I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1986 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish an Ombudsman Office 

within the Transportation Security Administration for the purpose of 

enhancing transportation security by providing confidential, informal, 

and neutral assistance to address work-place related problems of Transportation Security Administration employees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2017 

Ms. JACKSON LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish an 

Ombudsman Office within the Transportation Security 

Administration for the purpose of enhancing transportation security by providing confidential, informal, and 

neutral assistance to address work-place related problems 

of Transportation Security Administration employees, 

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 ‘‘Transportation Secu5 rity Administration Ombudsman Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OM2 BUDSMAN OFFICE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 449 of 

4 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 44947. Ombudsman 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

8 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an 

9 Office of the Ombudsman in the Transportation Se10 curity Administration. 

11 ‘‘(2) OMBUDSMAN.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be 

13 under the direction of the Ombudsman of the 

14 Transportation Security Administration, who 

15 shall be appointed by the Chief Human Capital 

16 Officer of the Department of Homeland Secu17 rity on behalf of the Secretary of Homeland Se18 curity. 

19 ‘‘(B) QUALIFICATIONS.—An individual ap20 pointed as the Ombudsman must have expertise 

21 in— 

22 ‘‘(i) labor and employment relations 

23 with Federal agencies; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) dispute resolution. 

25 ‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT AND

26 REMOVAL.—The Chief Human Capital Officer 


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1 of the Department of Homeland Security shall 

2 notify the appropriate congressional committees 

3 within 30 days after the effective date of any of 

4 the following actions: 

5 ‘‘(i) The appointment of an individual 

6 as Ombudsman. 

7 ‘‘(ii) The reappointment as Ombuds8 man of an individual who is serving as 

9 Ombudsman. 

10 ‘‘(iii) The removal of an individual 

11 from the position of Ombudsman. 

12 ‘‘(3) ENSURING INDEPENDENCE OF OMBUDS13 MAN.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman shall 

15 report— 

16 ‘‘(i) to the Administrator of the 

17 Transportation Security Administration; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(ii) to the Chief Human Capital Offi20 cer of the Department of Homeland Secu21 rity with respect to any dispute between 

22 the Ombudsman and the Administrator of 

23 the Transportation Security Administra24 tion over matters involving the execution of 


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1 the Ombudsman’s duties as set forth in 

2 subsection (b). 

3 ‘‘(B) INSPECTOR GENERAL’S AUTHORITY

4 TO CONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS NOT AF5 FECTED.—Nothing in this section shall prohibit 

6 the Inspector General of the Department of 

7 Homeland Security from initiating, carrying 

8 out, or completing any investigation. 

9 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Ombudsman shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) conduct outreach to Transportation Secu11 rity Administration employees, including publicizing 

12 a toll-free telephone number to report complaints; 

13 ‘‘(2) evaluate each complainant’s claim objec14 tively; 

15 ‘‘(3) provide information, advice, and assistance 

16 to complainants and, as appropriate, initiate infor17 mal, impartial fact-finding and inquiries, on com18 plaints or on the Ombudsman’s own initiative; 

19 ‘‘(4) inform each complainant— 

20 ‘‘(A) when the Ombudsman decides against 

21 conducting a fact-finding inquiry into the com22 plaint; 

23 ‘‘(B) on the status of the Ombudsman’s 

24 fact-finding inquiry to the complainant, on a 


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1 regular basis if requested by the complainant; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(C) of the Ombudsman’s recommenda4 tions and information, as appropriate, for the 

5 complainant to formally complain to the appro6 priate authority; 

7 ‘‘(5) work with the Administrator of the Trans8 portation Security Administration to address issues 

9 identified through fact-finding and inquiries; 

10 ‘‘(6) maintain confidential any matter related to 

11 complaints and inquiries, including the identities of 

12 the complainants and witnesses; and 

13 ‘‘(7) submit an annual report to the appropriate 

14 congressional committees in accordance with sub15 section (c). 

16 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman shall re18 port no later than September 30 each year to the 

19 appropriate congressional committees on the actions 

20 taken by the Office of the Ombudsman over the pre21 ceding year and the objectives of those actions. 

22 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each such report shall, for 

23 the period covered by the report, include— 

24 ‘‘(A) statistical information, by region, on 

25 the volume of complaints received, general naVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Apr 13, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1986.IH H1986

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1 ture of complaints, general information on com2 plainants, and the percentage of complaints 

3 that resulted in a fact-finding inquiry; 

4 ‘‘(B) a summary of problems encountered 

5 by complainants, including information on the 

6 most pervasive or serious types of problems en7 countered by complainants; 

8 ‘‘(C) policy recommendations that the Of9 fice of the Ombudsman made to the Adminis10 trator of the Transportation Security Adminis11 tration; 

12 ‘‘(D) an inventory of the items described in 

13 subparagraphs (B) and (C) for which action 

14 has been taken, and the result of such action; 

15 ‘‘(E) an inventory of the items described in 

16 subparagraphs (B) and (C) for which action re17 mains to be completed; and 

18 ‘‘(F) such other information as the Om19 budsman considers relevant. 

20 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO BE SUBMITTED DIRECTLY.— 

21 Each report under this subsection shall be provided 

22 directly to the committees described in paragraph 

23 (1) without any prior comment or amendment by the 

24 Administrator of the Transportation Security Ad25 ministration. However, the Ombudsman shall seek 


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1 comment from the Administrator to be submitted by 

2 the Ombudsman together with the annual report. 

3 ‘‘(4) OTHER REPORTS.—Nothing in this sub4 section shall be construed to preclude the Ombuds5 man from issuing other reports on the activities of 

6 the Office of the Ombudsman. 

7 ‘‘(d) CONTACT INFORMATION.—The Administrator of 

8 the Transportation Security Administration shall make 

9 publically available on the Internet site of the Administra10 tion information about the Office of the Ombudsman, in11 cluding regarding how to contact the Office. 

12 ‘‘(e) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE

13 DEFINED.—In this section the term ‘appropriate congres14 sional committee’ means the Committee on Homeland Se15 curity of the House of Representatives and any committee 

16 of the House of Representatives or the Senate having leg17 islative jurisdiction under the rules of the House of Rep18 resentatives or Senate, respectively, over the matter con19 cerned.’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis at the be21 ginning of such chapter is amended by adding at the end 

22 of the items relating to subchapter II the following new 

23 item: 

‘‘44947. Ombudsman.’’. 

24 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

25 authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 


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1 2017, 2018, and 2019, $575,000 for implementing section 

2 44946 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by this 

3 section. 

Æ 


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