  MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
 MARCO RUBIO, Florida                 CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri
 KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire          AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
 TED CRUZ, Texas                      RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
 DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
 JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  ED MARKEY, Massachusetts
 DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 CORY BOOKER, New Jersey
 RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               TOM UDALL, New Mexico
 DEAN HELLER, Nevada                  JOE MANCHIN, West Virginia
 CORY GARDNER, Colorado               GARY PETERS, Michigan
 STEVE DAINES, Montana
                       Nick Rossi, Staff Director
                 Adrian Arnakis, Deputy Staff Director
                    Rebecca Seidel, General Counsel
                 Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
           Christopher Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
                 Clint Odom, Democratic General Counsel
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                                                      Calendar No. 383
114th Congress   }                                       {      Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session      }                                       {     114-223

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

 
                       TSA PRECHECK EXPANSION ACT

                                _______
                                

                 March 7, 2016.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Thune, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2843]

    The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to 
which was referred the bill (H.R. 2843) to require certain 
improvements in the Transportation Security Administration's 
PreCheck expedited screening program, and for other purposes, 
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an 
amendment (in the nature of a substitute) and recommends that 
the bill (as amended) do pass.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of H.R. 2843, (as amended), is to authorize and 
expand enrollment in TSA PreCheck, the Transportation Security 
Administration's (TSA) trusted traveler program, to increase 
the population of travelers that receives increased vetting and 
expedited screening.

                          Background and Needs

    Since its inception in 2011, TSA PreCheck has grown in 
popularity and utilization, and has been the cornerstone of the 
TSA's risk-based security efforts. While TSA PreCheck has 
helped the TSA achieve a number of cost and operational 
efficiencies, some policy choices made by the TSA meant that 
not all participants in TSA PreCheck were fully vetted. In 
addition to vetting, the TSA has relied on alternate ways of 
granting passengers expedited TSA PreCheck screening. These 
alternate methods, known as ``Managed Inclusion'' and ``Risk 
Assessment,'' have caused confusion among travelers and have 
undermined comprehensive efforts by the TSA to increase the 
number of fully vetted ``known'' travelers.
    In multiple reports last year, the Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General highlighted security 
vulnerabilities associated with the TSA's use of Risk 
Assessment rules and Managed Inclusion. As a result, the TSA 
phased out the practice known as ``Managed Inclusion-2'' in 
September 2015, and has begun to re-prioritize security over 
speed, which TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger has warned will 
likely lead to longer lines at security checkpoints for non-
vetted air travelers.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\TSA: Security Gaps, Hearing Before the H. Comm. on Oversight and 
Government Reform, 114th Cong. (2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As a result of these expected delays, efforts to expand the 
vetted population of travelers are increasingly important both 
for improving the security benefits for known travelers, and 
for improving overall checkpoint performance. On October 22, 
2015, the TSA released a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking 
vendors for the TSA PreCheck Application Expansion initiative 
to deploy ready-to-market application capabilities to expand 
the public enrollment opportunities for TSA PreCheck. According 
to the RFP, successful private sector companies must be able to 
enroll and pre-screen a large population of applicants and 
demonstrate the ability to effectively market TSA PreCheck to 
air travelers. The TSA PreCheck Expansion Act would authorize 
TSA PreCheck with additional requirements and accelerate the 
TSA PreCheck Application Expansion initiative.

                         Summary of Provisions

    H.R. 2843 would require the TSA to concentrate on enrolling 
more people in the TSA PreCheck Application Program by 
coordinating and leveraging the capabilities and resources of 
the private sector in a secure, responsible manner. The bill 
would require the TSA Administrator to add multiple private 
sector application capabilities to the TSA PreCheck Application 
Program enrollment standards, ensuring that any information is 
collected in a manner consistent with relevant cybersecurity 
and privacy protection standards. The bill also would instruct 
the TSA Administrator to develop and implement a process for 
approving private sector marketing of TSA PreCheck and to 
develop a strategy for partnering with the private sector to 
encourage enrollment in TSA PreCheck. The TSA Administrator 
also would be required to ensure that TSA PreCheck screening 
lanes are open and available, and that TSA PreCheck 
participants receive expedited screening when the TSA PreCheck 
screening lanes are not open. Finally, the bill would instruct 
the TSA Administrator to initiate an assessment of the security 
vulnerabilities in the vetting process for the TSA PreCheck 
Application Program.

                          Legislative History

    H.R. 2843 was introduced by Representatives Katko (R-NY), 
Rogers (R-AL), and McCaul (R-TX) on June 19, 2015, and was 
ordered to be favorably reported to the House of 
Representatives with amendments by the Committee on Homeland 
Security of the House of Representatives on July 22, 2015. H.R. 
2843 passed the House of Representatives by voice vote on July 
27, 2015, and was referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
    No Senate hearings were held exclusively on H.R. 2843 in 
the 114th Congress; however, the Committee held a hearing on 
March 17, 2015, entitled ``TSA Oversight and Examination of the 
Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request'' and received testimony from 
Melvin Carraway, Acting Administrator, TSA, DHS regarding TSA 
PreCheck activities and expansion, among other things. The 
Committee also held a hearing on May 21, 2015, to consider the 
nomination of Peter Neffenger to be the TSA Administrator, 
during which TSA PreCheck vulnerabilities and challenges were 
brought up.
    In the House of Representatives in the 114th Congress, the 
Subcommittee on Transportation Security of the Homeland 
Security Committee of the House of Representatives held a 
hearing on March 25, 2015, entitled, ``Risk-Based Security: 
Assessing the Path Forward for TSA PreCheck'' and received 
testimony from John Roth, Inspector General, DHS; Kenneth 
Fletcher, Chief Risk Officer, TSA, DHS; and Jennifer Grover, 
Director, Homeland Security and Justice, Government 
Accountability Office.
    On December 9, 2015, the Committee met in open Executive 
Session to consider H.R. 2843, and ordered the bill to be 
reported to the Senate favorably, with first and second degree 
amendments, by voice vote. The first degree amendment, 
sponsored by Senator Thune, formally authorized TSA PreCheck 
and made a series of improvements throughout the bill 
reflecting agency feedback. The second degree amendment, 
sponsored by Senator Daines, added a provision requiring the 
TSA to consider leveraging existing airport resources to 
expedite identity verification as part of the TSA PreCheck 
Application Program.

                            Estimated Costs

    In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the 
following cost estimate, prepared by the Congressional Budget 
Office:

H.R. 2843--TSA PreCheck Expansion Act

    H.R. 2843 would require the Transportation Security 
Administration (TSA) to undertake efforts to expand enrollment 
in the PreCheck program. Through that program, air travelers 
voluntarily apply to be prescreened using biographic and 
biometric information to determine whether they qualify for 
expedited screening at airport security checkpoints. The bill 
would direct TSA to publish standards to allow private-sector 
entities to provide certain services to support increased 
enrollment and to specify other requirements for the program's 
expansion.
    Based on information from TSA, CBO estimates that 
implementing H.R. 2843 would have no significant impact on the 
federal budget. According to the agency, many of the activities 
required by the bill are consistent with efforts the agency 
plans to undertake, under current law, to expand the PreCheck 
program. Further, because the agency can keep and spend fees 
that applicants pay for prescreening services (subject to 
provisions in annual appropriation acts), CBO estimates that 
any net change in TSA's spending for increased credentialing 
activities under H.R. 2843 would not be significant in any 
year. We also estimate that implementing H.R. 2843 would not 
significantly affect TSA's overall costs to provide screening 
at airport checkpoints.
    Enacting H.R. 2843 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 
H.R. 2843 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Assistant Director 
for Budget Analysis.

                           Regulatory Impact

    In accordance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the 
following evaluation of the regulatory impact of the 
legislation, as reported:

                       NUMBER OF PERSONS COVERED

    The bill would affect future, voluntary applicants to TSA 
PreCheck for expedited security screening. The TSA has 
estimated that, as of September 2015, 1.6 million individuals 
have enrolled in TSA PreCheck since its inception in December 
2013. Going forward, TSA analysis has indicated that expansion 
of the TSA PreCheck Application Program with private sector 
vendor pre-screening and marketing could achieve enrollment of 
25 million known, low-risk travelers in approximately 3.5 
years.

                            ECONOMIC IMPACT

    The bill would not authorize new spending by the Federal 
Government, and would instead transfer some of the cost burden 
from the TSA to the private sector. The TSA and vendors would 
use existing fee structures generated by the TSA PreCheck 
Application Program to pay for improvements and changes in the 
enrollment process, and achieve efficiencies by leveraging 
innovative business models and capabilities. There is a 
possibility that application fees may decrease as a result of 
private sector efficiencies gained from the new TSA PreCheck 
standards and streamlined enrollment process envisioned under 
the bill. TSA PreCheck applicants may also receive other opt-in 
benefits that would be available through private sector 
consortium partnerships.

                                PRIVACY

    The bill would only have an impact on the personal privacy 
of individuals who voluntarily apply to enroll in TSA PreCheck. 
Currently, individuals who apply to TSA PreCheck are subject to 
the collection of biographic and biometric information in order 
to carry out a criminal history background check. Under the 
bill, this information would be collected via kiosks, mobile 
devices, or other mobile enrollment platforms to increase 
enrollment flexibility. In addition, under the bill this 
information is required to be collected in a manner that is 
comparable to applicable information security standards and to 
be protected consistent with current privacy laws and 
regulations. The bill would allow the option for TSA PreCheck 
applicants to be vetted through a less impactful review of 
commercially available, non-government data compared to a 
fingerprint-based Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 
criminal history records check that is currently used 
exclusively.

                               PAPERWORK

    The bill would not significantly increase paperwork 
requirements for private individuals or businesses. On the 
contrary, it is expected that paperwork requirements may be 
lessened as a result of the bill due to the use of new, more 
flexible private sector enrollment capabilities that could 
include mobile enrollment and advanced technologies. The bill 
also would require the Federal Government to produce one report 
to Congress at the end of each fiscal year.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    In compliance with paragraph 4(b) of rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides that no 
provisions contained in the bill, as reported, meet the 
definition of congressionally directed spending items under the 
rule.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

Section 1. Short title.

    This section would designate the short title of the bill as 
the ``TSA PreCheck Expansion Act.''

Section 2. Definitions.

    This section would provide relevant definitions of terms 
used in the legislation.

Section 3. Enrollment expansion.

    This section would require the TSA Administrator to add 
multiple private sector application capabilities to the TSA 
PreCheck application enrollment standards. These capabilities 
would be designed to increase the public's enrollment access to 
TSA PreCheck and would include standards that allow the use of 
secure technologies, such as online enrollment, kiosks, 
tablets, or staffed laptop stations, at which individuals can 
apply for entry into TSA PreCheck.
    Additionally, this section would require the TSA 
Administrator to coordinate with interested parties to deploy 
TSA-approved ready-to-market private sector solutions that meet 
the TSA PreCheck application enrollment standards. In doing 
this, the TSA Administrator would be required to make available 
additional TSA PreCheck enrollment capabilities and to partner 
with the private sector to collect biographic and biometric 
identification information via kiosks, mobile devices, or other 
mobile enrollment platforms to facilitate TSA PreCheck 
enrollment. Furthermore, the TSA Administrator would have to 
ensure that any biometric and biographic information is 
collected in a manner comparable with the appropriate standards 
developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology 
and protects privacy and data security consistent with the 
Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552(a)) and agency regulations.
    This section also would ensure that an individual who wants 
to enroll in TSA PreCheck and has started an application with a 
single identification verification at one location will be able 
to save his or her application and return to submit a second 
identification verification. Additionally, any enrollment 
expansion using a private sector risk assessment, instead of a 
fingerprint-based criminal history records check, would need to 
be equivalent to a fingerprint-based criminal history records 
check conducted through the FBI, as determined by the Secretary 
of Homeland Security.
    This section also would require the TSA Administrator to 
develop and implement a continual process, including an 
associated timeframe, for approving private sector marketing of 
TSA PreCheck and to develop a long-term strategy for partnering 
with the private sector to encourage enrollment in TSA 
PreCheck. This section also would require the TSA Administrator 
to submit to Congress a report at the end of each fiscal year 
on any TSA PreCheck application fees collected in excess of the 
costs of administering such program for the preceding fiscal 
year, including to assess the feasibility of TSA PreCheck, and 
to include recommendations for using such amounts to support 
TSA PreCheck marketing. Additionally, this section would 
require the TSA Administrator to coordinate with the heads of 
appropriate components of the DHS to leverage DHS-held data and 
technologies to verify the citizenship of individuals enrolling 
in TSA PreCheck.
    This section would further require the TSA Administrator to 
ensure that TSA PreCheck screening lanes are open and available 
during peak and high-volume travel times at appropriate 
airports to individuals enrolled in TSA PreCheck and to make 
every practicable effort to provide expedited screening at 
standard screening lanes during times when TSA PreCheck 
screening lanes are closed to individuals enrolled in TSA 
PreCheck. Finally, this section would require the TSA 
Administrator to initiate an assessment of the security 
vulnerabilities in the vetting process for the TSA PreCheck 
Application Program. This assessment would include an 
evaluation of whether subjecting TSA PreCheck participants to 
recurrent fingerprint-based criminal history records checks, in 
addition to recurrent checks against the terrorist watchlist, 
could be done in a cost-effective manner to strengthen the 
security of TSA PreCheck.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee states that the 
bill as reported would make no change to existing law.

                                  [all]
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