SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transportation Secu-
rity Administration Ombudsman Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OM-
BUDSMAN OFFICE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 449 of 
title 49, United States Code is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 44946. Ombudsman 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an 
Office of the Ombudsman in the Transportation Se-
curity Administration. 
‘‘(2) OMBUDSMAN.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Office shall be 
under the direction of the Ombudsman of the 
Transportation Security Administration, who 
shall be appointed by the Chief Human Capital 
Officer of the Department of Homeland Secu-
rity on behalf of the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity. 
‘‘(B) 
QUALIFICATIONS.—An 
individual 
may not be appointed as the Ombudsman un-
less the individual has demonstrated expertise 
in— 
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‘‘(i) labor and employment relations; 
and 
‘‘(ii) dispute resolution. 
‘‘(C) VACANCIES.—If a vacancy occurs in 
the position of Ombudsman, the Chief Human 
Capital Officer of the Department of Homeland 
Security shall appoint an individual as Ombuds-
man by not later than 120 days after the date 
the vacancy first occurs. 
‘‘(D) NOTIFICATION
OF
APPOINTMENT 
AND REMOVAL.—The Chief Human Capital Of-
ficer of the Department of Homeland Security 
shall notify the appropriate congressional com-
mittees within 30 days after the effective date 
of any of the following actions: 
‘‘(i) The appointment of an individual 
as Ombudsman. 
‘‘(ii) The reappointment as Ombuds-
man of an individual who is serving as 
Ombudsman. 
‘‘(iii) The removal of an individual 
from the position of Ombudsman. 
‘‘(3) ENSURING INDEPENDENCE OF OMBUDS-
MAN.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman shall 
report— 
‘‘(i) to the Administrator of the 
Transportation Security Administration; 
and 
‘‘(ii) to the Chief Human Capital Offi-
cer of the Department of Homeland Secu-
rity with respect to any dispute between 
the Ombudsman and the Administrator of 
Transportation 
Security 
Administration 
over matters involving the execution of the 
Ombudsman’s duties as set forth in sub-
section (b). 
‘‘(B) INSPECTOR
GENERAL’S
AUTHORITY 
TO
CONDUCT
INVESTIGATIONS
NOT
AF-
FECTED.—Nothing in this section shall prohibit 
the Inspector General of the Department of 
Homeland Security from initiating, carrying 
out, or completing any investigation. 
‘‘(4) REGIONAL OMBUDSMEN.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman shall 
ensure that each of the Transportation Security 
Administration regions has a regional ombuds-
man and that no regional ombudsman is re-
sponsible for more than three regions. 
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‘‘(B) APPOINTMENT.—The regional om-
budsmen shall be appointed by and serve at the 
discretion of the Ombudsman. 
‘‘(C) MEETINGS WITHIN REGIONS.—Each 
regional ombudsman shall travel not less than 
once each calendar quarter to each region for 
which he or she is appointed, to meet with 
Transportation Security Administration employ-
ees in that region. 
‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Ombudsman shall— 
‘‘(1) conduct outreach to Transportation Secu-
rity Administration employees, including publicizing 
a toll-free telephone number to report complaints; 
‘‘(2) evaluate each complainant’s claim objec-
tively; 
‘‘(3) provide information, advice, and assistance 
to complainants and, as appropriate, initiate infor-
mal, impartial fact-finding and inquiries, on com-
plaints or on the Ombudsman’s own initiative; 
‘‘(4) inform each complainant— 
‘‘(A) when the Ombudsman decides against 
conducting a fact-finding inquiry into the com-
plaint; 
‘‘(B) on the status of the Ombudsman’s 
fact-finding inquiry to the complainant, on a 
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regular basis if requested by the complainant; 
and 
‘‘(C) of the Ombudsman’s recommenda-
tions and information, as appropriate, for the 
complainant to formally complain to the appro-
priate authority; 
‘‘(5) work with the Administrator of the Trans-
portation Security Administration to address issues 
identified through fact-finding and inquiries; 
‘‘(6) maintain confidential any matter related to 
complaints and inquiries, including the identities of 
the complainants and witnesses; and 
‘‘(7) submit an annual report to the appropriate 
congressional committees in accordance with sub-
section (c). 
‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman shall re-
port no later than September 30 each year to the 
appropriate congressional committees on the actions 
taken by the Office of the Ombudsman over the pre-
ceding year and the objectives of those actions. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each such report shall, for 
the period covered by the report, include— 
‘‘(A) statistical information, by region, on 
the volume of complaints received, general na-
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ture of complaints, general information on com-
plainants, and the percentage of complaints 
that resulted in a fact-finding inquiry; 
‘‘(B) a summary of problems encountered 
by complainants, including information on the 
most pervasive or serious types of problems en-
countered by complainants; 
‘‘(C) policy recommendations that the Of-
fice of the Ombudsman made to the Adminis-
trator of the Transportation Security Adminis-
tration; 
‘‘(D) an inventory of the items described in 
subparagraphs (B) and (C) for which action 
has been taken, and the result of such action; 
‘‘(E) an inventory of the items described in 
subparagraphs (B) and (C) for which action re-
mains to be completed; and 
‘‘(F) such other information as the Om-
budsman considers relevant. 
‘‘(3) REPORT TO BE SUBMITTED DIRECTLY.— 
Each report under this subsection shall be provided 
directly to the committees described in paragraph 
(1) without any prior comment or amendment by the 
Administrator of the Transportation Security Ad-
ministration. However, the Ombudsman shall seek 
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comment from the Administrator to be submitted by 
the Ombudsman together with the annual report. 
‘‘(4) OTHER REPORTS.—Nothing in this sub-
section shall be construed to preclude the Ombuds-
man from issuing other reports on the activities of 
the Office of the Ombudsman. 
‘‘(d) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMITTEE 
DEFINED.—In this section the term ‘appropriate congres-
sional committee’ means the Committee on Homeland Se-
curity of the House of Representatives and any committee 
of the House of Representatives or the Senate having leg-
islative jurisdiction under the rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives or Senate, respectively, over the matter con-
cerned.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis at the be-
ginning of such chapter is amended by adding at the end 
the items relating to subchapter II the following new item: 
‘‘44946. Ombudsman.’’. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal years 2012, 
2013, and 2014 such sums as are necessary for imple-
menting section 44946 of title 49, United States Code, 
as amended by this section. 
Æ 
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