I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2688 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a deadline for the 
screening of all individuals, goods, property, vehicles, and other equip-
ment entering a secure area of an airport, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 26, 2005 
Mrs. LOWEY (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. LORETTA 
SANCHEZ of California, Mr. ANDREWS, and Mr. MCNULTY) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Se-
curity 
A BILL 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a dead-
line for the screening of all individuals, goods, property, 
vehicles, and other equipment entering a secure area 
of an airport, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Guaranteeing Airport 
Physical Screening Standards Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. SCREENING OF ALL INDIVIDUALS AND PROPERTY 
ENTERING SECURE AREAS OF AN AIRPORT. 
(a) DEADLINE.—Section 44903(h)(4)(A) of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘as soon as 
practicable after the date of enactment of this subsection’’ 
and inserting ‘‘not later than 120 days after the date of 
enactment of the Guaranteeing Airport Physical Screening 
Standards Act of 2005’’. 
(b) SCREENING AND INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS.— 
Section 44903(h)(4)(B) of such title is amended by insert-
ing before the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘and 
will include at a minimum physical screening for metal 
objects’’. 
(c) INTERIM MEASURES.—The Secretary of Home-
land Security shall require random screenings and inspec-
tions of individuals, goods, property, vehicles, and other 
equipment at the entrances of, and within, secure areas 
of an airport until such date as the Secretary has fully 
complied with the requirements of section 44903(h)(4)(A) 
of such title. The random screenings and inspections shall 
be conducted in a manner that assures the level of protec-
tion described in section 44903(h)(4)(B) of such title, as 
amended by this section. The random screenings and in-
spections shall be unannounced and shall be conducted 24 
hours a day.
SEC. 3. HIRING OF SCREENERS. 
(a) NUMBER OF SCREENERS.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
may hire the number of passenger and baggage screeners 
that the Secretary determines necessary to ensure aviation 
security. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this section. 
SEC. 4. AIRPORT SITE ACCESS AND PERIMETER SECURITY. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the security directives issued by the Acting Ad-
ministrator of the Transportation Security Administration 
on July 6, 2004, regarding security measures concerning 
access to sensitive airport areas constitute an improve-
ment over current practice but are not sufficient to pro-
vide adequate airport access controls. 
(b) ACCESS TO STERILE AREAS.—Not later than 6 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Homeland Security shall require airport per-
sonnel accessing airport sterile areas from unrestricted 
areas to undergo security screening equivalent to screen-
ing of passengers and carry-on baggage. The Secretary 
may issue a waiver of this provision on an airport-by-air-
port basis, subject to the following requirements:
(1) The Secretary shall promptly notify Con-
gress of any waivers granted under this section, the 
purpose for which such waivers were granted, and 
the duration of the waiver. 
(2) Under no circumstances shall a waiver be 
granted for more than 7 days, although the Sec-
retary may issue as many waivers to an airport as 
is deemed appropriate by the Secretary. In the event 
of multiple waivers, the Secretary shall provide to 
Congress an estimate of when the airport will be in 
compliance with this subsection. 
(c) BACKGROUND CHECKS
FOR WORKERS.—The 
Secretary shall ensure that all unescorted airport per-
sonnel accessing airport sterile and secured areas have 
successfully undergone a background check. The back-
ground checks required under this section shall include, 
at a minimum: 
(1) A fingerprint-based criminal history records 
check, or, if such a check is not possible, a check of 
the National Criminal Information Center. 
(2) A local criminal history check. 
(3) Verification of previous employment. 
(4) Verification of identity, to include, but not 
be limited to, social security number.
(5) A check of all terrorist watch lists operated 
by the Federal Government, or upon certification by 
the Secretary that it is suitably comprehensive, the 
terrorist watch list operated by the Terrorist Screen-
ing Center. 
This subsection shall apply to all airport personnel hired 
more than 3 months after the date of enactment of this 
Act and for all airport personnel, regardless of the date 
on which they were hired, no more than one year after 
such date of enactment. 
(d) REPORT.—The Assistant Secretary of Homeland 
Security (Transportation Security Administration) shall 
submit to Congress, no later than January 31, 2006, a 
report that contains a description of ongoing efforts and 
projected timelines forl 
(1) developing and implementing uniform 
screening standards for airport personnel with ac-
cess to sterile areas; 
(2) completing an assessment of available tech-
nologies that are applicable to securing airport pe-
rimeters and making this information available to 
airport operators; and 
(3) developing and implementing a standardized 
approach to conducting airport vulnerability assess-
ments and compliance inspections.
(e) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.— 
Nothing in this section shall be construed to provide pas-
sengers, airport workers, or other personnel not granted 
regular access to secure areas before the date of enact-
ment of this Act authority to do so, regardless of whether 
such person has undergone security screening. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply: 
(1) STERILE AREA.—The term ‘‘sterile area’’ 
means any part of an airport that is regularly acces-
sible to passengers after having cleared a passenger 
security screening checkpoint. 
(2) SECURE AREA.—The term ‘‘secure area’’ 
means parts of an airport complex not typically ac-
cessible to passengers, including areas outside of ter-
minal buildings, baggage handling and loading 
areas, parked aircraft, runways, air control towers, 
and similar areas. 
(3) AIRPORT PERSONNEL.—The term ‘‘airport 
personnel’’ means persons, whether employed by the 
airport, air carriers, or by companies, that conduct 
business in airports. 
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