II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2440

To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve airport security.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 13, 2000

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. GORTON, Mr. INOUYE, Mr.

ROCKEFELLER, and Mr. BRYAN) introduced the following bill; which was

read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

Transportation

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve airport

security.

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 ‘‘Airport Security Im5 provement Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS.

7 (a) EXPANSION OF COVERAGE.—Section 44936(a)(1)

8 of title 49, United States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘check in any case described in

2 subparagraph (C))’’ in subparagraph (B) and insert3 ing ‘‘check)’’;

4 (2) by striking subparagraph (C);

5 (3) by striking ‘‘check under subparagraph

6 (C),’’ in subparagraph (D) and inserting ‘‘check,’’.

7 (b) CHECKS TO BE MADE EXPEDITIOUSLY.—Section

8 44936(a) of that title is amended by adding at the end

9 the following:

10 ‘‘(4) The Administrator shall provide by regula11 tion that criminal background checks under this sub12 section are to be done expeditiously.’’.

13 SEC. 3. IMPROVED TRAINING.

14 (a) COMPLETION OF UNIFORM PERFORMANCE

15 STANDARDS FOR SCREENER TRAINING.—The Adminis16 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall com17 plete the development of uniform performance standards

18 for providing security screening services, required by sec19 tion 302 of the Federal Aviation Reauthorization Act of

20 1996, by September 30, 2000.

21 (b) MINIMUM INSTRUCTIONAL STANDARDS FOR

22 SCREENERS.—Section 44935 of title 49, United States

23 Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the fol24 lowing:
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1 ‘‘(e) TRAINING STANDARDS FOR SCREENERS.—The

2 Administrator shall prescribe minimum standards for

3 training security screeners that include at least 40 hours

4 of classroom instruction and at least 40 hours of practical

5 training before an individual is qualified to provide secu6 rity screening services at an airport regulated under this

7 subchapter.’’.

8 (c) COMPUTER-BASED TRAINING FACILITIES.—Sec9 tion 44935 of title 49, United States Code, as amended

10 by subsection (b) is further amended by adding at the end

11 thereof the following:

12 ‘‘(f) ACCESSIBILITY OF COMPUTER-BASED TRAINING

13 FACILITIES.—The Administrator shall by regulation re14 quire that computer-based training facilities intended for

15 use at a hub airport (as defined in section 41731) be con16 veniently located for that airport and easily accessible.’’.

17 SEC. 4. IMPROVING SECURED-AREA ACCESS CONTROL.

18 Section 44904 of title 49, United States Code, is

19 amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

20 ‘‘(d) IMPROVEMENT OF SECURED-AREA ACCESS

21 CONTROL.—

22 ‘‘(1) ENFORCEMENT.—The Administrator shall

23 enforce compliance with airport access control re24 quirements, including—
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1 ‘‘(A) suspending, or requiring the suspen2 sion of, employees who fail to comply with those

3 requirements, with or without pay, for such pe4 riods of time as the Administrator may deter5 mine appropriate; and

6 ‘‘(B) the imposition of penalties provided

7 for by section 46301.

8 ‘‘(2) IMPROVEMENTS.—The Administrator

9 shall—

10 ‘‘(A) work with airport operators and air

11 carriers to implement and strengthen existing

12 controls to eliminate access control weaknesses

13 by September 30, 2000;

14 ‘‘(B) require airport operators and air car15 riers to develop and implement comprehensive

16 and recurring training programs that teach em17 ployees their role in airport security, the impor18 tance of their participation, how their perform19 ance will be evaluated, and what action will be

20 taken if they fail to perform;

21 ‘‘(C) require airport operators and air

22 carriers—

23 ‘‘(i) to develop and implement pro24 grams that foster and reward compliance

25 with access control requirements, and dis-
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1 courage and penalize noncompliance in ac2 cordance with guidelines issued by the Ad3 ministrator to measure employee compli4 ance; and

5 ‘‘(ii) to enforce individual compliance

6 requirements under Administration over7 sight;

8 ‘‘(D) assess and test for compliance with

9 access control requirements, report findings,

10 and assess penalties or take other appropriate

11 enforcement actions when noncompliance is

12 found;

13 ‘‘(E) improve and better administer the

14 Administration security database to ensure its

15 efficiency, reliability, and usefulness for identi16 fication of systemic problems and allocation of

17 resources;

18 ‘‘(F) improve the execution of the Adminis19 tration’s quality control program by September

20 30, 2000; and

21 ‘‘(G) require airport operators and air car22 riers to strengthen access control points in se23 cured areas (including air traffic control oper-
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1 ations areas) to ensure the security of pas2 sengers and aircraft by September 30, 2000.’’.

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