II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3303 

To require security screening of passengers at airports to be carried out 

by private screening companies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 14, 2012 

Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require security screening of passengers at airports to 

be carried out by private screening companies, 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. REQUIREMENT THAT PASSENGER SECURITY 

4 SCREENING BE CONDUCTED BY PRIVATE 

5 SCREENING COMPANIES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44901(a) of title 49, 

7 United States Code, is amended in the second sentence 

8 by striking ‘‘except as otherwise’’ and all that follows 

9 through the end period and inserting ‘‘except— 


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1 ‘‘(1) that screening of passengers shall be con2 ducted by employees of a private screening company 

3 under a contract entered into pursuant to subsection 

4 (m)(1); 

5 ‘‘(2) for identifying passengers and baggage for 

6 screening under the CAPPS and known shipper pro7 grams and conducting positive bag-match programs; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(3) as otherwise provided in section 44919 or 

10 44920.’’. 

11 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 44901 of such title 49, 

12 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(m) CONDUCT OF PASSENGER SCREENING BY PRI15 VATE SCREENING COMPANIES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) CONTRACTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

18 subparagraph (B), the Assistant Secretary of 

19 Homeland Security (Transportation Security 

20 Administration) shall enter into a contract with 

21 a private screening company selected by the op22 erator of an airport under which employees of 

23 that company will conduct the screening of pas24 sengers at the airport under subsection (a)(1). 


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1 ‘‘(B) COMPANIES WITH UNSATISFACTORY

2 PERFORMANCE RECORDS.—The operator of an 

3 airport may not select a private security screen4 ing company for purposes of subparagraph (A) 

5 if the Assistant Secretary determines that the 

6 performance record of the company is unsatis7 factory. 

8 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT AND TERMINATION DECI9 SIONS.—Notwithstanding section 44903(g)(1)(C), 

10 section 44935(e), or any other provision of this 

11 chapter, the operator of an airport and the private 

12 screening company conducting passenger screening 

13 at that airport pursuant to a contract entered into 

14 under paragraph (1)(A) shall have the authority to 

15 make final decisions with respect to the employment 

16 and termination of individuals conducting passenger 

17 screening at that airport.’’. 

18 (c) MANDATORY APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS

19 UNDER SECURITY SCREENING OPT-OUT PROGRAM.— 

20 Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, is amend21 ed— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘Under Secretary’’ the first 

24 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Assistant Sec25 retary (Transportation Security Administration) 


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1 (in this section referred to as the ‘Assistant 

2 Secretary’)’’; and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘passengers and’’; 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘Under Secretary’’ each place it 

5 appears and inserting ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’; 

6 (3) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(b) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.—The Assistant 

9 Secretary shall approve all applications submitted under 

10 subsection (a).’’; and 

11 (4) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘and pas12 senger’’. 

13 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

14 (1) ENFORCEMENT OF SECURED-AREA ACCESS

15 CONTROL REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 44903(g)(1) of 

17 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

18 (i) in subparagraph (A), in the first 

19 sentence, by striking ‘‘employees’’ and in20 serting ‘‘Federal employees’’; and 

21 (ii) by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(C) SANCTIONS FOR EMPLOYEES OF PRI24 VATE SECURITY SCREENING COMPANIES.—The 

25 Under Secretary shall develop and publish in 


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1 the Federal Register a list of sanctions for use 

2 as guidelines in the discipline of employees of 

3 private screening companies conducting pas4 senger screening at airports for infractions of 

5 airport access control requirements in consulta6 tion with those companies.’’. 

7 (B) PUBLICATION OF GUIDELINES.—Not 

8 later than 180 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 

10 Security shall publish in the Federal Register— 

11 (i) such revisions to the guidelines 

12 under subparagraph (A) of section 

13 44903(g)(1) of title 49, United States 

14 Code, as are necessary to implement the 

15 amendments made by subparagraph (A); 

16 and 

17 (ii) guidelines under subparagraph (C) 

18 of that section (as added by subparagraph 

19 (A)). 

20 (2) THREAT AND VULNERABILITY ASSESS21 MENTS.—Section 44904(b)(5) of title 49, United 

22 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the United 

23 States Customs Service, the Immigration and Natu24 ralization Service, and air carriers’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. ImmiVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:52 Jun 15, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3303.IS S3303

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1 gration and Customs Enforcement, private screening 

2 companies conducting passenger screening at air3 ports, and air carriers’’. 

4 (3) QUALIFICATIONS OF SECURITY SCREEN5 ERS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 44935(e)(2)(A) 

7 of title 49, United States Code, is amended in 

8 the first sentence by inserting ‘‘and individuals 

9 employed by private screening companies to 

10 conduct screening of passengers at airports’’ 

11 after ‘‘personnel’’. 

12 (B) REVISIONS TO QUALIFICATION STAND13 ARDS.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

15 Homeland Security shall make such revisions to 

16 the qualification standards for security screen17 ing personnel under section 44935(e)(2)(A) of 

18 title 49, United States Code, as are necessary 

19 as a result of the amendment made by subpara20 graph (A). 

21 (e) REDUCTION IN EMPLOYEES OF TRANSPORTATION

22 SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.—The Assistant Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administra24 tion) shall decrease the number of employees of the Trans25 portation Security Administration assigned to an airport 


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1 by an amount that is equivalent to the increase in the 

2 number of employees of private screening companies as3 signed to the airport pursuant to a contract entered into 

4 under subsection (m)(1) of section 44901 of title 49, 

5 United States Code, as added by subsection (b) of this 

6 section, as soon as practicable after the contract takes ef7 fect. 

8 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall— 

10 (1) take effect on the date of the enactment of 

11 this Act; and 

12 (2) apply with respect to the screening of pas13 sengers at airports on and after the date that is 180 

14 days after such date of enactment. 

15 SEC. 2. RIGHT TO WORK FOR EMPLOYEES OF PRIVATE PAS16 SENGER SCREENING COMPANIES. 

17 (a) AMENDMENT TO NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS

18 ACT.—Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 

19 U.S.C. 158) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(h) RIGHT TO WORK FOR EMPLOYEES OF PRIVATE

22 PASSENGER SCREENING COMPANIES.—Notwithstanding 

23 any other provision of this Act, the first and second pro24 visos of subsection (a)(3) shall not apply to an employer 

25 that is a private passenger screening company conducting 


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1 passenger screening at an airport. In the case of a labor 

2 organization representing the employees of such employer, 

3 paragraphs (2) and (5) of subsection (b) shall be applied 

4 without regard to whether there is an agreement author5 ized under subsection (a)(3).’’. 

6 (b) AMENDMENT TO RAILWAY LABOR ACT.—Title II 

7 of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 209. RIGHT TO WORK FOR EMPLOYEES OF PRIVATE 

10 PASSENGER SCREENING COMPANIES. 

11 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 

12 paragraph Eleventh of section 2 shall not apply to any 

13 employee of a private passenger screening company that 

14 has entered into a contract with a carrier by air.’’. 

Æ 


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