Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Catching Operational 
Vulnerabilities by Ensuring Random Testing Act of 2008’’ 
or the ‘‘COVERT Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF ADVANCE NOTICE OF COVERT 
TESTING TO SECURITY SCREENERS. 
Section 111 of the Aviation and Transportation Secu-
rity Act (Public Law 107–71; 49 U.S.C. 44935 note) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking the section enumerator and head-
ing and inserting the following: 
‘‘SEC. 111. TRAINING, EMPLOYMENT, AND TESTING OF SE-
CURITY SCREENING PERSONNEL.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) PROHIBITION OF ADVANCE NOTICE TO SECURITY 
SCREENERS OF COVERT TESTING AND EVALUATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall ensure that information concerning a 
covert test of a transportation security system to be 
conducted by a covert testing office, the Inspector 
General of the Department of Homeland Security, or 
the Government Accountability Office is not provided 
to any individual prior to the completion of the test. 
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‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding paragraph 
(1)— 
‘‘(A) an individual may provide informa-
tion concerning a covert test of a transportation 
security system to employees, officers, and con-
tractors of the Federal Government (including 
military personnel); employees and officers of 
State and local governments; and law enforce-
ment officials, who are authorized to receive or 
directed to be provided such information by the 
Assistant 
Secretary 
of 
Homeland 
Security 
(Transportation Security Administration), the 
Inspector General of the Department of Home-
land Security, or the Comptroller General of the 
United States, as the case may be; and 
‘‘(B) for the purpose of ensuring the secu-
rity of any individual in the vicinity of a site 
where a covert test of a transportation security 
system is being conducted, an individual con-
ducting the test may disclose his or her status as 
an individual conducting the test to any appro-
priate individual if a security screener or other 
individual who is not a covered employee identi-
fies the individual conducting the test as a po-
tential threat. 
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‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION 
SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.— 
‘‘(A) MONITORING AND SECURITY OF TEST-
ING PERSONNEL.—The head of each covert test-
ing office shall ensure that a person or group of 
persons conducting a covert test of a transpor-
tation security system for the covert testing office 
is accompanied at the site of the test by a cover 
team comprised of one or more employees of the 
covert testing office for the purpose of monitoring 
the test and confirming the identity of personnel 
involved in the test under subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITY OF COVER TEAM.— 
Under this paragraph, a cover team for a covert 
test of a transportation security system shall— 
‘‘(i) monitor the test; and 
‘‘(ii) for the purpose of ensuring the se-
curity of any individual in the vicinity of 
a site where the test is being conducted, con-
firm, notwithstanding paragraph (1), the 
identity of any individual conducting the 
test to any appropriate individual if a secu-
rity screener or other individual who is not 
a covered employee identifies the individual 
conducting the test as a potential threat. 
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‘‘(C) 
AVIATION
SCREENING.—Notwith-
standing subparagraph (A), the Transportation 
Security Administration is not required to have 
a cover team present during a test of the screen-
ing of persons, carry-on items, or checked bag-
gage at an aviation security checkpoint at or 
serving an airport if the test— 
‘‘(i) is approved by the Federal Secu-
rity Director for such airport; and 
‘‘(ii) is carried out under an aviation 
screening assessment program of the De-
partment of Homeland Security. 
‘‘(D) USE
OF
OTHER
PERSONNEL.—The 
Transportation Security Administration may 
use employees, officers, and contractors of the 
Federal Government (including military per-
sonnel) and employees and officers of State and 
local governments to conduct covert tests. 
‘‘(4) IMPACT
STUDY
AND
REPORT
ON
COVERT 
TESTING PROCEDURES.— 
‘‘(A) IMPACT
STUDY.—The Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall conduct a study of the 
impact of the implementation of this subsection 
on the Department of Homeland Security’s ef-
forts to improve transportation security. 
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‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The study under 
subparagraph (A) shall include an assessment 
of— 
‘‘(i) the impact of the implementation 
of this subsection on personnel of the De-
partment of Homeland Security; 
‘‘(ii) the impact of such implementa-
tion on information sharing within the De-
partment; 
‘‘(iii) best practices for integrating the 
topic of covert testing into existing training 
and testing programs for personnel of the 
Department; and 
‘‘(iv) the effectiveness of covert testing 
as a method to improve security. 
‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days 
after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 
the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
Homeland Security of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report 
that contains— 
‘‘(i) the results of the study under sub-
paragraph (A); 
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‘‘(ii) recommendations for changes to 
the training of personnel of the Department 
that are necessary to ensure compliance 
with the requirements of this subsection; 
and 
‘‘(iii) recommendations to improve the 
effectiveness of the implementation of this 
subsection. 
‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
section, the following definitions apply: 
‘‘(A) APPROPRIATE INDIVIDUAL.—The term 
‘appropriate individual’, as used with respect to 
a covert test of a transportation security system, 
means any individual that— 
‘‘(i) the individual conducting the test 
determines needs to know his or her status 
as an individual conducting a test under 
paragraph (2)(B); or 
‘‘(ii) the cover team monitoring the test 
under paragraph (3)(B)(i) determines needs 
to know the identity of an individual con-
ducting the test. 
‘‘(B) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘cov-
ered employee’ means any individual who re-
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