II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3260 

To require a 20th anniversary review of the missions, capabilities, and 

performance of the Transportation Security Administration. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2021 

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

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require a 20th anniversary review of the missions, capabilities, and performance of the Transportation Security 

Administration. 

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 ‘‘Transportation Secu5 rity Administration 20th Anniversary Review Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. 20TH ANNIVERSARY REVIEW OF TRANSPORTATION 

7 SECURITY ADMINISTRATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Trans9 portation Security Administration shall enter into an ar10 rangement with a federally funded research and developVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 23, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3260.IS S3260

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1 ment center to conduct a comprehensive review of the mis2 sions, capabilities, and performance of the Transportation 

3 Security Administration during the 20 years since its es4 tablishment. 

5 (b) ELEMENTS.—The review required by subsection 

6 (a) shall include the following: 

7 (1) An assessment of the effectiveness of the 

8 Transportation Security Administration in executing 

9 the missions required by statute. 

10 (2) An assessment of the organizational struc11 ture of the Transportation Security Administration 

12 and recommendations for improving that structure, 

13 including any benefits of separating the operations 

14 and compliance missions of the Transportation Secu15 rity Administration. 

16 (3) An assessment of whether the Transpor17 tation Security Administration should retain its cur18 rent missions and, if necessary, recommendations on 

19 legislative changes needed to streamline those mis20 sions. 

21 (4) An assessment of whether the Transpor22 tation Security Administration is maximizing the use 

23 of flexibilities provided by statute with respect to 

24 human capital. 


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1 (5) If the Transportation Security Administra2 tion is not maximizing the use of those flexibilities, 

3 recommendations for improving the use of those 

4 flexibilities administratively. 

5 (6) An assessment of efforts of the Transpor6 tation Security Administration to retain transpor7 tation security officers, an assessment of whether 

8 those efforts are effective, and recommendations 

9 with respect to how the Transportation Security Ad10 ministration could improve those efforts based on 

11 the experiences of other large Federal employers 

12 with a significant entry-level workforce. 

13 (7) An assessment of whether the Transpor14 tation Security Administration deployed the number 

15 of transportation security officers identified by its 

16 resource allocation plan. 

17 (8) An assessment of the utilization by the 

18 Transportation Security Administration of the 

19 Screening Partnership Program under section 44920 

20 of title 49, United States Code, and recommenda21 tions for expanding that program. 

22 (9) A comparative analysis of screening con23 ducted under the Screening Partnership Program 

24 and screening conducted by employees of the TransVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 23, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3260.IS S3260

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1 portation Security Administration, including an 

2 analysis of— 

3 (A) cost, performance (detection), staffing, 

4 and attrition; and 

5 (B) whether the Transportation Security 

6 Administration intentionally disadvantages or 

7 causes difficulties for airports that use the 

8 Screening Partnership Program or providers of 

9 screening services under the Program. 

10 (10) An assessment of the user-pay model for 

11 funding for the Transportation Security Administra12 tion, recommendations with respect to how to re13 implement that model, and an assessment of— 

14 (A) whether the Transportation Security 

15 Administration is appropriately using the Avia16 tion Security Capital Fund established under 

17 section 44923(h) of title 49, United States 

18 Code; and 

19 (B) the potential cost savings if the Trans20 portation Security Administration fully reim21 bursed airports for purchasing and deploying 

22 screening technology. 

23 (11) An assessment of the effectiveness of the 

24 Transportation Security Administration in imple25 menting the Registered Traveler Program and recVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 23, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3260.IS S3260

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1 ommendations for modernization of the program for 

2 full integration with the biometric technology of the 

3 Transportation Security Administration. 

4 (12) An assessment of the capabilities of the 

5 Transportation Security Administration to respond 

6 to homeland security intelligence and recommenda7 tions for improving those capabilities. 

8 (13) A review of the threats to transportation 

9 identified by the intelligence community (as defined 

10 in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 

11 (50 U.S.C. 3003)). 

12 (14) An assessment of and recommendations 

13 with respect to the use by the Transportation Secu14 rity Administration of outcome-oriented performance 

15 measures when procuring transportation security 

16 technology. 

17 (15) Recommendations with respect to how the 

18 Transportation Security Administration could diver19 sify the transportation security industrial base. 

20 (16) An assessment of and recommendations 

21 with respect to how the Transportation Security Ad22 ministration can facilitate an expansion of transpor23 tation security norms with international partners 

24 and where appropriate reduce the need for redun25 dant screening. 


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1 (17) An assessment of the role of the Transpor2 tation Security Administration as a regulator and 

3 recommendations with respect to how the Transpor4 tation Security Administration could reduce regu5 latory burdens without sacrificing security. 

6 (18) An assessment of how the Transportation 

7 Security Administration is working with airport op8 erators to expand capacity at constrained check9 points, including whether the Transportation Secu10 rity Administration is accurately and consistently 

11 measuring wait times at individual checkpoints and 

12 across the system. 

13 (19) An assessment of the efficacy of the 5-year 

14 technology plan of the Transportation Security Ad15 ministration. 

16 (20) An assessment of the acquisition practices 

17 used by the Transportation Security Administration 

18 and the effectiveness of those practices in achieving 

19 rapid capability delivery. 

20 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad23 ministrator shall submit to Congress a report on the 

24 findings of the federally funded research and develVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Nov 23, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3260.IS S3260

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1 opment center pursuant to the review conducted 

2 under subsection (a). 

3 (2) FORM OF REPORT.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The report required by 

5 paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified 

6 form but may include a classified annex. 

7 (B) INCLUSIONS IN CLASSIFIED ANNEX.— 

8 Findings relating to the matters described in 

9 paragraphs (12) and (13) of subsection (b) 

10 shall be included in the classified annex. 

11 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

13 $2,000,000 to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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