TITLE I—REFORM 
Sec. 101. Prohibition of screening by subsidiary of a foreign-owned corporation. 
Sec. 102. Competition for private screening contracts. 
Sec. 103. Prohibition on certain subcontracting. 
Sec. 104. Flexibility in approving airport operator applications. 
Sec. 105. Enhanced standards for application assessments. 
Sec. 106. Timeline for awarding a contract for screening services. 
Sec. 107. Prohibition on bonuses and other awards. 
Sec. 108. Cost analysis. 
Sec. 109. Customer service. 
Sec. 110. Information on transition plans. 
TITLE II—OVERSIGHT 
Sec. 201. Enhanced oversight. 
Sec. 202. Security breaches. 
Sec. 203. Covert testing of contract screener performance. 
Sec. 204. Contracting prohibition for compromising covert security testing. 
Sec. 205. Proper handling of sensitive security information. 
TITLE III—WORKFORCE PROTECTIONS 
Sec. 301. Job and benefit protections. 
Sec. 302. Retention and discipline. 
Sec. 303. Protections for reporting deficiencies, waste, or vulnerabilities. 
TITLE I—REFORM 
SEC. 101. PROHIBITION OF SCREENING BY SUBSIDIARY OF 
A FOREIGN-OWNED CORPORATION. 
Subsection (d) of section 44920 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(d)’’ and all that follows 
through ‘‘The Under Secretary may enter’’ and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(d) STANDARDS FOR PRIVATE SCREENING COMPA-
NIES.—The Under Secretary may enter’’; 
(2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 
(B) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, and 
moving such paragraphs two ems to the left; and 
(3) by striking paragraph (2). 
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SEC. 102. COMPETITION FOR PRIVATE SCREENING CON-
TRACTS. 
Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended by striking subsection (h). 
SEC. 103. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN SUBCONTRACTING. 
Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 
amended by section 102 of this Act, is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(h) 
PROHIBITION
ON
CERTAIN
SUBCON-
TRACTING.—The Under Secretary is prohibited from en-
tering into any contract for screening services under this 
section that would allow for the screening services to be 
performed by a subcontractor.’’. 
SEC. 104. FLEXIBILITY IN APPROVING AIRPORT OPERATOR 
APPLICATIONS. 
Paragraph (2) of section 44920(b) of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘shall’’ and inserting 
‘‘may’’. 
SEC. 105. ENHANCED STANDARDS FOR APPLICATION AS-
SESSMENTS. 
Paragraph (2) of section 44920(b) of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting before the period at 
the end the following: ‘‘and at airports nationwide’’. 
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SEC. 106. TIMELINE FOR AWARDING A CONTRACT FOR 
SCREENING SERVICES. 
Subsection (b) of section 44920 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) TIMELINE
FOR
AWARDING
A
CONTRACT 
FOR SCREENING SERVICES.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 270 
days after approving an application under para-
graph (1), the Under Secretary shall award a 
contract to a qualified private screening com-
pany in accordance with subsections (c) and 
(d). 
‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION.—If the Under Sec-
retary is unable to make an award in accord-
ance with subparagraph (A), the Under Sec-
retary shall notify the airport operator that 
submitted the application at issue of the deter-
mination and the basis for such determination, 
and about eligibility for reapplication in accord-
ance with subsection (a).’’. 
SEC. 107. PROHIBITION ON BONUSES AND OTHER AWARDS. 
Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 
amended by section 105 of this Act, is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
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‘‘(i) PROHIBITION
ON
BONUSES
AND
OTHER 
AWARDS.—The Under Secretary is prohibited from pro-
viding funding to any private screening company that pro-
vides screening services at an airport in excess of the 
amount required for the performance of such screening 
services.’’. 
SEC. 108. COST ANALYSIS. 
Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 
amended by section 107 of this Act, is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(j) COST ANALYSIS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 
the Comptroller General shall provide to the Under 
Secretary guidance on how to conduct an analysis of 
the total annual cost incurred by the Federal Gov-
ernment with respect to screening services provided 
by private screening companies. 
‘‘(2) ACTION.—Not later than 180 days after 
receipt of the guidance described in paragraph (1) 
and annually thereafter, the Under Secretary shall 
utilize such guidance to identify costs incurred by 
the Federal Government as a result of overseeing 
the performance of private screening companies, 
compared with costs incurred by the Under Sec-
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retary at airports that utilize Federal Government 
personnel for passenger and baggage screening.’’. 
SEC. 109. CUSTOMER SERVICE. 
Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 
amended by section 108 of this Act, is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(k) CUSTOMER SERVICE.—Each airport operator 
utilizing contract passenger and baggage screeners em-
ployed by a private screening company shall prominently 
display signs in the immediate vicinity of the passenger 
screening area notifying the flying public that passenger 
and baggage screening at that airport is conducted by con-
tract screening personnel and not by Federal Government 
personnel. Such signs shall also display a contact number 
and Internet website address maintained by such private 
screening company for a passenger to report complaints 
about his or her screening experience. Each private screen-
ing company with a contract for screening services at an 
airport shall track all such passenger complaints and regu-
larly report such information to the Under Secretary 
through, to the maximum extent practicable, the con-
tracting officer of each such private screening company. 
The Under Secretary shall report such information to the 
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep-
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resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate upon request.’’. 
SEC. 110. INFORMATION ON TRANSITION PLANS. 
Subsection (b) of section 44920 of title 49, United 
States Code, as amended by section 106, is further amend-
ed by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) TRANSITION.—Not later than 90 days 
after an airport operator provides notice to the 
Under Secretary of the decision of such airport oper-
ator to discontinue the use of screening personnel of 
a qualified private screening company and use 
Transportation Security Officers for screening serv-
ices at the airport operated by such airport operator, 
the Under Secretary shall provide such airport oper-
ator with information on how the Under Secretary 
intends to carry out the transition of screening serv-
ices, including an anticipated timeline and key 
benchmarks.’’. 
TITLE II—OVERSIGHT 
SEC. 201. ENHANCED OVERSIGHT. 
Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 
amended by section 109 of this Act, is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(l) ENHANCED OVERSIGHT.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 
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the Under Secretary shall develop and implement a system 
to be carried out, to the maximum extent practicable, by 
the contracting officer who oversees each respective pri-
vate screening company providing screening services at an 
airport, to enhance monitoring of performance of each 
such private screening company. The system shall, at a 
minimum, provide year-to-year information about per-
formance by each such private screening company, and be 
in a format to provide for comparison with airports in the 
same category whose screening services are provided by 
Federal Government personnel with respect to detection 
rates of threats and threat image tests, recertification pass 
rates, covert performance assessments, and evaluations 
used to assess screener performance on various elements 
that may affect security and a passenger’s overall travel 
experience.’’. 
SEC. 202. SECURITY BREACHES. 
Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 
amended by section 201 of this Act, is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(m) SECURITY BREACHES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A private screening com-
pany shall regularly report to the Under Secretary 
each security breach at an airport where baggage 
and passenger screening is conducted by such a pri-
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vate screening company. Each such report shall in-
clude— 
‘‘(A) a detailed description of each security 
breach; 
‘‘(B) information regarding where each 
such breach occurred; 
‘‘(C) information regarding law enforce-
ment notification and response; and 
‘‘(D) any corrective action taken in re-
sponse to each such breach. 
‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Under Secretary 
shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu-
rity of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
the Senate an annual report containing the informa-
tion required pursuant to paragraph (1), including 
the definition of ‘security breach’ used by the Under 
Secretary for purposes of this subsection. To the ex-
tent practicable, the report shall be presented in a 
non-classified format with a classified appendix 
where necessary.’’. 
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SEC. 203. COVERT TESTING OF CONTRACT SCREENER PER-
FORMANCE. 
Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 
amended by section 202 of this Act, is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(n) COVERT TESTING.—The Comptroller General of 
the United States shall conduct annual covert testing of 
airports where private screening companies provide 
screening services. To the extent practicable, such covert 
testing shall be conducted at one airport with contract 
screener personnel within each airport category that was 
not the subject of covert testing by another Federal entity 
during the same year. The Comptroller General shall sub-
mit to the Under Secretary and to the Committee on 
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
of the Senate a report that contains the results of such 
covert testing. To the extent practicable, each such report 
shall be presented in a non-classified format with a classi-
fied appendix where necessary.’’. 
SEC. 204. CONTRACTING PROHIBITION FOR COMPRO-
MISING COVERT SECURITY TESTING. 
Subsection (d) of section 44920 of title 49, United 
States Code, as amended by section 101 of this Act is fur-
ther amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(3) on or after the date of the enactment of 
this paragraph, neither the private screening com-
pany, nor its parent company, if applicable, has 
compromised any covert security testing by notifying 
individuals employed by such private screening com-
pany that such covert testing was occurring, or oth-
erwise been found to have knowingly compromised 
covert testing conducted pursuant to subsection (n) 
or any other covert test conducted by the Inspector 
General of the Department of Homeland Security, 
the Comptroller General of the United States, or the 
Under Secretary.’’. 
SEC. 205. PROPER HANDLING OF SENSITIVE SECURITY IN-
FORMATION. 
Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as 
amended by section 203 of this Act, is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(o) PROPER HANDLING OF SENSITIVE SECURITY 
INFORMATION.—The Under Secretary shall require each 
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private screening company that provides screening services 
at airports to provide all individuals employed by such pri-
vate screening company with annual training for the prop-
er handling of all sensitive information, including sensitive 
security information.’’. 
TITLE III—WORKFORCE 
PROTECTIONS 
SEC. 301. JOB AND BENEFIT PROTECTIONS. 
Subsection (c) of section 44920 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(c) QUALIFIED PRIVATE SCREENING COMPANY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this subsection, a private screening 
company is qualified to provide screening services at 
an airport under this section if the company will 
only employ individuals to provide such services who 
meet all the requirements of this chapter applicable 
to Federal Government personnel who perform 
screening services at airports under this chapter, will 
provide the right of first refusal to existing Federal 
Government personnel, and presume that the per-
sonnel who perform screening services at airports 
and are in good standing are qualified under this 
subsection, and will offer such individuals employ-
ment with compensation and other benefits that is 
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