I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3213 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow airport operators to enter 

into contracts with qualified private screening companies to carry out 

the screening of passengers and property at airports, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 13, 2021 

Mr. PERRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

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

operators to enter into contracts with qualified private 

screening companies to carry out the screening of passengers and property at 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding Private Air5 port Security Screening Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. QUALIFIED PRIVATE SCREENING COMPANY SERV2 ICES. 

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

4 amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘§ 44920. Screening partnership program 

6 ‘‘(a) SCREENING PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM CON7 TRACTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An airport operator may 

9 enter into a contract with a qualified private screen10 ing company on the list maintained under subsection 

11 (b) to carry out the screening of passengers and 

12 property at the airport under section 44901. 

13 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—Not less than 7 days 

14 after entering into a contract with a qualified private 

15 screening company under paragraph (1), an airport 

16 operator shall notify the Administrator of the Trans17 portation Security Administration. 

18 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC LIST OF QUALIFIED PRIVATE SCREEN19 ING COMPANIES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

21 maintain a publicly available list of qualified private 

22 screening companies that meet the requirements of 

23 paragraph (3). 

24 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be included in the list 

25 maintained under paragraph (1), a qualified private 

26 screening company shall submit an application to 


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1 the Administrator in such form, in such manner, 

2 and containing such information as the Adminis3 trator may require. 

4 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—A qualified private 

5 screening company is eligible to be included in the 

6 list maintained under paragraph (1) if the com7 pany— 

8 ‘‘(A) only employs individuals to provide 

9 such services who meet all the requirements of 

10 this chapter applicable to Federal Government 

11 personnel who perform passenger and property 

12 security screening services at airports under 

13 this chapter; 

14 ‘‘(B) demonstrates capability of providing 

15 passenger and property screening services and 

16 protection at the same level provided by Federal 

17 Government personnel under this chapter; and 

18 ‘‘(C) is owned and controlled by a citizen 

19 of the United States, to the extent that the Ad20 ministrator determines that there are private 

21 screening companies owned and controlled by 

22 such citizens. 

23 ‘‘(c) TRANSITION PLAN.—Not later than 30 days 

24 after the date on which an airport operator provides the 

25 notification required under subsection (a)(2), the airport 


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1 operator shall create a plan to transition the provision of 

2 passenger and property screening services at such airport 

3 to the applicable qualified private screening company. 

4 ‘‘(d) SUPERVISION OF SCREENING PERSONNEL.— 

5 The Administrator shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) provide Federal Government supervisors to 

7 oversee all screening at each airport at which pas8 senger and property screening services are provided 

9 under this section and provide Federal Government 

10 law enforcement officers at the airport pursuant to 

11 this chapter; and 

12 ‘‘(2) undertake covert testing and remedial 

13 training support for employees of qualified private 

14 screening companies providing passenger and prop15 erty screening services at airports. 

16 ‘‘(e) OPERATOR OF AIRPORT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

18 provision of law, an operator of an airport shall not 

19 be liable for any claims for damages filed in State 

20 or Federal court (including a claim for compen21 satory, punitive, contributory, or indemnity dam22 ages) related to an act of negligence, gross neg23 ligence, or intentional wrongdoing by— 

24 ‘‘(A) a qualified private screening company 

25 or any of its employees in any case in which the 


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1 qualified private screening company is acting 

2 under a contract entered into with the airport 

3 operator; or 

4 ‘‘(B) employees of the Federal Government 

5 providing supervision of screening personnel at 

6 the airport. 

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

8 this subsection shall relieve any airport operator 

9 from liability for its own acts or omissions related to 

10 its security responsibilities, nor except as may be 

11 provided by the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fos12 tering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 shall it re13 lieve any qualified private screening company or its 

14 employees from any liability related to its own acts 

15 of negligence, gross negligence, or intentional wrong16 doing. 

17 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

19 submit an annual report to the Committee on Com20 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

21 and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

22 House of Representatives that contains— 

23 ‘‘(A) a comparison of the mean average 

24 screening performance of qualified private 

25 screening companies under contract pursuant to 


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1 this section and the mean average screening 

2 performance of all airports using Federal Gov3 ernment passenger and property screening serv4 ices; 

5 ‘‘(B) a comparison of the mean cost of 

6 providing passenger and property screening 

7 services with Federal Government personnel 

8 and the mean cost of contracting with a quali9 fied private screening company for such services 

10 under this section delineated by airport cat11 egory; and 

12 ‘‘(C) a comparison of the cost to each air13 port operator of contracting with a qualified 

14 private screening company to provide passenger 

15 and property screening services under this sec16 tion to the estimated cost to the Federal Gov17 ernment to provide passenger and property se18 curity screening services at such airport. 

19 ‘‘(2) COST ESTIMATES.—Any estimate of cost 

20 to the Federal Government provided pursuant to 

21 paragraph (1) shall reflect the total cost to the Fed22 eral Government, including all costs incurred by all 

23 Federal agencies of providing passenger and prop24 erty screening services at an airport. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 7 days 

2 after the date on which the Administrator submits 

3 a report required under paragraph (1), the Adminis4 trator shall publish such report on a website of the 

5 Transportation Security Administration.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. PROVIDING EFFECTIVE COST COMPARISONS TO 

7 AIRPORT OPERATORS. 

8 Section 1947 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 

9 2018 (49 U.S.C. 44901 note) is amended— 

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

11 end; 

12 (2) in paragraph (2)(B)(iii) by striking the pe13 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(3) in the case of an airport operator that con16 tracts with a qualified private screening company to 

17 provide passenger and property screening services at 

18 such airport, a comparison of the cost of such con19 tract and an estimate of the cost to such airport op20 erator of providing passenger and property screening 

21 services with Federal Government personnel.’’. 

Æ 


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