HR 2649 IH1S 
orange or above or an equivalent designation of any 
successor threat advisory system of the Department. 
(2) SENSITIVE NUCLEAR FACILITY.—The term 
‘‘sensitive nuclear facility’’ means— 
(A) a commercial nuclear power plant and 
associated spent fuel storage facility; 
(B) a decommissioned nuclear power plant 
and associated spent fuel storage facility; 
(C) a category I fuel cycle facility; 
(D) a gaseous diffusion plant; and 
(E) a Department of Energy nuclear weap-
ons materials production, processing, storage, 
or research facility. 
(3) SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK.—The term ‘‘so-
cial security check’’ means a check on the validity of 
the social security number of an individual and a 
verification that the number is assigned to the indi-
vidual. 
SEC. 11. CONTROL OVER ACCESS TO SECURED AREAS OF 
AIRPORTS. 
(a) AIRPORT PERIMETER ACCESS SECURITY.—Sub-
title A of title IV of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 
(6 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 404. ACCESS SECURITY. 
‘‘(a) AIRPORT PERIMETER.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec-
retary shall issue regulations— 
‘‘(1) to improve control over access to the se-
cure area of each airport in the United States de-
scribed in section 44903(c) of title 49, United States 
Code; and 
‘‘(2) to prohibit any entity (other than an oper-
ator of such an airport) from issuing a security 
badge to provide escorted or unescorted access to the 
secure area of such airport, subject to such excep-
tions as the Secretary may establish, by regulation, 
for Federal, State, and local governments and for 
employees of air carriers. 
‘‘(b) BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR AIRPORT WORK-
ERS.—An individual employed in, or applying for, a posi-
tion described in section 44936 of title 49, United States 
Code, or a position as an aircraft maintenance or catering 
worker, aircraft cargo handler, aircraft worker with access 
to an aircraft ramp, aircraft support facilities worker, or 
employee of an airport vendor whether having escorted or 
unescorted access to an aircraft or a secure area of an 
airport, shall be subject to a social security check, a check 
of immigration status, and a check against all terrorist 
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watch lists maintained by the Government in addition to 
a background check required by such section. 
‘‘(c) SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK DEFINED.—In this 
section, the term ‘social security check’ means a check on 
the validity of the social security number of an individual 
and a verification that the number is assigned to the indi-
vidual.’’. 
(b) SCREENING
OF
AIRPORT
WORKERS
USING 
METAL DETECTORS.—Section 44903(h)(4)(B) of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting before the 
semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, including, at a min-
imum, requiring each of such individuals to be physically 
screened for metallic objects and to have their personal 
bags inspected for prohibited items, such as chemical, bio-
logical, radiological, and nuclear materials, each time that 
individual enters a secure area of the airport’’. 
SEC. 12. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—No covered individual involved in 
aviation security, including employees of the Transpor-
tation Security Administration, may be discharged, de-
moted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other 
manner discriminated against because of any lawful act 
done by the person— 
(1) to provide information, cause information to 
be provided, or otherwise assist in an investigation 
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HR 2649 IH1S 
regarding any conduct which the person reasonably 
believes constitutes a violation of any law, rule or 
regulation related to aviation security or any other 
threat to aviation security when the information or 
assistance is provided to or the investigation is con-
ducted by— 
(A) a Federal regulatory or law enforce-
ment agency; 
(B) any Member of Congress or any com-
mittee of Congress; or 
(C) a person with supervisory authority 
over the covered individual (or such other per-
son who has the authority to investigate, dis-
cover, or terminate misconduct); 
(2) to file, cause to be filed, testify, participate 
in, or otherwise assist in a proceeding or action filed 
or about to be filed relating to a violation of any 
law, rule or regulation related to the security of pas-
senger airlines or any other threat to the security of 
passenger airlines; or 
(3) to refuse to violate or assist in the violation 
of any law, rule, or regulation related to the security 
of passenger airlines. 
(b) ENFORCEMENT ACTION.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered individual who al-
leges discharge or other discrimination by any per-
son in violation of subsection (a) may seek relief 
under subsection (c), by— 
(A) filing a complaint with the Secretary of 
Labor; or 
(B) if the Secretary has not issued a final 
decision within 180 days of the filing of the 
complaint and there is no showing that such 
delay is due to the bad faith of the claimant, 
bringing an action at law or equity for de novo 
review in the appropriate district court of the 
United States, which shall have jurisdiction 
over such an action without regard to the 
amount in controversy. 
(2) PROCEDURE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—An action under para-
graph (1)(A) shall be governed under the rules 
and procedures set forth in section 42121(b) of 
title 49, United States Code. 
(B) EXCEPTION.—Notification made under 
section 42121(b)(1) of title 49, United States 
Code, shall be made to the person named in the 
complaint and to the person’s employer. 
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HR 2649 IH1S 
(C) BURDENS
OF
PROOF.—An action 
brought under paragraph (1)(B) shall be gov-
erned by the legal burdens of proof set forth in 
section 42121(b) of title 49, United States 
Code. 
(D) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—An action 
under paragraph (1) shall be commenced not 
later than 90 days after the date on which the 
violation occurs. 
(c) REMEDIES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—A covered individual pre-
vailing in any action under subsection (b)(1) shall be 
entitled to all relief necessary to make the covered 
individual whole. 
(2) COMPENSATORY DAMAGES.—Relief for any 
action under paragraph (1) shall include— 
(A) reinstatement with the same seniority 
status that the covered individual would have 
had, but for the discrimination; 
(B) the amount of any back pay, with in-
terest; and 
(C) compensation for any special damages 
sustained as a result of the discrimination, in-
cluding litigation costs, expert witness fees, and 
reasonable attorney fees. 
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HR 2649 IH1S 
(d) RIGHTS RETAINED BY COVERED INDIVIDUAL.— 
Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the 
rights, privileges, or remedies of any covered individual 
under any Federal or State law, or under any collective 
bargaining agreement. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply: 
(1) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 
individual’’ means a Federal employee as defined in 
section 2105 of title 5, United States Code, any em-
ployee of a Federal contractor or subcontractor, or 
any employee of a business entity. 
(2) LAWFUL.—The term ‘‘lawful’’ means not 
specifically prohibited by law and if such information 
is not specifically required by Executive order to be 
kept secret in the interest of national defense or the 
conduct of foreign affairs. If communication of oth-
erwise covered information is specifically prohibited 
by law and if such information is required by Execu-
tive order to be kept secret in the interest of na-
tional defense or the conduct of foreign affairs, it 
may be communicated to any— 
(A) Member of Congress or committee of 
Congress; or 
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HR 2649 IH1S 
(B) any other recipient who is authorized 
to receive such information. 
(3) FEDERAL CONTRACTOR.—The term ‘‘Fed-
eral contractor’’ means a person who has entered 
into a contract with the United States. 
(4) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means 
any officer, partner, employee, or agent. 
(5) 
SUBCONTRACTOR.—The 
term 
‘‘subcon-
tractor’’— 
(A) means any person, other than the Fed-
eral contractor, who offers to furnish or fur-
nishes any supplies, materials, equipment, or 
services of any kind under a Federal contract 
or a subcontract entered into in connection with 
such Federal contract; and 
(B) includes any person who offers to fur-
nish or furnishes general supplies to the Fed-
eral contractor or a higher tier subcontractor. 
(6) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means a cor-
poration, partnership, State entity, business associa-
tion of any kind, trust, joint-stock company, or indi-
vidual. 
SEC. 13. AIRPORT SCREENING. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
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(1) a Federal workforce of passenger and bag-
gage screeners is more responsive to the public than 
the private sector; 
(2) a recent poll indicates that a majority of re-
spondents feel better protected by a Federal work-
force of passenger and baggage screeners than by a 
screener workforce employed by a private company; 
(3) section 44920 of title 49, United States 
Code, explicitly permits the Transportation Security 
Administration to accept applications from airport 
operators seeking to ‘‘opt out’’ of a Federal screen-
ing workforce; 
(4) the Transportation Security Administration 
has issued a directive prohibiting the Federal airport 
security screener workforce from the right to collec-
tively bargain; 
(5) the Transportation Security Administration 
has issued guidance that would provide the 
privatized screener workforce the right to join a 
union and collectively bargain with their employer; 
and 
(6) a reversion to private company performance 
of screener functions could reduce safety and erode 
confidence in the Federal Government’s ability to 
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protect citizens from acts of terrorism, and, there-
fore, not be in the public interest. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) all airport screening functions should con-
tinue to be performed by Federal employees; and 
(2) all employees of the Transportation Security 
Administration, including Federal airport screeners, 
should be permitted to engage in collective bar-
gaining and be represented in collective bargaining 
by a representative or organization of their choosing. 
SEC. 14. NO-FLY LIST. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
(1) aircraft passenger information currently is 
transmitted from air carriers to the Department of 
Homeland Security for comparison against a Gov-
ernment maintained watch list after departure of 
international flights flying to or from the United 
States; 
(2) the diversion to Bangor, Maine, of an Air 
France flight scheduled to travel from Paris, 
France, to Boston, Massachusetts, on May 12, 2005, 
and the diversion to Bangor, Maine of an Alitalia 
flight scheduled to travel from Milan, Italy, to Bos-
ton, Massachusetts, on May 19, 2005, occurred 
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when, in the first instance, a passenger name was 
mistakenly considered to match a name on the 
watchlist and, in the second instance, a passenger 
name matched a name on the watchlist; 
(3) in both cases, the flights already had de-
parted the airports when the comparison with the 
watchlist occurred; 
(4) departure of international flights from air-
ports before passenger information has been com-
pared against the watchlist maintained by the Fed-
eral Government is a serious security loophole that 
could enable a known terrorist to board, travel on, 
and hijack an international flight en route to or de-
parting from the United States; 
(5) the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Pre-
vention Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-458) mandated that 
the Secretary of Homeland Security, not later than 
60 days after the date of enactment of that Act, 
issue a notice of proposed rulemaking that would 
allow the Department to compare passenger infor-
mation for any international flight to or from the 
United States against the consolidated and inte-
grated terrorist watchlist maintained by the Federal 
Government before departure of the flight; and 
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(6) the Department did not issue the notice of 
proposed rulemaking by February 2005, the dead-
line specified in that Act. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) the Secretary of Homeland Security should 
actively pursue the resolution of all issues that have 
delayed the implementation of the mandate to check 
passenger information against the Government 
maintained watchlist before departures of inter-
national flights to or from the United States; 
(2) the Secretary should promptly issue the re-
quired notice of proposed rulemaking to enable the 
comparison of passenger information against the 
Government maintained terrorist watchlist prior to 
departure of international flights to or from the 
United States; and 
(3) until such time as the Secretary has issued 
the notice of proposed rulemaking, the Secretary 
should provide Congress with periodic reports that 
describe the progress of the Department of Home-
land Security in resolving issues that have delayed 
implementation of this mandate and explain when 
the Department expects to issue the notice. 
Æ 
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