I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6497 

To require screening transparency and accountability of the TSA, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 8, 2016 

Mr. CARTER of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To require screening transparency and accountability of the 

TSA, 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 ‘‘TSA Screening Trans5 parency and Accountability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ACCURACY IN THE FEDERAL COST ESTIMATE AND 

7 COST ESTIMATING PRACTICES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Trans9 portation Security Administration (TSA) shall, consistent 

10 with GAO’s November 2015 report on the Screening PartVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Dec 14, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6497.IH H6497

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1 nership Program (GAO–16–19), update the TSA’s cost 

2 estimating methodology for Federal cost estimates and 

3 cost comparisons to conform to leading cost estimating 

4 best practices by, at a minimum— 

5 (1) incorporating a cost estimate that reflects 

6 the total cost to the Federal Government, including 

7 all costs incurred by Federal agencies other than 

8 TSA; 

9 (2) ensuring all cost estimates used by TSA are 

10 adjusted for inflation, as appropriate, over the dura11 tion of the contract; 

12 (3) updating all cost estimates when cir13 cumstances at a Screening Partnership Program air14 port result in a significant change to a contract’s 

15 value, including— 

16 (A) the opening or closing of an airport 

17 terminal; 

18 (B) the change or alteration of airline serv19 ice; 

20 (C) the introduction of new technologies; 

21 or 

22 (D) changes in policies and procedures; 

23 (4) including a sensitivity analysis that identi24 fies which variables have the greatest effect on cost 

25 estimates; and 


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1 (5) reflecting the inherent uncertainty associ2 ated with the cost estimate and identifying the ele3 ments of the cost estimate that present the most 

4 risk. 

5 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 30 days 

6 after the Administrator of the TSA completes the update 

7 required under subsection (a), the Administrator shall 

8 make such update available to the public. 

9 SEC. 3. CUSTOMER SERVICE TRACKING AND ACCOUNT10 ABILITY. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 180 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

13 the TSA shall develop a streamlined method and standard 

14 protocol for documenting and tracking customer com15 plaints for both Federal and SPP airport checkpoints. 

16 (b) CONSISTENCY.—The Administrator of the TSA 

17 shall ensure consistent use across airports of methods to 

18 inform passengers about TSA’s complaint and complaint 

19 resolution process. 

20 (c) PROCESS.—The Administrator of the TSA shall 

21 establish a process for analyzing information on complaint 

22 trends from all screening complaint mechanisms, including 

23 a comparison between Federal screener complaints and 

24 private screener complaints. 


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1 (d) DATA ANALYSIS.—The Administrator of the TSA 

2 shall utilize data analysis to better inform the traveling 

3 public about the nature and extent of screening com4 plaints. 

5 SEC. 4. INFORMATION SHARING WITH AIRPORT DIREC6 TORS. 

7 The Administrator of the TSA shall make available 

8 to airport directors, managers, and other individuals in 

9 similar airport leadership or executive positions (or se10 lected designees) who have been cleared under section 

11 1520 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, an assess12 ment of each airport’s performance compared to the mean 

13 average performance of all airports in the equivalent air14 port category for screening performance data, as well as 

15 a briefing on the results of performance data reports, in16 cluding— 

17 (1) the TSA’s Monthly Measures of Effective18 ness Report (MOE), including an assessment of each 

19 airport’s performance compared to the mean average 

20 performance of all airports in the equivalent airport 

21 category; 

22 (2) the OSO Executive Scorecard; and 

23 (3) other performance data, including— 

24 (A) passenger throughput; 

25 (B) wait times; and 


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1 (C) employee attrition, absenteeism, injury 

2 rates, and any other human capital measures 

3 collected by TSA. 

4 SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

5 The Administrator of the TSA shall provide to Con6 gress on an annual basis information related to the imple7 mentation of sections 2, 3 and 4. 

Æ 


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