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109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2649 
To strengthen aviation security. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 26, 2005 
Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committees on the 
Judiciary and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be sub-
sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 
such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To strengthen aviation security. 
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 ‘‘Strengthen Aviation 
Security Act’’. 
SEC. 2. INSPECTION OF CARGO CARRIED ABOARD PAS-
SENGER AIRCRAFT. 
Section 44901 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended— 
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(1) by redesignating subsections ‘‘(g)’’ and 
‘‘(h)’’ as subsections ‘‘(h)’’ and ‘‘(i)’’, respectively; 
and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(g) Air Cargo on passenger aircraft— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 
after the date of enactment of the Strengthen Avia-
tion Security Act, the Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity shall establish a system to inspect 100 percent 
of the cargo transported on passenger aircraft to en-
sure the security of all passenger aircraft carrying 
cargo operated by an air carrier or foreign air car-
rier in air transportation or intrastate air transpor-
tation. 
‘‘(2) MINIMUM
STANDARDS.—The system re-
ferred to in paragraph (1) shall, at a minimum, re-
quire that— 
‘‘(A) equipment, technology, and personnel 
meets the same standards established to inspect 
passenger baggage; 
‘‘(B) 35 percent of cargo carried on pas-
senger aircraft is inspected by the end of fiscal 
year 2006; 
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‘‘(C) 65 percent of cargo carried on pas-
senger aircraft is inspected by the end of fiscal 
year 2007; and 
‘‘(D) 100 percent of cargo carried on pas-
senger aircraft is inspected by the end of fiscal 
year 2008. 
‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of the Strengthen Aviation Secu-
rity Act, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a 
report that describes the system established pursu-
ant to paragraph (1).’’. 
SEC. 3. REPORT ON KNOWN SHIPPING COMPANIES. 
Not later than the 180th day following the date of 
establishment of the database of known shipping compa-
nies being established by the Department of Homeland Se-
curity, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall transmit 
to Congress a report on the number of known shipping 
companies in the database, the number of known shipping 
companies for whom the Transportation Security Admin-
istration has conducted physical inspections of facilities 
and paperwork of such companies to determine compliance 
with security regulations that apply to those companies, 
the number of companies that have applied to the Sec-
retary for known shipping company status and been de-
nied, and the number of known shipping companies that 
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have been removed from the database as a result of find-
ings by the Administration that such companies have 
failed to comply with appropriate security regulations. 
SEC. 4. TRAINING PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of deploying 
Federal law enforcement officers not part of the Federal 
Air Marshal Service as alternative security personnel on 
commercial aircraft— 
(1) the Secretary of Homeland Security, not 
later than the 90th day following the date of enact-
ment of this Act, shall establish— 
(A) training standards that all Federal law 
enforcement officers must meet in order to re-
spond appropriately as law enforcement profes-
sionals to incidents aboard aircraft; and 
(B) procedures by which law enforcement 
personnel, authorized to carry a firearm or oth-
erwise prohibited items aboard a passenger 
commercial aircraft may do so without indi-
cating, to the greatest extent practicable, either 
deliberately or accidentally such personnel’s sta-
tus to other passengers; and 
(2) the head of the Federal Air Marshal Serv-
ice, in determining on which flights to place one or 
more Federal air marshals, shall— 
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(A) have access to information on whether 
Federal law enforcement officers meeting the 
training standards established under paragraph 
(1) are scheduled to travel on commercial 
flights; and 
(B) not substitute Federal law enforcement 
officers that have not met such training stand-
ards established by the Federal Air Marshal 
Service. 
(b) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the require-
ment of subsection (a)(2)(B) for not to exceed 6 months 
after the 90th day referred to in subsection (a) if nec-
essary for security purposes. 
(c) REPORT.—The Secretary shall transmit to Con-
gress a report on the timeline for providing training re-
quired to carry out subsection (a)(2) and any additional 
resources needed to implement this section. 
SEC. 5. FEDERAL AIR MARSHALS. 
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure the 
deployment of Federal air marshal officers on flights of 
all-cargo air transportation for which the Secretary of 
Homeland Security determines there to be sufficient risk 
of terrorist activity. 
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SEC. 6. FLIGHT COMMUNICATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4021 of the Intelligence 
Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Public 
Law 108–458) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) FLIGHT COMMUNICATION.—To expand the pur-
poses of the study under subsection (a), not later than 
180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, 
the Assistant Secretary shall conduct a study on the viabil-
ity of devices to enable discreet, wireless communications 
between flight attendants, pilots, Federal air marshals, 
and ground-based personnel during a passenger commer-
cial aircraft flight to improve coordination of planning and 
activities in the event of an act of terrorism and transmit 
to Congress a report on the results of the study conducted 
under this subsection.’’. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out section 4021(d) of the Intelligence 
Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. 
SEC. 7. COMPREHENSIVE PREFLIGHT SCREENING. 
(a) STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 
a study to assess the current training provided to in-
dividuals who perform preflight security inspections 
and to identify areas for improvement in such in-
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spections and training and make recommendations 
regarding improving such inspections and training. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall transmit to Congress a report on the results of 
the study. 
(b) REGULATIONS.— 
(1) ISSUANCE.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of transmission of the reports under sub-
section (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security 
shall issue regulations to improve preflight screening 
of passenger aircraft for dangerous objects and 
training of screeners of passenger aircraft and to re-
duce the time between preflight screening and the 
departure time for a flight. 
(2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations 
shall— 
(A) require individuals who perform the 
preflight security sweeps through the passenger 
cabin and lavatories of passenger aircraft and 
who are not members of the flight or cabin crew 
to be physically screened for metallic objects, 
have their personal bags inspected for prohib-
ited items such as chemical, biological, radio-
logical, or nuclear materials, be subject to 
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criminal history background checks, social secu-
rity checks, and checks against all terrorist 
watch lists maintained by the Government; and 
(B) incorporate the recommendations con-
tained in the report transmitted under sub-
section (a). 
SEC. 8. FLIGHT ATTENDANT TRAINING. 
The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation 
with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration, shall finalize the development of a mandatory 
basic security training program for flight attendants and 
shall begin administration of the training program not 
later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 9. SECURING COCKPIT DOORS. 
(a) CARGO AIRCRAFT.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall— 
(1) issue an order— 
(A) requiring any aircraft engaged in cargo 
air transportation or intrastate air transpor-
tation to have, not later than one year after the 
date of issuance of such order, a door (and sur-
rounding partition) between the cargo and pilot 
compartments that can be locked and cannot be 
forced open from the cargo compartment; 
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(B) prohibiting access to the flight deck of 
aircraft engaged in cargo air transportation or 
intrastate air transportation, except by author-
ized persons; and 
(C) requiring that such flight deck doors 
remain locked while any such aircraft is in 
flight except when necessary to permit access 
and egress by authorized persons; and 
(2) take such other action, including modifica-
tion of safety and security procedures and flight 
deck redesign, as may be necessary to ensure the 
safety and security of the aircraft. 
(b) PASSENGER AIRCRAFT.—The Secretary shall 
issue an order to modify requirements imposed pursuant 
to section 104 of the Aviation and Transportation Security 
Act (49 U.S.C. 44903 note; 115 Stat. 605) to ensure that 
the wall surrounding the flight deck door on any aircraft 
engaged in passenger air transportation or intrastate air 
transportation is sufficient to secure the cockpit. 
(c) GRANTS.—The Secretary may make grants or 
other agreements with air carriers (including intrastate air 
carriers) to assist such carriers in complying with the or-
ders issued under this section. 
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(d) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this section. 
SEC. 10. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR GENERAL AVIA-
TION. 
(a) NO FLY ZONES.—The Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity— 
(1) shall establish for the duration of any high 
threat level announced by the Secretary; and 
(2) may establish for the duration of any other 
threat level that is announced by the Secretary and 
that the Secretary determines appropriate, no fly 
zones around sensitive nuclear facilities, chemical fa-
cilities identified by the Administrator of the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency at which a release of 
the facility’s hazardous materials could threaten the 
health of more than 1,000,000 people, and any other 
facilities the Secretary may designate. 
(b) VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS.—The Secretary 
shall— 
(1) require the operators of airports that serve 
general aviation aircraft and landing facilities for 
such aircraft to complete vulnerability assessments 
developed by the Secretary for evaluation of the 
physical security of such airports and facilities and 
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of procedures, infrastructure, and resources used 
with respect to such airports and facilities; and 
(2) develop a plan for addressing vulnerabilities 
identified by such assessments not later than the 
365th day following the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
(c) USE
OF
IMMOBILIZING
DEVICES; RECORDS 
CHECKS.—The Secretary shall require airports that serve 
operators of general aviation aircraft— 
(1) to require that all general aviation aircraft, 
while parked at such airports, are secured by a visi-
ble immobilizing device (such as a prop lock); and 
(2) to ensure that any individual with access to 
a general aviation aircraft at such airport is subject 
to a social security check, a check of immigration 
status, a check against all terrorist watch lists main-
tained by the Government, and a background check 
comparable to a background check required under 
section 44936 of title 49, United States Code. 
(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply: 
(1) HIGH THREAT.—The term ‘‘high threat’’ 
means an announcement by the Department of 
Homeland Security of a terrorist threat level of code 
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