I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3798

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to improve aviation security. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2004

Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to improve 

aviation 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 ‘‘Secure Existing Avia5 tion Loopholes Act’’. 
2

•HR 3798 IH 

1 SEC. 2. INSPECTION OF CARGO CARRIED ABOARD PAS2 SENGER AIRCRAFT. 

3 Subtitle A of title IV of the Homeland Security Act 

4 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 404. AIR CARGO ON PASSENGER AIRCRAFT. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 

8 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

9 establish a system to screen or inspect to ensure the secu10 rity of all cargo that is to be transported in passenger 

11 aircraft operated by an air carrier or foreign air carrier 

12 in air transportation or intrastate air transportation (as 

13 defined in section 40102 of title 49, United States Code). 

14 The system shall use equipment, technology, and per15 sonnel to screen and inspect cargo that meet the same 

16 standards as those established to screen passenger bag17 gage. 

18 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The Secretary 

19 shall—

20 ‘‘(1) develop an implementation plan to carry 

21 out subsection (a); and 

22 ‘‘(2) establish and impose fees (to be known as 

23 ‘cargo security fees’) for shippers of cargo to pay 

24 costs associated with carrying out subsection (a). 

25 ‘‘(c) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECH26 NOLOGIES.—The Secretary shall monitor and evaluate the 
3

•HR 3798 IH 

1 research and development of effective cargo screening 

2 technologies. 

3 ‘‘(d) SCHEDULE OF FEES.—In imposing fees under 

4 this section, the Secretary shall ensure that the fees are 

5 reasonably related to the Transportation Security Admin6 istration’s costs of providing services rendered. 

7 ‘‘(e) IMPOSITION OF FEE.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

9 9701 of title 31, United States Code, and the proce10 dural requirements of section 553 of title 5, United 

11 States Code, the Secretary shall impose the cargo 

12 security fee through the publication of notice of the 

13 fee in the Federal Register and begin collection of 

14 the fee within 60 days of the date of enactment of 

15 this section, or as soon as possible thereafter. 

16 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT MODIFICATION OF FEE.—

17 After imposing a cargo security fee in accordance 

18 with this section, the Secretary may modify, from 

19 time to time through publication of notice in the 

20 Federal Register, the imposition or collection of such 

21 fee, or both. 

22 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON COLLECTION.—No cargo 

23 security fee may be collected under this section ex24 cept to the extent that the expenditure of the fee to 

25 pay the costs of activities and services for which the 
4

•HR 3798 IH 

1 fee is imposed is provided for in advance in an ap2 propriations Act. 

3 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATION OF FEES.—

4 ‘‘(1) FEES PAYABLE TO SECRETARY.—All fees 

5 imposed and amounts collected under this section 

6 are payable to the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(2) FEES COLLECTED BY AIR CARRIER.—A fee 

8 imposed under this section shall be collected by the 

9 air carrier or foreign air carrier that provides trans10 portation described in subsection (a). 

11 ‘‘(3) DUE DATE FOR REMITTANCE.—A fee col12 lected under this section shall be remitted on the 

13 last day of each calendar month by the carrier col14 lecting the fee. The amount to be remitted shall be 

15 for the calendar month preceding the calendar 

16 month in which the remittance is made. 

17 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION.—The Secretary may re18 quire the provision of such information as the Sec19 retary decides is necessary to verify that fees have 

20 been collected and remitted at the proper times and 

21 in the proper amounts. 

22 ‘‘(5) FEE NOT SUBJECT TO TAX.—For purposes 

23 of section 4261 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

24 1986 (26 U.S.C. 4261), a fee imposed under this 
5

•HR 3798 IH 

1 section shall not be considered to be part of the 

2 amount paid for taxable transportation. 

3 ‘‘(6) COST OF COLLECTING FEE.—No portion 

4 of the fee collected under this section may be re5 tained by the air carrier or foreign air carrier for the 

6 costs of collecting, handling, or remitting the fee ex7 cept for interest accruing to the carrier after collec8 tion and before remittance. 

9 ‘‘(g) RECEIPTS CREDITED AS OFFSETTING COLLEC10 TIONS.—Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, United 

11 States Code, any fee collected under this section—

12 ‘‘(1) shall be credited as offsetting collections to 

13 the account that finances the activities and services 

14 for which the fee is imposed; 

15 ‘‘(2) shall be available for expenditure only to 

16 pay the costs of activities and services for which the 

17 fee is imposed; and 

18 ‘‘(3) shall remain available until expended. 

19 ‘‘(h) REFUNDS.—The Secretary may refund any fee 

20 paid by mistake or any amount paid in excess of that re21 quired.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. FEDERAL AIR MARSHALS. 

23 (a) FLIGHTS OF FOREIGN AIR CARRIERS AND CHAR24 TER AND ALL-CARGO AIR TRANSPORTATION.—Section 

25 44917(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended 
6

•HR 3798 IH 

1 by inserting before the semicolon at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘, on any passenger flight of an air carrier in charter air 

3 transportation for which the Under Secretary determines 

4 that such deployment is in the interest of aviation security, 

5 on every passenger flight of foreign air carriers in air 

6 transportation, and on flights of all-cargo air transpor7 tation’’. 

8 (b) LIMITATION ON LANDING AND TAKEOFF RIGHTS

9 OF FOREIGN AIR CARRIERS.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—No flight of a foreign air 

11 carrier may land in or take off from any airport in 

12 the United States unless such flight has on board a 

13 Federal air marshal or an equivalent officer of the 

14 government of the foreign country under the laws of 

15 which the foreign air carrier is organized if the Sec16 retary of Homeland Security requests the presence 

17 of such marshal or officer on such flight. 

18 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary of Home19 land Security shall take such action as may be nec20 essary to ensure compliance with this section and ac21 tions taken under this section. 

22 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 

23 terms ‘‘foreign air carrier’’, ‘‘airport’’, and ‘‘United 

24 States’’ have the meaning such terms have in section 

25 40102 of title 49, United States Code. 
7

•HR 3798 IH 

1 SEC. 4. IMPROVED AVIATION SECURITY. 

2 Subtitle A of title IV of the Homeland Security Act 

3 of 2002 (2 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is further amended by add4 ing at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 405. IMPROVED AVIATION SECURITY. 

6 ‘‘(a) IMPROVED COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

8 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec9 retary shall require all flight crews of air carriers (as 

10 such term is defined in section 40102 of title 49, 

11 United States Code) to have improved communica12 tion systems for providing flight attendants with a 

13 discreet, secure, hands-free, wireless method of com14 municating with pilots that meet such standards as 

15 the Secretary may establish by regulation. The com16 munication system for any flight must be accessible 

17 by any Federal air marshal on the flight and appro18 priate Government security officials and airline per19 sonnel. 

20 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue 

21 regulations to carry out this subsection not later 

22 than the 90th day following the date of enactment 

23 of this section. 

24 ‘‘(3) REVISION.—The Secretary may revise the 

25 standards established under this subsection, and the 

26 regulations issued to carry out this subsection, to re-
8

•HR 3798 IH 

1 flect improvements in technology and changes in ter2 rorist tactics. 

3 ‘‘(b) BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL AGREEMENTS

4 TO STRENGTHEN SECURITY.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

6 a plan to improve coordination between the Depart7 ment and agencies and departments of foreign gov8 ernments that are such governments’ counterparts 

9 to the Department in the area of aviation security. 

10 The plan shall include, at a minimum, development 

11 of air marshal programs for foreign governments 

12 and the provision of and technical assistance in the 

13 formulation of strategies to limit access to sensitive 

14 areas of airports to authorized individuals. 

15 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall transmit 

16 to Congress annually for the first 5 years following 

17 the date of enactment of this section a report on the 

18 implementation of the plan developed pursuant to 

19 this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(c) COMPREHENSIVE PREFLIGHT SCREENING.—

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

22 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec23 retary shall issue regulations to improve preflight 

24 screening of passenger aircraft for dangerous objects 

25 and training of screeners of passenger aircraft and 
9

•HR 3798 IH 

1 to reduce the time between preflight screening and 

2 the departure time for a flight. 

3 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—The regula4 tions shall require individuals who perform the pre5 flight security sweeps through the passenger cabin 

6 and lavatories of passenger aircraft and who are not 

7 members of the flight or cabin crew to be physically 

8 screened for metallic objects, have their personal 

9 bags inspected for prohibited items such as chemical, 

10 biological, radiological, or nuclear materials, be sub11 ject to criminal history background checks, social se12 curity checks, and checks against all terrorist watch 

13 lists maintained by the Government. 

14 ‘‘(3) STUDY.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

16 conduct a study on the potential security 

17 vulnerabilities created by the use of nonflight 

18 crew members to conduct preflight inspections, 

19 to assess the current training provided to indi20 viduals who perform these inspections, and to 

21 identify areas for improvement in such inspec22 tions and training and make recommendations 

23 regarding improving such inspections and train24 ing. 
10

•HR 3798 IH 

1 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this section, the 

3 Secretary shall transmit to Congress a report 

4 on the results of the study. 

5 ‘‘(d) FLIGHT ATTENDANT TRAINING.—

6 ‘‘(1) TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec7 retary, in consultation with the Administrator of the 

8 Federal Aviation Administration, shall issue a rule 

9 to—

10 ‘‘(A) require both classroom and effective 

11 hands-on situational training for flight attend12 ants of air carriers in the following elements of 

13 self defense: 

14 ‘‘(i) recognizing suspicious activities 

15 and determining the seriousness of an oc16 currence; 

17 ‘‘(ii) deterring a passenger who might 

18 present a problem; 

19 ‘‘(iii) crew communication and coordi20 nation; 

21 ‘‘(iv) the proper commands to give to 

22 passengers and attackers; 

23 ‘‘(v) methods to subdue and restrain 

24 an attacker; 
11

•HR 3798 IH 

1 ‘‘(vi) use of available items aboard the 

2 aircraft for self-defense; 

3 ‘‘(vii) appropriate and effective re4 sponses to defend oneself, including the 

5 use of force against an attacker; 

6 ‘‘(viii) use of protective devices as7 signed to crew members (to the extent 

8 such devices are approved by the Adminis9 trator or Secretary); 

10 ‘‘(ix) the psychology of terrorists to 

11 cope with their behavior and passenger re12 sponses to that behavior; and 

13 ‘‘(x) how to respond to aircraft ma14 neuvers that may be authorized to defend 

15 against an act of criminal violence or air 

16 piracy; 

17 ‘‘(B) require training of such flight attend18 ants in the proper conduct of a cabin search, 

19 including the duty time required to conduct the 

20 search; 

21 ‘‘(C) establish the required number of 

22 hours of training of such flight attendants and 

23 the qualifications for the training instructors; 
12

•HR 3798 IH 

1 ‘‘(D) establish the intervals, number of 

2 hours, and elements of recurrent training of 

3 such flight attendants; and 

4 ‘‘(E) ensure that air carriers provide the 

5 initial training required by this paragraph with6 in 12 months of the date of enactment of this 

7 section. 

8 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITY OF SECRETARY.—

9 ‘‘(A) CONSULTATION.—In developing the 

10 rule under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

11 consult with appropriate personnel in the Emer12 gency Preparedness and Response Directorate 

13 of the Department of Homeland Security and 

14 with law enforcement personnel and security ex15 perts who have expertise in self-defense train16 ing, terrorism experts, and representatives of 

17 air carriers, the provider of self-defense training 

18 for Federal air marshals, flight attendants, 

19 labor organizations representing flight attend20 ants, and educational institutions offering law 

21 enforcement training programs. 

22 ‘‘(B) DESIGNATION OF OFFICIAL.—The 

23 Secretary shall designate an official in the De24 partment to be responsible for overseeing the 
13

•HR 3798 IH 

1 implementation of the training program under 

2 this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(C) NECESSARY RESOURCES AND KNOWL4 EDGE.—The Secretary shall ensure that em5 ployees of the Department responsible for moni6 toring the training program under this sub7 section have the necessary resources and knowl8 edge. 

9 ‘‘(e) SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK DEFINED.—In this 

10 section and section 406, the term ‘social security check’ 

11 means a check on the validity of the social security number 

12 of an individual and a verification that the number is as13 signed to the individual.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. CONTROL OVER ACCESS TO SECURED AREAS OF 

15 AIRPORTS. 

16 (a) AIRPORT PERIMETER ACCESS SECURITY.—Sub17 title A of title IV of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

18 (6 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is further amended by adding at 

19 the end the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 406. ACCESS SECURITY. 

21 ‘‘(a) AIRPORT PERIMETER.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec23 retary shall issue regulations to improve control over ac24 cess to the secured area of each airport in the United 
14

•HR 3798 IH 

1 States described in section 44903(c) of title 49, United 

2 States Code. 

3 ‘‘(b) BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR ALL AIRPORT

4 WORKERS.—Individuals employed in, or applying for, po5 sitions described in section 44936 of title 49, United 

6 States Code, and positions as aircraft maintenance and 

7 catering personnel, aircraft cargo handlers, and aircraft 

8 support facilities personnel whether having escorted or 

9 unescorted access to aircraft or secured areas of airports, 

10 shall be subject to a social security check and a check 

11 against all terrorist watch lists maintained by the Govern12 ment in addition to the background checks required under 

13 such section.’’. 

14 (b) SCREENING OF AIRPORT WORKERS USING

15 METAL DETECTORS.—Section 44903(h)(4)(B) of title 49, 

16 United States Code, is amended by inserting before the 

17 semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, including, at a min18 imum requiring such individuals to be physically screened 

19 for metallic objects and to have their personal bags in20 spected for prohibited items such as chemical, biological, 

21 radiological or nuclear materials’’. 

22 SEC. 6. AIRCRAFT MANEUVERS. 

23 (a) TRAINING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 
15

•HR 3798 IH 

1 Security shall issue regulations to carry out section 44918 

2 of title 49, United States Code, by requiring air carriers—

3 (1) to provide pilots with training in flight deck 

4 procedures, aircraft maneuvers, and best practice to 

5 defend their aircraft; 

6 (2) to provide cabin crew members with train7 ing in flight deck communication procedures and the 

8 appropriate responses to such procedures and ma9 neuvers; 

10 (3) to provide, in conjunction with and law en11 forcement authorities as appropriate, crew members 

12 with training in procedures for communicating and 

13 coordinating effectively with Federal air marshals 

14 and law enforcement officers during attempts to dis15 rupt the normal operation of the aircraft; and 

16 (4) to provide pilots with training in flight deck 

17 procedures, aircraft maneuvers and best practices 

18 that enable pilots to respond if the aircraft is struck 

19 by a surface-to-air missile in a manner that in20 creases the likelihood that the pilots will be capable 

21 of safely landing the aircraft. 

22 (b) DEVELOPMENT AND COMPONENTS OF PILOT

23 TRAINING.—The training under subsection (a)(4) shall be 

24 developed in consultation with organizations that have ex25 pertise in the area of pilot training and shall include com-
16

•HR 3798 IH 

1 ponents that simulate the complete failure of the aircraft’s 

2 hydraulic system and loss of normal flight controls. 

3 (c) MATTERS TO CONSIDER IN PROVIDING TRAIN4 ING.—Training under this section shall be provided taking 

5 into account both the benefit that such procedures and 

6 maneuvers can provide to thwart terrorists who are on 

7 board aircraft and the potential safety risks to passengers 

8 and crew, as well as structural damage to aircraft, that 

9 may be associated with such procedures and maneuvers. 

10 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGULATIONS.—The regu11 lations under this section shall take effect not later than 

12 the 365th day following the date of enactment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 7. SECURING COCKPIT DOORS. 

14 Subtitle A of title IV of the Homeland Security Act 

15 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is further amended by add16 ing at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 407. SECURING COCKPIT DOORS. 

18 ‘‘(a) CARGO AIRCRAFT.—Not later than 180 days 

19 after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 

20 shall—

21 ‘‘(1) issue an order—

22 ‘‘(A) requiring any aircraft engaged in 

23 cargo air transportation or intrastate air trans24 portation to have, not later than one year after 

25 the date of issuance of such order, a door (and 
17

•HR 3798 IH 

1 surrounding partition) between the cargo and 

2 pilot compartments that can be locked and can3 not be forced open from the cargo compart4 ment; 

5 ‘‘(B) prohibiting access to the flight deck 

6 of aircraft engaged in cargo air transportation 

7 or intrastate air transportation, except by au8 thorized persons; and 

9 ‘‘(C) requiring that such flight deck doors 

10 remain locked while any such aircraft is in 

11 flight except when necessary to permit access 

12 and egress by authorized persons; and 

13 ‘‘(2) take such other action, including modifica14 tion of safety and security procedures and flight 

15 deck redesign, as may be necessary to ensure the 

16 safety and security of the aircraft. 

17 ‘‘(b) PASSENGER AIRCRAFT.—The Secretary shall 

18 issue an order to modify requirements imposed pursuant 

19 to section 104 of the Aviation and Transportation Security 

20 Act (49 U.S.C. 44903 note; 115 Stat. 605) to ensure that 

21 the wall surrounding the flight deck door on any aircraft 

22 engaged in passenger air transportation or intrastate air 

23 transportation is sufficient to secure the cockpit. 

24 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.—The Secretary may make grants or 

25 other agreements with air carriers (including intrastate air 
18

•HR 3798 IH 

1 carriers) to assist such carriers in complying with the or2 ders issued under this section. 

3 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

5 necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

6 SEC. 8. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR GENERAL AVIA7 TION. 

8 (a) NO FLY ZONES.—The Secretary of Homeland Se9 curity—

10 (1) shall establish for the duration of any high 

11 threat level announced by the Secretary (including 

12 announcements of code orange or above), and 

13 (2) may establish for the duration of any other 

14 threat level that is announced by the Secretary and 

15 that the Secretary determines appropriate, 

16 no fly zones around sensitive nuclear facilities, chemical 

17 facilities identified by the Administrator of the Environ18 mental Protection Agency at which a release of the facili19 ty’s hazardous materials could threaten the health of more 

20 than 1,000,000 people, and any other facilities the Sec21 retary may designate. 

22 (b) VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS.—The Secretary 

23 shall—

24 (1) require the operators of airports that serve 

25 general aviation aircraft and landing facilities for 
19

•HR 3798 IH 

1 such aircraft to complete vulnerability assessments 

2 developed by the Secretary for evaluation of the 

3 physical security of such airports and facilities and 

4 of procedures, infrastructure, and resources used 

5 with respect to such airports and facilities; and 

6 (2) develop a plan for addressing vulnerabilities 

7 identified by such assessments not later than the 

8 365th day following the date of enactment of this 

9 Act. 

10 (c) SENSITIVE NUCLEAR FACILITY.—In this section, 

11 the term ‘‘sensitive nuclear facility’’ means—

12 (1) a commercial nuclear power plant and asso13 ciated spent fuel storage facility; 

14 (2) a decommissioned nuclear power plant and 

15 associated spent fuel storage facility; 

16 (3) a category I fuel cycle facility; 

17 (4) a gaseous diffusion plant; and 

18 (5) a Department of Energy nuclear weapons 

19 materials production, processing, storage, or re20 search facility.

Æ