II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 890 

To improve the program providing for private screening companies to conduct 

security screening at airports, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2023 

Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To improve the program providing for private screening companies to conduct security screening at airports, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Screening Partnership 

5 Reform Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SCREENING PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44920 of title 49, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol10 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(b) SELECTION OF QUALIFIED PRIVATE SCREEN2 ING COMPANIES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) LIST OF QUALIFIED PRIVATE SCREENING

4 COMPANIES.—Not later than 30 days after receiving 

5 an application from the operator of an airport under 

6 subsection (a), the Administrator shall provide the 

7 operator of such airport with an opportunity— 

8 ‘‘(A) for the operator to select a qualified 

9 private screening company with which the oper10 ator prefers the Administrator enter into a con11 tract for screening services at such airport; or 

12 ‘‘(B) to request that the Administrator se13 lect a qualified private screening company with 

14 which to enter into such a contract. 

15 ‘‘(2) ENTRY INTO CONTRACT.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections 

17 (c) and (d), not later than 60 days after the 

18 date on which the operator of an airport selects 

19 a qualified private screening company under 

20 paragraph (1)(A) or clause (ii) or requests the 

21 Administrator to select such a company under 

22 paragraph (1)(B)— 

23 ‘‘(i) the Administrator shall enter into 

24 a contract for screening services at that 

25 airport with the qualified private screening 


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1 company selected by the airport or the 

2 company selected by the Administrator, as 

3 the case may be; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a company selected 

5 by the operator of the airport, if the Ad6 ministrator rejects the bid from that com7 pany, or is otherwise unable to enter into 

8 a contract with that company, the Admin9 istrator shall provide the operator of the 

10 airport another 60 days to select another 

11 qualified private screening company. 

12 ‘‘(B) REJECTION OF BIDS.—If the Admin13 istrator rejects a bid from a private screening 

14 company selected by the operator of an airport 

15 under paragraph (1)(A) or subparagraph 

16 (A)(ii), the Administrator shall, not later than 

17 30 days after rejecting such bid, submit a re18 port to the operator, the Committee on Com19 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen20 ate, and the Committee on Homeland Security 

21 of the House of Representatives that includes— 

22 ‘‘(i) the findings that served as the 

23 basis for rejecting such bid; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the results of any cost or security 

2 analyses conducted in relation to such bid; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(iii) recommendations for how the 

5 operator of the airport can address the 

6 reasons the Administrator rejected such 

7 bid.’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘and will pro9 vide’’ and all that follows through ‘‘with this chap10 ter’’; 

11 (3) in subsection (d)— 

12 (A) by striking paragraph (1); 

13 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 

14 (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; 

15 (C) in paragraph (1), as redesignated— 

16 (i) in the matter preceding subpara17 graph (A), by striking ‘‘The Adminis18 trator’’ and all that follows and inserting 

19 ‘‘The Administrator shall enter into a con20 tract with a qualified private screening 

21 company only if—’’; 

22 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

23 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

24 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C) and 

25 inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(C) the cost of providing screening serv2 ices at the airport under the contract is equal 

3 to or less than the cost to the Federal Govern4 ment of providing screening services at that air5 port during the term of the contract; and 

6 ‘‘(D) entering into the contract would not 

7 compromise aviation security or the effective8 ness of the screening of passengers or property 

9 at the airport.’’; 

10 (D) in paragraph (2), as redesignated, by 

11 striking the second sentence; and 

12 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A private screening 

15 company may fulfill the requirement under 

16 paragraph (1)(A) by using screening super17 visors who have been trained and certified at a 

18 Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to 

19 administer comparable on-site training and cer20 tification to private security screeners at an air21 port that is participating in the screening part22 nership program. 

23 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZED TRAINERS.—If a pri24 vate screening company elects to conduct on25 site training and certification in accordance 


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1 with subparagraph (A), such training shall be 

2 conducted by— 

3 ‘‘(i) a Federal employer or contractor 

4 who is authorized to train and certify secu5 rity screeners; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) an employee of a private screen7 ing company who has successfully com8 pleted security supervisor training at a 

9 Federal Law Enforcement Training Cen10 ter. 

11 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

12 in this paragraph may be construed to require 

13 security screeners employed by a private screen14 ing company who have received on-site training 

15 and certification in accordance with subpara16 graph (A) to receive any additional training at 

17 a Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. 

18 ‘‘(4) PART-TIME POSITIONS.—None of the 

19 standards required to be a qualified private screen20 ing company may be construed to prohibit a private 

21 screening company from employing screeners for 

22 part-time positions. 

23 ‘‘(5) CALCULATION OF FEDERAL COSTS.—For 

24 purpose of the comparison of costs required under 

25 paragraph (1)(C), the Administrator shall incorVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S890.IS S890

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1 porate a cost estimate that reflects the total cost to 

2 the Federal Government, including all costs incurred 

3 by all Federal agencies and not only by the Trans4 portation Security Administration, of providing 

5 screening services at an airport.’’; 

6 (4) by striking subsection (i) (as added by sec7 tion 1946(a)(7) of the TSA Modernization Act (divi8 sion K of Public Law 115–254)); and 

9 (5) by striking subsection (i) (as added by sec10 tion 1991(d)(17)(B) of the TSA Modernization Act 

11 (division K of Public Law 115–254)) and inserting 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(i) CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS BY

14 PRIVATE SCREENING COMPANIES FOR IMPROVING AVIA15 TION SECURITY.— 

16 ‘‘(1) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Administrator 

17 shall request each qualified private screening com18 pany that enters into a contract with the Transpor19 tation Security Administration under this section to 

20 provide screening services at an airport to submit to 

21 the Administrator an annual report that includes 

22 recommendations for— 

23 ‘‘(A) new approaches to prioritize and 

24 streamline requirements for aviation security; 


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1 ‘‘(B) new or more efficient processes for 

2 the screening of all passengers and property at 

3 the airport under section 44901; 

4 ‘‘(C) processes and procedures that would 

5 enhance the screening of passengers and prop6 erty at the airport; or 

7 ‘‘(D) screening processes and procedures 

8 that would better enable the Administrator and 

9 the private screening company to respond to 

10 threats and emerging threats to aviation secu11 rity. 

12 ‘‘(2) TESTING.—The Administrator shall con13 duct a field demonstration at an airport of each rec14 ommendation submitted under paragraph (1) to de15 termine the effectiveness of the approach, process, or 

16 procedure recommended, unless the Administrator 

17 determines that conducting such a demonstration 

18 would compromise aviation security. 

19 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION OF ADOPTION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—After conducting a 

21 field demonstration under paragraph (2) with 

22 respect to a recommendation submitted under 

23 paragraph (1) by a private screening company, 

24 the Administrator— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shall consider adopting the rec2 ommendation; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) may adopt the recommendation 

4 at all or some airports. 

5 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—If the Administrator does 

6 not adopt a recommendation submitted under 

7 paragraph (1) by a private screening company, 

8 the Administrator shall submit a report to Con9 gress and the private screening company that 

10 includes— 

11 ‘‘(i) a description of the specific rea12 sons the Administrator chose not to adopt 

13 the recommendation; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) recommendations for how the 

15 private screening company could improve 

16 the approach, process, or procedure rec17 ommended. 

18 ‘‘(j) RESTRICTIONS ON RELOCATION PAYMENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A security screener em20 ployed by the Transportation Security Administra21 tion who accepts an offer of employment from a pri22 vate screening company under this section may not 

23 receive any amount of relocation compensation from 

24 the Transportation Security Administration. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION AND DISCLOSURES.—The 

2 Administrator shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) coordinate with the selected qualified 

4 private screening company regarding the terms 

5 of the airport transition; and 

6 ‘‘(B) publicly disclose compensation and 

7 relocation or transfer benefits made available to 

8 security screeners that remain employees of the 

9 Transportation Security Administration after 

10 transferring to an airport that is not partici11 pating in the screening partnership program. 

12 ‘‘(3) STANDARD HIRING PROCESS.—Any secu13 rity screener employed by a private screening com14 pany under this section who is a former employee of 

15 the Transportation Security Administration shall be 

16 subject to the standard hiring process for security 

17 screeners employed by the Transportation Security 

18 Administration if he or she seeks to transition back 

19 to such employment.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 44920 of 

21 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘(referred to 

23 in this section as the ‘Administrator’)’’ after ‘‘of the 

24 Transportation Security Administration’’; and 

25 (2) in subsection (g)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Sec2 retary of Homeland Security’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘Administrator’’; and 

4 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘Sec5 retary of Homeland Security or the Sec6 retary’s’’ and inserting ‘‘Administrator or the 

7 Administrator’s’’. 

8 (c) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING CEN9 TER.—Section 884(c) of the Homeland Security Act of 

10 2002 (6 U.S.C. 464(c)) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

12 end; 

13 (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at 

14 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(11) create and maintain a FLETC training 

17 program to certify private security screening super18 visors to administer on-site security screening train19 ing and certification for the participants in the 

20 Screening Partnership Program in accordance with 

21 section 44920(d)(3) of title 49, United States 

22 Code.’’. 

Æ 


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