114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 719 

AN ACT 

To require the Transportation Security Administration to 

conform to existing Federal law and regulations regarding criminal investigator positions, 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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘TSA Office of Inspec3 tion Accountability Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) Consistent with Federal law and regula7 tions, for law enforcement officers to qualify for pre8 mium pay as criminal investigators, the officers 

9 must, in general, spend on average at least 50 per10 cent of their time investigating, apprehending, or de11 taining individuals suspected or convicted of offenses 

12 against the criminal laws of the United States. 

13 (2) According to the Inspector General of the 

14 Department of Homeland Security (DHS IG), the 

15 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does 

16 not ensure that its cadre of criminal investigators in 

17 the Office of Inspection are meeting this require18 ment, even though they are considered law enforce19 ment officers under TSA policy and receive premium 

20 pay. 

21 (3) Instead, TSA criminal investigators in the 

22 Office of Inspection primarily monitor the results of 

23 criminal investigations conducted by other agencies, 

24 investigate administrative cases of TSA employee 

25 misconduct, and carry out inspections, covert tests, 

26 and internal reviews, which the DHS IG asserts 
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1 could be performed by employees other than criminal 

2 investigators at a lower cost. 

3 (4) The premium pay and other benefits af4 forded to TSA criminal investigators in the Office of 

5 Inspection who are incorrectly classified as such will 

6 cost the taxpayer as much as $17 million over 5 

7 years if TSA fails to make any changes to the num8 ber of criminal investigators in the Office of Inspec9 tion, according to the DHS IG. 

10 (5) This may be a conservative estimate, as it 

11 accounts for the cost of Law Enforcement Avail12 ability Pay, but not the costs of law enforcement 

13 training, statutory early retirement benefits, police 

14 vehicles, and weapons. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra18 tion’’ means the Transportation Security Adminis19 tration. 

20 (2) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist21 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security (Transportation Security) of the 

23 Department of Homeland Security. 
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1 (3) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Inspec2 tor General’’ means the Inspector General of the De3 partment of Homeland Security. 

4 SEC. 4. INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEW. 

5 (a) REVIEW.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General shall 

7 analyze the data and methods that the Assistant Secretary 

8 uses to identify employees of the Administration who meet 

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

10 5545a of title 5, United States Code, and provide the rel11 evant findings to the Assistant Secretary, including a find12 ing on whether the data and methods are adequate and 

13 valid. 

14 (b) PROHIBITION ON HIRING.—If the Inspector Gen15 eral finds that such data and methods are inadequate or 

16 invalid, the Administration may not hire any new em17 ployee to work in the Office of Inspection of the Adminis18 tration until— 

19 (1) the Assistant Secretary makes a certifi20 cation described in section 5 to the Committee on 

21 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives 

22 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

23 Transportation of the Senate; and 

24 (2) the Inspector General submits to such Com25 mittees a finding, not later than 30 days after the 
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1 Assistant Secretary makes such certification, that 

2 the Assistant Secretary utilized adequate and valid 

3 data and methods to make such certification. 

4 SEC. 5. TSA OFFICE OF INSPECTION WORKFORCE CERTIFI5 CATION. 

6 (a) CERTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—The Assistant 

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

8 the Inspector General provides its findings to the Assist9 ant Secretary under section 4(a), document and certify in 

10 writing to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

11 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com12 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate that 

13 only those employees of the Administration who meet the 

14 requirements of sections 8331(20), 8401(17), and 5545a 

15 of title 5, United States Code, are classified as criminal 

16 investigators and are receiving premium pay and other 

17 benefits associated with such classification. 

18 (b) EMPLOYEE RECLASSIFICATION.—The Assistant 

19 Secretary shall reclassify criminal investigator positions in 

20 the Office of Inspection as noncriminal investigator posi21 tions or non-law enforcement positions if the individuals 

22 in those positions do not, or are not expected to, spend 

23 an average of at least 50 percent of their time performing 

24 criminal investigative duties. 

25 (c) PROJECTED COST SAVINGS.— 
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 

2 shall estimate the total long-term cost savings to the 

3 Federal Government resulting from the implementa4 tion of subsection (b), and provide such estimate to 

5 the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 

6 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

7 Science, and Transportation of the Senate by not 

8 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

9 this Act. 

10 (2) CONTENTS.—Such estimate shall identify 

11 savings associated with the positions reclassified 

12 under subsection (b) and include, among other fac13 tors the Assistant Secretary considers appropriate, 

14 savings from— 

15 (A) law enforcement training; 

16 (B) early retirement benefits; 

17 (C) law enforcement availability pay; and 

18 (D) weapons, vehicles, and communications 

19 devices. 

20 SEC. 6. INVESTIGATION OF FEDERAL AIR MARSHAL SERV21 ICE MISCONDUCT. 

22 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, or as soon as practicable, the Assistant 

24 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Se25 curity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
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1 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen2 ate— 

3 (1) any materials in the possession or control of 

4 the Department of Homeland Security associated 

5 with the Office of Inspection’s review of instances in 

6 which Federal Air Marshal Service officials obtained 

7 discounted or free firearms for personal use; and 

8 (2) information on specific actions that will be 

9 taken to prevent Federal Air Marshal Service offi10 cials from using their official positions, or exploiting, 

11 in any way, the Service’s relationships with private 

12 vendors to obtain discounted or free firearms for 

13 personal use. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 10, 

2015. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 719 

AN ACT 

To require the Transportation Security Administraand for other purposes. lations regarding criminal investigator positions, tion to conform to existing Federal law and regu-