II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2207 

To require the Office of the Ombudsman of the Transportation Security 

Administration to appoint passenger advocates at Category X airports 

to assist elderly and disabled passengers who believe they have been 

mistreated by TSA personnel and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 20, 2012 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Office of the Ombudsman of the Transportation Security Administration to appoint passenger advocates at Category X airports to assist elderly and 

disabled passengers who believe they have been mistreated by TSA personnel 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 ‘‘Restoring Integrity 

5 and Good-Heartedness in Traveler Screening Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘RIGHTS Act’’. 


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•S 2207 IS

1 SEC. 2. FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN. 

2 In addition to existing functions, the Office of the 

3 Ombudsman of the Transportation Security Administra4 tion (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Office’’) shall— 

5 (1) record complaints from the general public 

6 regarding screening practices at the Transportation 

7 Security Administration (referred to in this Act as 

8 the ‘‘TSA’’); 

9 (2) determine best practices to resolve frequent 

10 passenger complaints and assist in training TSA 

11 agents regarding such practices; 

12 (3) resolve passenger complaints at airports ac13 cusing TSA employees of mistreatment; and 

14 (4) field advance notification calls from individ15 uals with medical conditions or disabilities and ar16 range for airport screening procedures for such indi17 viduals that ensure flight safety without causing 

18 them undue hardship. 

19 SEC. 3. PASSENGER ADVOCATES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The duties of the Office shall be 

21 performed by passenger advocates under the supervision 

22 of the Ombudsman. 

23 (b) APPOINTMENT.—The Ombudsman shall appoint 

24 passenger advocates at each Category X airport from the 

25 ranks of existing TSA employees who— 


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1 (1) have not been subject to disciplinary action 

2 by the TSA; and 

3 (2) shall receive— 

4 (A) special training in conflict resolution; 

5 and 

6 (B) sufficient medical training to recognize 

7 frequent legitimate complaints based on medical 

8 conditions and disabilities. 

9 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 1 year after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act, every Category X 

11 airport shall always have at least 1 TSA passenger advo12 cate on duty during operating hours. 

13 (d) SIGN REQUIREMENTS.—Every Category X air14 port shall place clearly visible signage at each gate that— 

15 (1) explains that a passenger advocate may be 

16 summoned if a passenger believes that a TSA em17 ployee has been mistreated on the basis of advanced 

18 age or disability; and 

19 (2) describes the procedures for summoning the 

20 passenger advocate. 

Æ 


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