II 

Calendar No. 76

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 165

[Report No. 108–38] 

To improve air cargo security. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 15, 2003

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

APRIL 24, 2003

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of April 11, 2003, by 

Mr. MCCAIN, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL

To improve air cargo 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 ‘‘Air Cargo Security 

5 Improvement Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. INSPECTION OF CARGO CARRIED ABOARD PAS2 SENGER AIRCRAFT. 

3 Section 44901(f) of title 49, United States Code, is 

4 amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(f) CARGO.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary of 

7 Transportation for Security shall establish systems 

8 to screen, inspect, or otherwise ensure the security 

9 of all cargo that is to be transported in—

10 ‘‘(A) passenger aircraft operated by an air 

11 carrier or foreign air carrier in air transpor12 tation or intrastate air transportation; or 

13 ‘‘(B) all-cargo aircraft in air transpor14 tation and intrastate air transportation. 

15 ‘‘(2) STRATEGIC PLAN.—The Under Secretary 

16 shall develop a strategic plan to carry out paragraph 

17 (1).’’. 

18 SEC. 3. AIR CARGO SHIPPING. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 449 of 

20 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following:
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1 ‘‘§ 44922. Regular inspections of air cargo shipping 

2 facilities

‘‘§ 44923. Regular inspections of air cargo shipping 

facilities

3 ‘‘The Under Secretary of Transportation for Security 

4 shall establish a system for the regular inspection of ship5 ping facilities for shipments of cargo transported in air 

6 transportation or intrastate air transportation to ensure 

7 that appropriate security controls, systems, and protocols 

8 are observed, and shall enter into arrangements with the 

9 civil aviation authorities, or other appropriate officials, of 

10 foreign countries to ensure that inspections are conducted 

11 on a regular basis at shipping facilities for cargo trans12 ported in air transportation to the United States.’’. 

13 (b) ADDITIONAL INSPECTORS.—The Under Secretary 

14 may increase the number of inspectors as necessary to im15 plement the requirements of title 49, United States Code, 

16 as amended by this subtitle. 

17 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal18 ysis for chapter 449 of title 49, United States Code, is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘44922. 44923. Regular inspections of air cargo shipping facilities’’.

20 SEC. 4. CARGO CARRIED ABOARD PASSENGER AIRCRAFT. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 449 of 

22 title 49, United States Code, is further amended by adding 

23 at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘§ 44923. Air cargo security

2 ‘‘§ 44924. Air cargo security

3 ‘‘(a) DATABASE.—The Under Secretary of Transpor4 tation for Security shall establish an industry-wide pilot 

5 program database of known shippers of cargo that is to 

6 be transported in passenger aircraft operated by an air 

7 carrier or foreign air carrier in air transportation or intra8 state air transportation. The Under Secretary shall use 

9 the results of the pilot program to improve the known 

10 shipper program. 

11 ‘‘(b) INDIRECT AIR CARRIERS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) RANDOM INSPECTIONS.—The Under Sec13 retary shall conduct random audits, investigations, 

14 and inspections of indirect air carrier facilities to de15 termine if the indirect air carriers are meeting the 

16 security requirements of this title. 

17 ‘‘(2) ENSURING COMPLIANCE.—The Under Sec18 retary may take such actions as may be appropriate 

19 to promote and ensure compliance with the security 

20 standards established under this title. 

21 ‘‘(3) NOTICE OF FAILURES.—The Under Sec22 retary shall notify the Secretary of Transportation 

23 of any indirect air carrier that fails to meet security 

24 standards established under this title. 

25 ‘‘(4) SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF CERTIFI26 CATE.—The Secretary, as appropriate, shall suspend
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1 or revoke any certificate or authority issued under 

2 chapter 411 to an indirect air carrier immediately 

3 upon the recommendation of the Under Secretary. 

4 Any indirect air carrier whose certificate is sus5 pended or revoked under this subparagraph may ap6 peal the suspension or revocation in accordance with 

7 procedures established under this title for the appeal 

8 of suspensions and revocations. 

9 ‘‘(5) INDIRECT AIR CARRIER.—In this sub10 section, the term ‘indirect air carrier’ has the mean11 ing given that term in part 1548 of title 49, Code 

12 of Federal Regulations. 

13 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATION OF COMMUNITY NEEDS.—In 

14 implementing air cargo security requirements under this 

15 title, the Under Secretary may take into consideration the 

16 extraordinary air transportation needs of small or isolated 

17 communities and unique operational characteristics of car18 riers that serve those communities.’’. 

19 (b) ASSESSMENT OF INDIRECT AIR CARRIER PRO20 GRAM.—The Under Secretary of Transportation for Secu21 rity shall assess the security aspects of the indirect air 

22 carrier program under part 1548 of title 49, Code of Fed23 eral Regulations, and report the result of the assessment, 

24 together with any recommendations for necessary modi25 fications of the program to the Senate Committee on Com-
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1 merce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep2 resentatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc3 ture within 45 days after the date of enactment of this 

4 Act. The Under Secretary may submit the report and rec5 ommendations in classified form. 

6 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON RANDOM AUDITS.—

7 The Under Secretary of Transportation for Security shall 

8 report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 

9 and Transportation and the House of Representatives 

10 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on ran11 dom screening, audits, and investigations of air cargo se12 curity programs based on threat assessments and other 

13 relevant information. The report may be submitted in clas14 sified form. 

15 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary 

17 of Transportation for Security such sums as may be nec18 essary to carry out this section. 

19 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal20 ysis for chapter 449 of title 49, United States Code, as 

21 amended by section 3, is amended by adding at the end 

22 the following:

‘‘44923. 44924. Air cargo security’’.

23 SEC. 5. TRAINING PROGRAM FOR CARGO HANDLERS. 

24 The Under Secretary of Transportation for Security 

25 shall establish a training program for any persons that 
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1 handle air cargo to ensure that the cargo is properly han2 dled and safe-guarded from security breaches. 

3 SEC. 6. CARGO CARRIED ABOARD ALL-CARGO AIRCRAFT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary of Trans5 portation for Security shall establish a program requiring 

6 that air carriers operating all-cargo aircraft have an ap7 proved plan for the security of their air operations area, 

8 the cargo placed aboard such aircraft, and persons having 

9 access to their aircraft on the ground or in flight. 

10 (b) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The plan shall include 

11 provisions for—

12 (1) security of each carrier’s air operations 

13 areas and cargo acceptance areas at the airports 

14 served; 

15 (2) background security checks for all employ16 ees with access to the air operations area; 

17 (3) appropriate training for all employees and 

18 contractors with security responsibilities; 

19 (4) appropriate screening of all flight crews and 

20 persons transported aboard all-cargo aircraft; 

21 (5) security procedures for cargo placed on all22 cargo aircraft as provided in section 44901(f)(1)(B) 

23 of title 49, United States Code; and 

24 (6) additional measures deemed necessary and 

25 appropriate by the Under Secretary. 
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1 (c) CONFIDENTIAL INDUSTRY REVIEW AND COM2 MENT.—

3 (1) CIRCULATION OF PROPOSED PROGRAM.—

4 The Under Secretary shall—

5 (A) propose a program under subsection 

6 (a) within 90 days after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act; and 

8 (B) distribute the proposed program, on a 

9 confidential basis, to those air carriers and 

10 other employers to which the program will 

11 apply. 

12 (2) COMMENT PERIOD.—Any person to which 

13 the proposed program is distributed under para14 graph (1) may provide comments on the proposed 

15 program to the Under Secretary not more than 60 

16 days after it was received. 

17 (3) FINAL PROGRAM.—The Under Secretary of 

18 Transportation shall issue a final program under 

19 subsection (a) not later than 45 days after the last 

20 date on which comments may be provided under 

21 paragraph (2). The final program shall contain time 

22 frames for the plans to be implemented by each air 

23 carrier or employer to which it applies. 

24 (4) SUSPENSION OF PROCEDURAL NORMS.—

25 Neither chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, nor
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1 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

2 App.) shall apply to the program required by this 

3 section.

4 SEC. 7. REPORT ON PASSENGER PRESCREENING PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within 90 days after the date of 

6 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

7 after consultation with the Attorney General, shall submit 

8 a report in writing to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

9 Science, and Transportation and the House of Representa10 tives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on 

11 the potential impact of the Transportation Security Admin12 istration’s proposed Computer Assisted Passenger 

13 Prescreening system, commonly known as CAPPS II, on 

14 the privacy and civil liberties of United States Citizens. 

15 (b) SPECIFIC ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED.—The report 

16 shall address the following: 

17 (1) Whether and for what period of time data 

18 gathered on individual travelers will be retained, who 

19 will have access to such data, and who will make de20 cisions concerning access to such data. 

21 (2) How the Transportation Security Adminis22 tration will treat the scores assigned to individual 

23 travelers to measure the likelihood they may pose a 

24 security threat, including how long such scores will be 

25 retained and whether and under what circumstances 
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1 they may be shared with other governmental, non-gov2 ernmental, or commercial entities. 

3 (3) The role airlines and outside vendors or con4 tractors will have in implementing and operating the 

5 system, and to what extent will they have access, or 

6 the means to obtain access, to data, scores, or other 

7 information generated by the system. 

8 (4) The safeguards that will be implemented to 

9 ensure that data, scores, or other information gen10 erated by the system will be used only as officially in11 tended. 

12 (5) The procedures that will be implemented to 

13 mitigate the effect of any errors, and what procedural 

14 recourse will be available to passengers who believe 

15 the system has wrongly barred them from taking 

16 flights. 

17 (6) The oversight procedures that will be imple18 mented to ensure that, on an ongoing basis, privacy 

19 and civil liberties issues will continue to be considered 

20 and addressed with high priority as the system is in21 stalled, operated and updated. 
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1 SEC. 8. MODIFICATION OF REQUIREMENTS REGARDING 

2 TRAINING TO OPERATE AIRCRAFT. 

3 (a) ALIENS COVERED BY WAITING PERIOD.—Sub4 section (a) of section 44939 of title 49, United States Code, 

5 is amended—

6 (1) by resetting the text of subsection (a) after 

7 ‘‘(a) WAITING PERIOD.—’’ as a new paragraph 2 ems 

8 from the left margin; 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘A person’’ in that new para10 graph and inserting ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person’’; 

11 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

12 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; 

13 (4) by striking ‘‘any aircraft having a maximum 

14 certificated takeoff weight of 12,500 pounds or more’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘an aircraft’’; 

16 (5) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ in paragraph 

17 (1)(B), as redesignated, and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

18 (A)’’; and 

19 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The requirements of para21 graph (1) shall not apply to an alien who—

22 ‘‘(A) has earned a Federal Aviation Admin23 istration type rating in an aircraft; or 

24 ‘‘(B) holds a current pilot’s license or for25 eign equivalent commercial pilot’s license that 

26 permits the person to fly an aircraft with a 
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1 maximum certificated takeoff weight of more 

2 than 12,500 pounds as defined by the Inter3 national Civil Aviation Organization in Annex 

4 1 to the Convention on International Civil Avia5 tion.’’. 

6 (b) COVERED TRAINING.—Section 44936(c) of title 49, 

7 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(c) COVERED TRAINING.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

10 (a), training includes in-flight training, training in 

11 a simulator, and any other form or aspect of train12 ing. 

13 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—For the purposes of subsection 

14 (a), training does not include classroom instruction 

15 (also known as ground training), which may be pro16 vided to an alien during the 45-day period applicable 

17 to the alien under that subsection.’’. 

18 (c) PROCEDURES.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen21 eral shall promulgate regulations to implement sec22 tion 44939 of title 49, United States Code. 

23 (2) USE OF OVERSEAS FACILITIES.—In order to 

24 implement the amendments made to section 44939 of 

25 title 49, United States Code, by this section, United
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1 States Embassies and Consulates that have 

2 fingerprinting capability shall provide fingerprinting 

3 services to aliens covered by that section if the Attor4 ney General requires their fingerprinting in the ad5 ministration of that section, and transmit the finger6 prints to the Department of Justice and any other 

7 appropriate agency. The Attorney General shall co8 operate with the Secretary of State to carry out this 

9 paragraph. 

10 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Not later than 120 days after 

11 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 

12 promulgate regulations to implement the amendments made 

13 by this section. The Attorney General may not interrupt 

14 or prevent the training of any person described in section 

15 44939(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code, who commenced 

16 training on aircraft with a maximum certificated takeoff 

17 weight of 12,500 pounds or less before, or within 120 days 

18 after, the date of enactment of this Act unless the Attorney 

19 General determines that the person represents a risk to 

20 aviation or national security. 

21 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

22 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation and 

23 the Attorney General shall jointly submit to the Senate 

24 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and 

25 the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation 
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1 and Infrastructure a report on the effectiveness of the activi2 ties carried out under section 44939 of title 49, United 

3 States Code, in reducing risks to aviation and national se4 curity. 

5 SEC. 9. PASSENGER IDENTIFICATION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Trans8 portation for Security, in consultation with the Adminis9 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration, appropriate 

10 law enforcement, security, and terrorism experts, represent11 atives of air carriers and labor organizations representing 

12 individuals employed in commercial aviation, shall develop 

13 guidelines to provide air carriers guidance for detecting 

14 false or fraudulent passenger identification. The guidelines 

15 may take into account new technology, current identifica16 tion measures, training of personnel, and issues related to 

17 the types of identification available to the public. 

18 (b) AIR CARRIER PROGRAMS.—Within 60 days after 

19 the Under Secretary issues the guidelines under subsection 

20 (a) in final form, the Under Secretary shall provide the 

21 guidelines to each air carrier and establish a joint govern22 ment and industry council to develop recommendations on 

23 how to implement the guidelines. 

24 (c) REPORT.—The Under Secretary of Transportation 

25 for Security shall report to the Senate Committee on Com-
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1 merce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep2 resentatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc3 ture within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act 

4 on the actions taken under this section. 

5 SEC. 10. PASSENGER IDENTIFICATION VERIFICATION. 

6 (a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Under Secretary of 

7 Transportation for Security may establish and carry out 

8 a program to require the installation and use at airports 

9 in the United States of the identification verification tech10 nologies the Under Secretary considers appropriate to assist 

11 in the screening of passengers boarding aircraft at such air12 ports. 

13 (b) TECHNOLOGIES EMPLOYED.—The identification 

14 verification technologies required as part of the program 

15 under subsection (a) may include identification scanners, 

16 biometrics, retinal, iris, or facial scanners, or any other 

17 technologies that the Under Secretary considers appropriate 

18 for purposes of the program. 

19 (c) COMMENCEMENT.—If the Under Secretary deter20 mines that the implementation of such a program is appro21 priate, the installation and use of identification verification 

22 technologies under the program shall commence as soon as 

23 practicable after the date of that determination. 
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1 SEC. 11. BLAST-RESISTANT CARGO CONTAINER TECH2 NOLOGY. 

3 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, the Under Secretary of Transportation for Secu5 rity, and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Admin6 istration, shall jointly submit a report to Congress that con7 tains—

8 (1) an evaluation of blast-resistant cargo con9 tainer technology to protect against explosives in pas10 senger luggage and cargo; 

11 (2) an examination of the advantages associated 

12 with the technology in preventing damage and loss of 

13 aircraft from terrorist action and any operational 

14 impacts which may result from use of the technology 

15 (particularly added weight and costs); 

16 (3) an analysis of whether alternatives exist to 

17 mitigate the impacts described in paragraph (2) and 

18 options available to pay for the technology; and 

19 (4) recommendations on what further action, if 

20 any, should be taken with respect to the use of blast21 resistant cargo containers on passenger aircraft. 

22 SEC. 12. ARMING PILOTS AGAINST TERRORISM. 

23 (a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.—

24 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following 

25 findings:
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1 (A) During the 107th Congress, both the 

2 Senate and the House of Representatives over3 whelmingly passed measures that would have 

4 armed pilots of cargo aircraft. 

5 (B) Cargo aircraft do not have Federal air 

6 marshals, trained cabin crew, or determined pas7 sengers to subdue terrorists. 

8 (C) Cockpit doors on cargo aircraft, if 

9 present at all, largely do not meet the security 

10 standards required for commercial passenger air11 craft. 

12 (D) Cargo aircraft vary in size and many 

13 are larger and carry larger amounts of fuel than 

14 the aircraft hijacked on September 11, 2001. 

15 (E) Aircraft cargo frequently contains haz16 ardous material and can contain deadly biologi17 cal and chemical agents and quantities of agents 

18 that caused communicable diseases. 

19 (F) Approximately 12,000 of the Nation’s 

20 90,000 commercial pilots serve as pilots and 

21 flight engineers on cargo aircraft. 

22 (G) There are approximately 2,000 cargo 

23 flights per day in the United States, many of 

24 which are loaded with fuel for outbound inter25 national travel or are inbound from foreign air-
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1 ports not secured by the Transportation Security 

2 Administration. 

3 (H) aircraft transporting cargo pose a seri4 ous risk as potential terrorist targets that could 

5 be used as weapons of mass destruction. 

6 (I) Pilots of cargo aircraft deserve the same 

7 ability to protect themselves and the aircraft they 

8 pilot as other commercial airline pilots. 

9 (J) Permitting pilots of cargo aircraft to 

10 carry firearms creates an important last line of 

11 defense against a terrorist effort to commandeer 

12 a cargo aircraft. 

13 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

14 Congress that a member of a flight deck crew of a 

15 cargo aircraft should be armed with a firearm to de16 fend the cargo aircraft against an attack by terrorists 

17 that could result in the use of the aircraft as a weap18 on of mass destruction or for other terrorists purposes. 

19 (b) ARMING CARGO PILOTS AGAINST TERRORISM.—

20 Section 44921 of title 49, United States Code, is amended—

21 (1) by striking ‘‘passenger’’ in subsection (a) 

22 each place that it appears; 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘or,’’ and all that follows in sub24 section (k)(2) and inserting ‘‘or any other flight deck 

25 crew member.’’; and 
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1 (3) by adding at the end of subsection (k) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(3) ALL-CARGO AIR TRANSPORTATION.—For the 

4 purposes of this section, the term air transportation 

5 includes all-cargo air transportation.’’. 

6 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.—

7 (1) TIME FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—The training 

8 of pilots as Federal flight deck officers required in the 

9 amendments made by subsection (b) shall begin as 

10 soon as practicable and no later than 90 days after 

11 the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 (2) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—The requirements 

13 of subparagraph (1) shall have no effect on the dead14 lines for implementation contained in section 44921 

15 of title 49, United States Code, as in effect on the day 

16 before the date of enactment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 13. REPORT ON DEFENDING AIRCRAFT FROM MAN18 PORTABLE AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS (SHOUL19 DER-FIRED MISSILES). 

20 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue 

22 a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 

23 and Transportation and the House of Representatives Com24 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure on how best 

25 to defend turbo and jet passenger aircraft from Man-Port-
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1 able Air Defense Systems (shoulder-fired missiles). The re2 port shall also include actions taken to date, counter3 measures, risk mitigation, and other activities. The report 

4 may be submitted in classified form.

Calendar No. 76

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 165

[Report No. 108–38] 

A BILL

To improve air cargo security. 

APRIL 24, 2003

Reported with amendments