I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1455 

To prohibit subsidiaries of foreign-owned corporations from obtaining contracts for the performance of passenger and baggage security screening 

at domestic commercial airports, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2013 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi (for himself, Mrs. LOWEY, and Mr. RICHMOND) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To prohibit subsidiaries of foreign-owned corporations from 

obtaining contracts for the performance of passenger and 

baggage security screening at domestic commercial airports, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Contract Screener Reform and Accountability Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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TITLE I—REFORM 

Sec. 101. Prohibition of screening by subsidiary of a foreign-owned corporation. 

Sec. 102. Competition for private screening contracts. 

Sec. 103. Prohibition on certain subcontracting. 

Sec. 104. Flexibility in approving airport operator applications. 

Sec. 105. Enhanced standards for application assessments. 

Sec. 106. Timeline for awarding a contract for screening services. 

Sec. 107. Prohibition on bonuses and other awards. 

Sec. 108. Cost analysis. 

Sec. 109. Customer service. 

Sec. 110. Information on transition plans. 

TITLE II—OVERSIGHT 

Sec. 201. Enhanced oversight. 

Sec. 202. Security breaches. 

Sec. 203. Covert testing of contract screener performance. 

Sec. 204. Contracting prohibition for compromising covert security testing. 

Sec. 205. Proper handling of sensitive security information. 

TITLE III—WORKFORCE PROTECTIONS 

Sec. 301. Job and benefit protections. 

Sec. 302. Retention and discipline. 

Sec. 303. Protections for reporting deficiencies, waste, or vulnerabilities. 

1 TITLE I—REFORM 

2 SEC. 101. PROHIBITION OF SCREENING BY SUBSIDIARY OF 

3 A FOREIGN-OWNED CORPORATION. 

4 Subsection (d) of section 44920 of title 49, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘(d)’’ and all that follows 

7 through ‘‘The Under Secretary may enter’’ and in8 serting the following: 

9 ‘‘(d) STANDARDS FOR PRIVATE SCREENING COMPA10 NIES.—The Under Secretary may enter’’; 

11 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 

12 (B) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, and 

13 moving such paragraphs two ems to the left; and 

14 (3) by striking paragraph (2). 


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1 SEC. 102. COMPETITION FOR PRIVATE SCREENING CON2 TRACTS. 

3 Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, is 

4 amended by striking subsection (h). 

5 SEC. 103. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN SUBCONTRACTING. 

6 Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 

7 amended by section 102 of this Act, is further amended 

8 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(h) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN SUBCON10 TRACTING.—The Under Secretary is prohibited from en11 tering into any contract for screening services under this 

12 section that would allow for the screening services to be 

13 performed by a subcontractor.’’. 

14 SEC. 104. FLEXIBILITY IN APPROVING AIRPORT OPERATOR 

15 APPLICATIONS. 

16 Paragraph (2) of section 44920(b) of title 49, United 

17 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘shall’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘may’’. 

19 SEC. 105. ENHANCED STANDARDS FOR APPLICATION AS20 SESSMENTS. 

21 Paragraph (2) of section 44920(b) of title 49, United 

22 States Code, is amended by inserting before the period at 

23 the end the following: ‘‘and at airports nationwide’’. 


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1 SEC. 106. TIMELINE FOR AWARDING A CONTRACT FOR 

2 SCREENING SERVICES. 

3 Subsection (b) of section 44920 of title 49, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(4) TIMELINE FOR AWARDING A CONTRACT

7 FOR SCREENING SERVICES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 

9 days after approving an application under para10 graph (1), the Under Secretary shall award a 

11 contract to a qualified private screening com12 pany in accordance with subsections (c) and 

13 (d). 

14 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION.—If the Under Sec15 retary is unable to make an award in accord16 ance with subparagraph (A), the Under Sec17 retary shall notify the airport operator that 

18 submitted the application at issue of the deter19 mination and the basis for such determination, 

20 and about eligibility for reapplication in accord21 ance with subsection (a).’’. 

22 SEC. 107. PROHIBITION ON BONUSES AND OTHER AWARDS. 

23 Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 

24 amended by section 105 of this Act, is further amended 

25 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION ON BONUSES AND OTHER

2 AWARDS.—The Under Secretary is prohibited from pro3 viding funding to any private screening company that pro4 vides screening services at an airport in excess of the 

5 amount required for the performance of such screening 

6 services.’’. 

7 SEC. 108. COST ANALYSIS. 

8 Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 

9 amended by section 107 of this Act, is further amended 

10 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(j) COST ANALYSIS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

13 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

14 the Comptroller General shall provide to the Under 

15 Secretary guidance on how to conduct an analysis of 

16 the total annual cost incurred by the Federal Gov17 ernment with respect to screening services provided 

18 by private screening companies. 

19 ‘‘(2) ACTION.—Not later than 180 days after 

20 receipt of the guidance described in paragraph (1) 

21 and annually thereafter, the Under Secretary shall 

22 utilize such guidance to identify costs incurred by 

23 the Federal Government as a result of overseeing 

24 the performance of private screening companies, 

25 compared with costs incurred by the Under SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:28 Apr 16, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1455.IH H1455

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1 retary at airports that utilize Federal Government 

2 personnel for passenger and baggage screening.’’. 

3 SEC. 109. CUSTOMER SERVICE. 

4 Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 

5 amended by section 108 of this Act, is further amended 

6 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(k) CUSTOMER SERVICE.—Each airport operator 

8 utilizing contract passenger and baggage screeners em9 ployed by a private screening company shall prominently 

10 display signs in the immediate vicinity of the passenger 

11 screening area notifying the flying public that passenger 

12 and baggage screening at that airport is conducted by con13 tract screening personnel and not by Federal Government 

14 personnel. Such signs shall also display a contact number 

15 and Internet website address maintained by such private 

16 screening company for a passenger to report complaints 

17 about his or her screening experience. Each private screen18 ing company with a contract for screening services at an 

19 airport shall track all such passenger complaints and regu20 larly report such information to the Under Secretary 

21 through, to the maximum extent practicable, the con22 tracting officer of each such private screening company. 

23 The Under Secretary shall report such information to the 

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1 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

2 and Transportation of the Senate upon request.’’. 

3 SEC. 110. INFORMATION ON TRANSITION PLANS. 

4 Subsection (b) of section 44920 of title 49, United 

5 States Code, as amended by section 106, is further amend6 ed by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(5) TRANSITION.—Not later than 90 days 

8 after an airport operator provides notice to the 

9 Under Secretary of the decision of such airport oper10 ator to discontinue the use of screening personnel of 

11 a qualified private screening company and use 

12 Transportation Security Officers for screening serv13 ices at the airport operated by such airport operator, 

14 the Under Secretary shall provide such airport oper15 ator with information on how the Under Secretary 

16 intends to carry out the transition of screening serv17 ices, including an anticipated timeline and key 

18 benchmarks.’’. 

19 TITLE II—OVERSIGHT 

20 SEC. 201. ENHANCED OVERSIGHT. 

21 Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 

22 amended by section 109 of this Act, is further amended 

23 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(l) ENHANCED OVERSIGHT.—Not later than 180 

25 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 


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1 the Under Secretary shall develop and implement a system 

2 to be carried out, to the maximum extent practicable, by 

3 the contracting officer who oversees each respective pri4 vate screening company providing screening services at an 

5 airport, to enhance monitoring of performance of each 

6 such private screening company. The system shall, at a 

7 minimum, provide year-to-year information about per8 formance by each such private screening company, and be 

9 in a format to provide for comparison with airports in the 

10 same category whose screening services are provided by 

11 Federal Government personnel with respect to detection 

12 rates of threats and threat image tests, recertification pass 

13 rates, covert performance assessments, and evaluations 

14 used to assess screener performance on various elements 

15 that may affect security and a passenger’s overall travel 

16 experience.’’. 

17 SEC. 202. SECURITY BREACHES. 

18 Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 

19 amended by section 201 of this Act, is further amended 

20 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(m) SECURITY BREACHES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A private screening com23 pany shall regularly report to the Under Secretary 

24 each security breach at an airport where baggage 

25 and passenger screening is conducted by such a priVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:28 Apr 16, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1455.IH H1455

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1 vate screening company. Each such report shall in2 clude— 

3 ‘‘(A) a detailed description of each security 

4 breach; 

5 ‘‘(B) information regarding where each 

6 such breach occurred; 

7 ‘‘(C) information regarding law enforce8 ment notification and response; and 

9 ‘‘(D) any corrective action taken in re10 sponse to each such breach. 

11 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Under Secretary 

12 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu13 rity of the House of Representatives and the Com14 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

15 the Senate an annual report containing the informa16 tion required pursuant to paragraph (1), including 

17 the definition of ‘security breach’ used by the Under 

18 Secretary for purposes of this subsection. To the ex19 tent practicable, the report shall be presented in a 

20 non-classified format with a classified appendix 

21 where necessary.’’. 


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1 SEC. 203. COVERT TESTING OF CONTRACT SCREENER PER2 FORMANCE. 

3 Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 

4 amended by section 202 of this Act, is further amended 

5 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(n) COVERT TESTING.—The Comptroller General of 

7 the United States shall conduct annual covert testing of 

8 airports where private screening companies provide 

9 screening services. To the extent practicable, such covert 

10 testing shall be conducted at one airport with contract 

11 screener personnel within each airport category that was 

12 not the subject of covert testing by another Federal entity 

13 during the same year. The Comptroller General shall sub14 mit to the Under Secretary and to the Committee on 

15 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

16 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

17 of the Senate a report that contains the results of such 

18 covert testing. To the extent practicable, each such report 

19 shall be presented in a non-classified format with a classi20 fied appendix where necessary.’’. 

21 SEC. 204. CONTRACTING PROHIBITION FOR COMPRO22 MISING COVERT SECURITY TESTING. 

23 Subsection (d) of section 44920 of title 49, United 

24 States Code, as amended by section 101 of this Act is fur25 ther amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 

4 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(3) on or after the date of the enactment of 

8 this paragraph, neither the private screening com9 pany, nor its parent company, if applicable, has 

10 compromised any covert security testing by notifying 

11 individuals employed by such private screening com12 pany that such covert testing was occurring, or oth13 erwise been found to have knowingly compromised 

14 covert testing conducted pursuant to subsection (n) 

15 or any other covert test conducted by the Inspector 

16 General of the Department of Homeland Security, 

17 the Comptroller General of the United States, or the 

18 Under Secretary.’’. 

19 SEC. 205. PROPER HANDLING OF SENSITIVE SECURITY IN20 FORMATION. 

21 Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 

22 amended by section 203 of this Act, is further amended 

23 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(o) PROPER HANDLING OF SENSITIVE SECURITY

25 INFORMATION.—The Under Secretary shall require each 


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1 private screening company that provides screening services 

2 at airports to provide all individuals employed by such pri3 vate screening company with annual training for the prop4 er handling of all sensitive information, including sensitive 

5 security information.’’. 

6 TITLE III—WORKFORCE 

7 PROTECTIONS 

8 SEC. 301. JOB AND BENEFIT PROTECTIONS. 

9 Subsection (c) of section 44920 of title 49, United 

10 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED PRIVATE SCREENING COMPANY.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of 

13 the enactment of this subsection, a private screening 

14 company is qualified to provide screening services at 

15 an airport under this section if the company will 

16 only employ individuals to provide such services who 

17 meet all the requirements of this chapter applicable 

18 to Federal Government personnel who perform 

19 screening services at airports under this chapter, will 

20 provide the right of first refusal to existing Federal 

21 Government personnel, and presume that the per22 sonnel who perform screening services at airports 

23 and are in good standing are qualified under this 

24 subsection, and will offer such individuals employ25 ment with compensation and other benefits that is 


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1 equal to or greater than the level of compensation 

2 and other benefits that such individuals were pro3 vided by the Federal Government at the time the 

4 contract was awarded. 

5 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

6 this subsection may be construed to require any pri7 vate screening company that is a qualified private 

8 screening company as of the date that is one day be9 fore the date of the enactment of this subsection to 

10 implement paragraph (1) with respect to any con11 tract that was entered into with the Under Secretary 

12 before the date of the enactment of this sub13 section.’’. 

14 SEC. 302. RETENTION AND DISCIPLINE. 

15 Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 

16 amended by section 205 of this Act, is further amended 

17 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(p) RETENTION AND DISCIPLINE.—Each private 

19 screening company with a contract for screening services 

20 under this section that provides screening services at an 

21 airport under this section shall, on a monthly basis, pro22 vide the Under Secretary with information on retention 

23 rates of screeners and supervisory personnel employed by 

24 each such private screening company at each such airport, 

25 and a detailed description of adverse employment actions 


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1 taken against any of such screeners or supervisory per2 sonnel at each such airport. The Under Secretary shall 

3 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

4 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com5 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, upon 

6 request by either of such Committees, a report containing 

7 the information required under this subsection.’’. 

8 SEC. 303. PROTECTIONS FOR REPORTING DEFICIENCIES, 

9 WASTE, OR VULNERABILITIES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44920 of title 49, United 

11 States Code, as amended by section 302 of this Act, is 

12 further amended by adding at the end the following new 

13 subsection: 

14 ‘‘(q) PROTECTIONS FOR REPORTING DEFI15 CIENCIES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

17 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

18 the Under Secretary shall establish a process by 

19 which any person may submit to the Under Sec20 retary a report regarding problems, deficiencies, 

21 waste, or vulnerabilities with respect to screening 

22 services provided at an airport where such services 

23 are provided by a private screening company. 

24 ‘‘(2) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Under Secretary 

25 shall keep confidential the identity of a person who 


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1 submits a report under paragraph (1), and any such 

2 report shall be treated as protected information. 

3 ‘‘(3) ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT.—If a re4 port submitted under paragraph (1) identifies the 

5 person submitting such report, the Under Secretary 

6 shall respond promptly to such person to acknowl7 edge receipt of such report. 

8 ‘‘(4) STEPS TO ADDRESS PROBLEMS.—The 

9 Under Secretary shall review and consider the infor10 mation provided in any report submitted under para11 graph (1) and shall, as necessary, take appropriate 

12 steps under this title to address any problem, defi13 ciency, waste, or vulnerability identified in such re14 port. 

15 ‘‘(5) RETALIATION PROHIBITED.— 

16 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—No private screening 

17 company may discharge any employee or other18 wise discriminate against any employee with re19 spect to such employee’s compensation, terms, 

20 conditions, or other privileges of employment 

21 because such employee (or any person acting 

22 pursuant to a request of such employee)— 

23 ‘‘(i) notified the Under Secretary of 

24 any problem, deficiency, waste, or vulner25 ability; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) refused to engage in any practice 

2 made unlawful by this title, if such em3 ployee has identified the alleged illegality 

4 to such employer; 

5 ‘‘(iii) testified before or otherwise pro6 vided information relevant for Congress or 

7 for any Federal or State proceeding re8 garding any provision (or proposed provi9 sion) of this title; 

10 ‘‘(iv) commenced, caused to be com11 menced, or is about to commence or cause 

12 to be commenced a proceeding under this 

13 title; 

14 ‘‘(v) testified or is about to testify in 

15 any such proceeding; or 

16 ‘‘(vi) assisted or participated or is 

17 about to assist or participate in any man18 ner in such a proceeding or in any other 

19 manner in such a proceeding or in any 

20 other action to carry out the purposes of 

21 this title. 

22 ‘‘(B) SUSPENSION.—If the Under Sec23 retary determines that any private screening 

24 company has engaged in retaliation in violation 

25 of subparagraph (A), the Under Secretary shall 


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1 suspend the contract of such private screening 

2 company to provide screening services.’’. 

3 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub4 section (q) of section 44920 of title 49, United States 

5 Code, as added by subsection (a) of this section, may be 

6 construed as in any manner affecting any other provision 

7 of law relating to protections for the reporting of prob8 lems, deficiencies, waste, or vulnerabilities, including pro9 tections against retaliation related thereto. 

Æ 


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