In the Senate of the United States, 

September 17, 2015. 

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 719) entitled ‘‘An Act to require the Transportation Security Administration to conform to existing Federal 

law and regulations regarding criminal investigator positions, 

and for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘TSA Office of Inspection 

3 Accountability Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) Consistent with Federal law and regulations, 

7 for law enforcement officers to qualify for premium 

8 pay as criminal investigators, the officers must, in 

9 general, spend on average at least 50 percent of their 

10 time investigating, apprehending, or detaining indi-
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1 viduals suspected or convicted of offenses against the 

2 criminal laws of the United States. 

3 (2) According to the Inspector General of the De4 partment of Homeland Security (DHS IG), the 

5 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does 

6 not ensure that its cadre of criminal investigators in 

7 the Office of Inspection are meeting this requirement, 

8 even though they are considered law enforcement offi9 cers under TSA policy and receive premium pay. 

10 (3) Instead, TSA criminal investigators in the 

11 Office of Inspection primarily monitor the results of 

12 criminal investigations conducted by other agencies, 

13 investigate administrative cases of TSA employee 

14 misconduct, and carry out inspections, covert tests, 

15 and internal reviews, which the DHS IG asserts could 

16 be performed by employees other than criminal inves17 tigators at a lower cost. 

18 (4) The premium pay and other benefits afforded 

19 to TSA criminal investigators in the Office of Inspec20 tion who are incorrectly classified as such will cost 

21 the taxpayer as much as $17 million over 5 years if 

22 TSA fails to make any changes to the number of 

23 criminal investigators in the Office of Inspection, ac24 cording to the DHS IG. 
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1 (5) This may be a conservative estimate, as it 

2 accounts for the cost of Law Enforcement Availability 

3 Pay, but not the costs of law enforcement training, 

4 statutory early retirement benefits, police vehicles, 

5 and weapons. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra9 tion’’ means the Transportation Security Administra10 tion. 

11 (2) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist12 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

13 Homeland Security (Transportation Security) of the 

14 Department of Homeland Security. 

15 (3) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Inspector 

16 General’’ means the Inspector General of the Depart17 ment of Homeland Security. 

18 SEC. 4. INSPECTOR GENERAL AUDIT. 

19 (a) AUDIT.—Not later than 60 days after the date of 

20 the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General shall ana21 lyze the data and methods that the Assistant Secretary uses 

22 to identify Office of Inspection employees of the Administra23 tion who meet the requirements of sections 8331(20), 

24 8401(17), and 5545a of title 5, United States Code, and 

25 provide the relevant findings to the Assistant Secretary, in-
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1 cluding a finding on whether the data and methods are ade2 quate and valid. 

3 (b) PROHIBITION ON HIRING.—If the Inspector Gen4 eral finds that such data and methods are inadequate or 

5 invalid, the Administration shall not hire any new em6 ployee to work in the Office of Inspection of the Administra7 tion until— 

8 (1) the Assistant Secretary makes a certification 

9 described in section 5 to the Committee on Homeland 

10 Security of the House of Representatives and the 

11 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor12 tation of the Senate; and 

13 (2) the Inspector General submits to such Com14 mittees a finding, not later than 30 days after the As15 sistant Secretary makes such certification, that the 

16 Assistant Secretary utilized adequate and valid data 

17 and methods to make such certification. 

18 SEC. 5. TSA OFFICE OF INSPECTION WORKFORCE CERTIFI19 CATION. 

20 (a) CERTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—The Assistant 

21 Secretary shall, by not later than 90 days after the date 

22 the Inspector General provides its findings to the Assistant 

23 Secretary under section 4(a), document and certify in writ24 ing to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 

25 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
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1 Science, and Transportation of the Senate that only those 

2 Office of Inspection employees of the Administration who 

3 meet the requirements of sections 8331(20), 8401(17), and 

4 5545a of title 5, United States Code, are classified as crimi5 nal investigators and are receiving premium pay and other 

6 benefits associated with such classification. 

7 (b) EMPLOYEE RECLASSIFICATION.—The Assistant 

8 Secretary shall reclassify criminal investigator positions in 

9 the Office of Inspection as noncriminal investigator posi10 tions or non-law enforcement positions if the individuals 

11 in those positions do not, or are not expected to, spend an 

12 average of at least 50 percent of their time performing 

13 criminal investigative duties. 

14 (c) PROJECTED COST SAVINGS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

16 estimate the total long-term cost savings to the Fed17 eral Government resulting from the implementation of 

18 subsection (b), and provide such estimate to the Com19 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep20 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

21 Science, and Transportation of the Senate by not 

22 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

23 Act. 

24 (2) CONTENTS.—Such estimate shall identify 

25 savings associated with the positions reclassified 
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1 under subsection (b) and include, among other factors 

2 the Assistant Secretary considers appropriate, savings 

3 from— 

4 (A) law enforcement training; 

5 (B) early retirement benefits; 

6 (C) law enforcement availability and other 

7 premium pay; and 

8 (D) weapons, vehicles, and communications 

9 devices. 

10 SEC. 6. INVESTIGATION OF FEDERAL AIR MARSHAL SERV11 ICE MISCONDUCT. 

12 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act, or as soon as practicable, the Assistant Sec14 retary shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security 

15 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com16 merce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on 

17 the Judiciary of the Senate— 

18 (1) materials in the possession or control of the 

19 Department of Homeland Security associated with 

20 the Office of Inspection’s review of instances in which 

21 Federal Air Marshal Service officials obtained dis22 counted or free firearms for personal use; and 

23 (2) information on specific actions that will be 

24 taken to prevent Federal Air Marshal Service officials 

25 from using their official positions, or exploiting, in 
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1 any way, the Service’s relationships with private ven2 dors to obtain discounted or free firearms for personal 

3 use. 

4 SEC. 7. STUDY. 

5 Not later than 180 days after the date that the Assist6 ant Secretary submits the certification to Congress under 

7 section 5(a), the Inspector General of the Department of 

8 Homeland Security shall submit to the Committee on 

9 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the 

10 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and 

11 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

12 Affairs of the Senate a study— 

13 (1) reviewing the employee requirements, respon14 sibilities, and benefits of criminal investigators in the 

15 TSA Office of Inspection with criminal investigators 

16 employed at agencies adhering to the Office of Per17 sonnel Management employee classification system; 

18 and 

19 (2) identifying any inconsistencies and costs im20 plications for differences between the varying em21 ployee requirements, responsibilities, and benefits. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H.R. 719 

AMENDMENT