II

Calendar No. 166

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1447

To improve aviation security, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 21, 2001

Mr. HOLLINGS (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. ROCKEFELLER,

Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. BREAUX, Mr. BURNS, Mr. REID, Mr. CLELAND,

Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mrs.

CARNAHAN, Mr. WELLSTONE, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. BOXER, Mrs. CLINTON,

Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. HARKIN,

Mr. STEVENS, and Ms. SNOWE) introduced the following bill; which was

read the first time

SEPTEMBER 24, 2001

Read the second time and placed on the calendar

A BILL

To improve aviation security, 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 ‘‘Aviation Security Act’’.

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

6 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) The safety and security of the civil air

2 transportation system is critical to the United

3 States’ security and its national defense.

4 (2) A safe and secure United States civil air

5 transportation system is essential to the basic free6 dom of Americans to move in intrastate, interstate,

7 and international transportation.

8 (3) The terrorist hijackings and crashes of pas9 senger aircraft on September 11, 2001, converting

10 civil aircraft into guided bombs for strikes against

11 civilian and military targets requires the United

12 States to change fundamentally the way it ap13 proaches the task of ensuring the safety and security

14 of the civil air transportation system.

15 (4) The existing fragmentation of responsibility

16 for that safety and security among government

17 agencies and between government and nongovern18 ment entities is inefficient and unacceptable in light

19 of the hijackings and crashes on September 11th.

20 (5) The General Accounting Office, as well as

21 other independent investigators, have recommended

22 that security functions and security personnel at

23 United States airports should become a Federal gov24 ernment responsibility.
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1 (6) Although the number of Federal air mar2 shals is classified, their presence on both inter3 national and domestic flights would have a deterrent

4 effect on hijacking and would further bolster public

5 confidence in the safety of air travel.

6 (7) The effectiveness of existing security meas7 ures, including employee background checks and

8 passenger profiling, is impaired because of the inac9 cessibility of, or the failure to share information

10 among, data bases maintained by different Federal

11 and international agencies for criminal behavior or

12 pertinent intelligence information.

13 SEC. 3. DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR FOR AVIATION SECURITY.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 106 of title 49, United

15 States Code, is amended—

16 (1) by striking the second sentence of sub17 section (b) and inserting ‘‘The Administration has 2

18 Deputy Administrators: (1) A Deputy Administrator

19 for Administration; and (2) A Deputy Administrator

20 for Aviation Security.’’; and

21 (2) by striking subsection (i) and inserting the

22 following:

23 ‘‘(i) FUNCTIONS OF DEPUTY ADMINISTRATORS.—

24 ‘‘(1) DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR FOR ADMINIS25 TRATION.—The Deputy Administrator for Adminis-
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1 tration shall carry out duties and power prescribed

2 by the Administrator. The Deputy Administrator for

3 Administration acts for the Administrator when the

4 Administrator is absent or unable to serve, or when

5 the office of Administrator is vacant.

6 ‘‘(2) DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR FOR AVIATION

7 SECURITY.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Deputy Adminis9 trator for Aviation Security—

10 ‘‘(i) is responsible for hiring and

11 training employees engaged in providing

12 aviation-related security at all United

13 States airports and air navigation facilities

14 involved in interstate air transportation or

15 intrastate air transportation by civil air16 craft;

17 ‘‘(ii) is responsible for day-to-day

18 aviation-related security operations for

19 such transportation; and

20 ‘‘(iii) shall actively cooperate and co21 ordinate with other Federal agencies with

22 responsibilities for national security and

23 criminal justice enforcement activities that

24 are related to aviation security through the

25 Aviation Security Coordination Council.’’.
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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

2 (1) Section 106 of title 49, United States Code,

3 is amended—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘The Deputy’’ in sub5 section (d)(1) and inserting ‘‘Each Deputy’’;

6 (B) by striking the first sentence of sub7 section (d)(1) and inserting ‘‘Each Deputy Ad8 ministrator must be a citizen of the United

9 States. The Deputy Administrator for Adminis10 tration must have experience in a field directly

11 related to aviation. The Deputy Administrator

12 for Aviation Security must have experience in a

13 field directly related to law enforcement, na14 tional security, or intelligence.’’;

15 (C) by inserting ‘‘for Administration’’ after

16 ‘‘Deputy Administrator’’ in the third sentence

17 of subsection (d)(1);

18 (D) by striking ‘‘The Deputy’’ in sub19 section (d)(2) and inserting ‘‘Such a Deputy’’;

20 (E) by striking ‘‘the Deputy’’ in subsection

21 (d)(3) and inserting ‘‘a Deputy’’; and

22 (F) by striking ‘‘the Deputy’’ in subsection

23 (e) and inserting ‘‘a Deputy’’.

24 (2) Section 44932 of title 49, United States

25 Code, is amended—
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1 (A) by striking subsection (a) and insert2 ing the following:

3 ‘‘(a) ORGANIZATION.—The Deputy Administrator for

4 Aviation Security reports directly to the Administrator of

5 the Federal Aviation Administration and is subject to the

6 authority of the Administrator.’’;

7 (B) by striking ‘‘Assistant’’ in subsection

8 (b) and inserting ‘‘Deputy’’;

9 (C) by striking ‘‘title;’’ in subsection (b)(1)

10 and inserting ‘‘title and individuals authorized

11 to carry firearms and make arrests under sec12 tion 44903(d);’’;

13 (D) by striking ‘‘Assistant’’ in subsection

14 (c) and inserting ‘‘Deputy’’; and

15 (E) by striking ‘‘x-ray’’ in subsection

16 (c)(4) and inserting ‘‘screening’’.

17 (3) Chapter 449 of title 49, United States

18 Code, is amended—

19 (A) by striking the section heading for sec20 tion 44932 and inserting the following:

21 ‘‘§ 44932. Deputy Administrator for Civil Aviation

22 Security’’;

23 and
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1 (B) by striking the item relating to that

2 section in the chapter analysis for that chapter

3 and inserting the following:

‘‘44932. Deputy Administrator for Civil Aviation Security’’.

4 (c) TRANSITION.—Until the Deputy Administrator

5 for Aviation Security in the Federal Aviation Administra6 tion is appointed by the President, the functions of the

7 Deputy Administrator shall be carried out by the Assist8 ant Administrator for Aviation Security.

9 SEC. 4. AVIATION SECURITY COORDINATION COUNCIL.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 449 of title 49, United

11 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing:

13 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER III.—AVIATION SECURITY

14 COORDINATION COUNCIL

15 ‘‘§ 44951. Aviation Security Coordination Council

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established an Aviation

17 Security Coordination Council.

18 ‘‘(b) FUNCTION.—The Council shall coordinate intel19 ligence, security, and criminal enforcement activities af20 fecting the safety and security of aviation at all United

21 States airports and air navigation facilities involved in

22 interstate air transportation or intrastate air transpor23 tation by public aircraft.

24 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.—The members of the Council

25 are:
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1 ‘‘(1) The Deputy Administrator for Aviation

2 Security in the Federal Aviation Agency.

3 ‘‘(2) A senior representative of equivalent rank

4 with security-related responsibilities from—

5 ‘‘(A) the Department of Justice, des6 ignated by the Attorney General;

7 ‘‘(B) the Department of Defense, des8 ignated by the Secretary of Defense;

9 ‘‘(C) the Central Intelligence Agency, des10 ignated by the Director of Central Intelligence;

11 and

12 ‘‘(D) any other Federal agency the partici13 pation of which is determined by the Deputy

14 Administrator to be appropriate, designated by

15 the head of that agency.’’.

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal17 ysis for chapter 449 of title 49, United States Code, is

18 amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘SUBCHAPTER III.—AVIATION SECURITY COORDINATION COUNCIL

‘‘Sec. 44951. Aviation Security Coordination Council’’

19 SEC. 5. IMPROVED FLIGHT DECK INTEGRITY MEASURES.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Federal

21 Aviation Agency shall, as soon as possible after the date

22 of enactment of this Act, issue an order (without regard

23 to the provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, United States

24 Code)—
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1 (1) prohibiting access to the flight deck of com2 mercial aircraft engaged in interstate or intrastate

3 transportation while the aircraft is so engaged by

4 any person other than a member of the flight deck

5 crew;

6 (2) requiring the strengthening of the flight

7 deck door and locks on any such aircraft operating

8 under part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal Regula9 tions, that has a door in a bulkhead between the

10 flight deck and the passenger area to prevent them

11 being forced open from inside the aircraft;

12 (3) requiring that such flight deck doors remain

13 locked while any such aircraft is in flight except

14 when necessary to permit the flight deck crew access

15 and egress; and

16 (4) prohibit the possession of a key to any such

17 flight deck door by any member of the flight crew

18 who is not assigned to the flight deck.

19 (b) COMMUTER AIRCRAFT.—The Administrator shall

20 investigate means of securing the flight deck of aircraft

21 operating under the authority of part 135 of title 14, Code

22 of Federal Regulations that are engaged in interstate or

23 intrastate air transportation that do not have a fixed door

24 with a lock between the passenger compartment and the

25 flight deck and issue such an order as the Secretary deems
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1 appropriate (without regard to the provisions of chapter

2 5 of title 5, United States Code) to ensure the inacces3 sibility, to the greatest extent feasible, of the flight deck

4 while the aircraft is so engaged.

5 SEC. 6. DEPLOYMENT OF FEDERAL AIR MARSHALS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within 30 days after the date of

7 enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal

8 Aviation Administration, under the authority provided by

9 section 44903(d) of title 49, United States Code, shall—

10 (1) provide for random deployment of Federal

11 air marshals on domestic commercial air passenger

12 flights in the United States, and all international

13 flights on American carriers into or out of the

14 United States;

15 (2) provide for appropriate background and fit16 ness checks for candidates for appointment as Fed17 eral air marshals;

18 (3) provide for appropriate training, super19 vision, and equipment of Federal air marshals; and

20 (4) require commercial air carriers to provide

21 seating for a Federal air marshal on any selected air

22 passenger flight without regard to the availability of

23 seats on that flight.

24 (b) INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS.—The Administrator

25 shall work with appropriate aeronautic authorities of for-
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1 eign governments under section 44907 of title 49, United

2 States Code, to address security concerns on international

3 flights.

4 (c) INTERIM MEASURES.—Until the Administrator

5 can fully implement subsection (a), the Administrator

6 shall, after consultation with the heads of other Federal

7 agencies and departments, use personnel from those agen8 cies and departments, on a reimbursable or nonreimburs9 able basis, to provide air marshal service on domestic and

10 international flights.

11 (d) REPORT.—No later than 18 months after the

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub13 mit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce,

14 Science, and Transportation and the House of Represent15 atives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

16 setting forth—

17 (1) an assessment of the effectiveness of the

18 program;

19 (2) the Administrator’s recommendation as to

20 whether the program should be continued; and

21 (3) any recommendations the Administrator

22 may have for improving the effectiveness of the pro23 gram if it is to be continued.
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1 SEC. 7. FEDERALIZATION OF AIRPORT SECURITY OPER2 ATIONS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44903(c) of title 49,

4 United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘(c) SECURITY PROGRAM.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es7 tablish an air transportation security program at

8 each airport regularly serving an air carrier holding

9 a certificate issued by the Secretary of Transpor10 tation that provides a law enforcement presence and

11 capability at each of those airports that is adequate

12 to ensure the safety of passengers. In carrying out

13 that program, the Administrator may use—

14 ‘‘(A) the services of qualified State, local,

15 and private law enforcement personnel;

16 ‘‘(B) personnel employed by the Adminis17 trator; or

18 ‘‘(C) personnel employed by another de19 partment, agency, or instrumentality of the

20 Government with the consent of the head of the

21 department, agency, or instrumentality.

22 ‘‘(2) DEPLOYMENT OF ARMED PERSONNEL.—In

23 carrying out the program established under para24 graph (1), the Administrator shall order the deploy25 ment of personnel authorized to carry firearms as

26 follows:
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1 ‘‘(A) LARGEST AIRPORTS.—At the 100

2 largest airports in the United States, in terms

3 of average annual passenger boardings, the Ad4 ministrator shall order the deployment of a suf5 ficient number of personnel at each airport se6 curity screening location as may be necessary to

7 ensure passenger safety.

8 ‘‘(B) OTHER AIRPORTS.—At United States

9 airports not described in subparagraph (A), the

10 Administrator shall order the deployment of at

11 least 1 of such personnel at each such location.

12 ‘‘(C) OTHER AREAS.—The Administrator,

13 in consultation with the airport operator and

14 law enforcement authorities, may order the de15 ployment of such personnel at any secure area

16 of the airport as necessary to counter the risk

17 of criminal violence, the risk of aircraft piracy

18 at the airport, or the risk to air carrier aircraft

19 operations at the airport.’’.

20 (b) SECURITY OF AIRCRAFT AND GROUND AC21 CESS.—Section 44903 of title 49, United States Code, is

22 amended by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(h) SECURITY OF AIRCRAFT AND GROUND AC24 CESS.—The Administrator shall establish and enforce

25 rules to improve the physical security of air traffic control
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1 facilities, parked aircraft, aircraft servicing equipment,

2 aircraft supplies (including fuel), automobile parking fa3 cilities at airports, and access and transition areas at air4 ports served by other means of ground or water transpor5 tation.’’.

6 SEC. 8. ENHANCED ANTI-HIJACKING TRAINING FOR

7 FLIGHT CREWS.

8 The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis9 tration shall develop and implement a mandatory program

10 of training for flight crews of aircraft providing interstate

11 or intrastate air transportation in dealing with attempts

12 to commit aircraft piracy (as defined in section

13 46502(a)(1)(A) of title 49, United States Code).

14 SEC. 9. IMPROVED PASSENGER SCREENING PROCESS.

15 Section 44901 of title 49, United States Code, is

16 amended to read as follows:

17 ‘‘§ 44901. Screening passengers and property

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Fed19 eral Aviation Administration shall be responsible for the

20 screening of all passengers and property that will be car21 ried in a cabin of an aircraft in air transportation or intra22 state air transportation. The screening must take place

23 before boarding and be carried out by certified Federal

24 security screening personnel using equipment approved for

25 that purpose by the Administration.
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1 ‘‘(b) EXEMPTIONS.—The Administrator may exempt

2 any class of air transportation operations from this section

3 except scheduled passenger operations of an air carrier

4 providing air transportation under a certificate issued

5 under section 41102 of this title or a permit issued under

6 section 41302 of this title.

7 ‘‘(c) CROSS-CHECKING DATA BASE INFORMATION.—

8 The Deputy Administrator, acting through the Aviation

9 Security Coordination Council, shall establish and imple10 ment a system for cross-checking data on individuals iden11 tified on all Federal agency security-related data bases.’’.

12 SEC. 10. TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT OF SECURITY

13 SCREENING PERSONNEL.

14 (a) USE OF OTHER AGENCIES.—The Administrator

15 of the Federal Aviation Administration shall enter into a

16 memorandum of understanding with any other Federal

17 agency or department with law enforcement responsibil18 ities to provide cooperation and assistance in the training

19 of Federal airport security screening personnel.

20 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Federal

21 Aviation Administration shall establish a program for the

22 hiring and training of airport security screening personnel.

23 (c) HIRING.—

24 (1) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Administrator shall

25 establish, within 30 days after the date of enactment
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1 of this Act, qualification standards for individuals to

2 be hired by the United States as airport security

3 screening personnel. Those standards shall, at a

4 minimum, require an individual—

5 (A) to have a satisfactory or better score

6 on a Federal security screening personnel selec7 tion examination;

8 (B) to be a national of the United States

9 as defined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immi10 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

11 1101(a)(22));

12 (C) to meet the requirements set forth in

13 section 108.31(a) of title 14, Code of Federal

14 Regulations; and

15 (D) to have passed an examination for re16 cent consumption of a controlled substance.

17 (2) EXAMINATION; REVIEW OF EXISTING

18 RULES.—The Administrator shall develop a Federal

19 security screening personnel examination for use in

20 determining the qualification of individuals seeking

21 employment as airport security screening personnel.

22 The Administrator shall also review, and revise as

23 necessary, any rule or regulation governing the em24 ployment of individuals as airport security screening

25 personnel.
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1 (d) TRAINING.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall,

3 within 60 days after the date of enactment of this

4 Act, develop a plan for the training of Federal air5 port security screening personnel. The plan shall, at

6 a minimum, require—

7 (A) 40 hours of classroom training; and

8 (B) 60 hours of on-the-job training.

9 (2) EQUIPMENT-SPECIFIC TRAINING.—An indi10 vidual employed as a Federal airport security screen11 er may not use any security screening device or

12 equipment in the scope of that individual’s employ13 ment unless the individual has been trained and cer14 tified as proficient on that device or equipment.

15 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section

16 44935(e) of title 49, United States Code, is

17 amended—

18 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert19 ing the following:

20 ‘‘(1) In general.—The Administrator shall es21 tablish training standards for screeners.’’;

22 (B) by striking ‘‘As part of the final rule,

23 the’’ in paragraph (2)(A) and inserting ‘‘The’’;
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1 (C) by striking ‘‘(2), as part of the final

2 rule,’’ in paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘(2)’’;

3 and

4 (D) by striking ‘‘40’’ in paragraph (3) and

5 inserting ‘‘60’’.

6 (e) TESTING.—

7 (1) ANNUAL TESTING.—The Administrator

8 shall by rule require that individuals employed as

9 Federal airport security screening personnel be test10 ed for proficiency not less often than once annually.

11 (2) RANDOM AND SPOT TESTING.—The Admin12 istrator shall review and revise as necessary, or pre13 scribe, rules governing the random, spot, or other

14 testing of such personnel in addition to the annual

15 testing required by paragraph (1).

16 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF EMPLOYMENT.—The Sec17 retary of Transportation is authorized to employ, appoint,

18 and fix the compensation of such a number of individuals

19 as may be necessary to carry out sections 44901 and

20 44903 of title 49, United States Code, in accordance with

21 the provisions of part III of title 5, United States Code,

22 without regard to any limitation on number of employees

23 imposed by any other law or Executive Order.
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1 SEC. 11. BACKGROUND CHECKS ON HEAVY PLANE FLIGHT

2 TRAINING APPLICANTS.

3 Section 44936(a) of title 49, United States Code, is

4 amended by striking ‘‘access, to—’’ in subsection (a) and

5 inserting ‘‘access, and of each individual seeking flight

6 training for an aircraft larger than an aircraft described

7 in (f)(14)(A), to—’’.

8 SEC. 12. SECURITY FEE.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 481 is amended by add10 ing at the end thereof the following:

11 ‘‘§ 48114. Security fee

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation

13 shall collect a user fee from commercial air carriers.

14 Amounts collected under this section shall be treated as

15 offsetting collections to partially offset the Federal Avia16 tion Administration’s costs of providing aviation security

17 services to air carriers. The amounts collected shall be im18 mediately available to the Administration for obligation

19 and expenditure for its activities, and shall remain avail20 able in a revolving fund, to be established by the Adminis21 tration, until expended.

22 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF FEE.—Commercial air carriers

23 shall pay $1.00 for each one-way revenue passenger, on

24 the basis of on-line origin-destination travel.

25 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—
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1 ‘‘(1) COMMERCIAL AIR CARRIER.—The term

2 ‘commercial air carrier’ means a commercial oper3 ator that engages in the carriage of persons in air

4 commerce for compensation or hire.

5 ‘‘(2) REVENUE PASSENGER.—The term ‘rev6 enue passenger’ means a passenger on board a flight

7 in revenue service and does not include passengers

8 traveling for a zero fare on frequent flyer or mileage

9 programs or non-revenue air carrier employees.’’.

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

11 for chapter 481 is amended by adding at the end thereof

12 the following:

‘‘48114. Security fee’’.

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

14 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to transportation

15 beginning after the date which is 90 days after the date

16 of enactment of this Act.

17 SEC. 13. INCREASED AVIATION SECURITY FUNDING.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of subtitle VII of title 49,

19 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the

20 following:

21 ‘‘CHAPTER 483.—AVIATION SECURITY FUNDING.

‘‘Sec. 48301. Aviation security funding

22 ‘‘§ 48301. Aviation security funding

23 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec24 retary of Transportation for fiscal years 2002, 2003, and
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1 2004, such sums as may be necessary to carry out chapter

2 449 and related aviation security activities under this

3 title.’’.

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The subtitle anal5 ysis for subtitle VII of title 49, United States Code, is

6 amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter

7 482 the following:

‘‘483. Aviation Security Funding ............................................................. 48301’’.

8 SEC. 14. DEFINITIONS.

9 Except as otherwise explicitly provided, any term

10 used in this Act that is defined in section 40102 of title

11 49, United States Code, has the meaning given that term

12 in that section.
Calendar No. 166

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1447

A BILL

To improve aviation security, and for other

purposes.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2001

Read the second time and placed on the calendar