SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rights for Transpor-
tation Security Officers Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) On September 11, 2001, nineteen terrorists, 
who underwent airport security screening prior to 
boarding domestic flights, were able to commandeer 
four airplanes and use those airplanes to perpetrate 
the most deadly terrorist attack ever to be executed 
on United States soil. 
(2) In the aftermath of those attacks, Congress 
passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act 
(ATSA), enacted by President George W. Bush on 
November 19, 2001 (Public Law 107–71), to en-
hance the level of security screening throughout our 
aviation system and transfer responsibility for such 
screening from the private sector to a new Federal 
agency, the Transportation Security Administration 
(TSA). 
(3) TSA was established in recognition of the 
need to raise the level of screener performance and 
that achieving such performance is directly linked to 
employment and training standards, pay and bene-
fits, and the creation of an experienced, committed 
Federal screening workforce. 
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(4) The Aviation and Transportation Security 
Act included a statutory footnote allowing the TSA 
Administrator to ‘‘employ, appoint, discipline, termi-
nate, and fix the compensation’’, including the 
‘‘terms, and conditions of employment of Federal 
Service for such a number of individuals as the [Ad-
ministrator] determines to be necessary to carry out 
the screening functions of the Under Secretary 
under section 44901 of title 49, United States 
Code’’. 
(5) TSA has cited the ATSA footnote as the 
basis for developing a personnel system for the TSO 
workforce, while all other Transportation Security 
Administration employees, including managers, are 
under the Federal personnel system provided under 
title 5, United States Code, as incorporated in title 
49 of such Code. 
(6) In November 2006, the International Labor 
Organization ruled that the Bush administration vio-
lated international labor law when it prohibited 
Transportation Security Officers from engaging in 
collective bargaining. 
(7) After the Federal Labor Relations Board 
approved a petition for the election of an exclusive 
representative, on February 4, 2011, then-TSA Ad-
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ministrator John Pistole issued a binding determina-
tion stating in part ‘‘it is critical that every TSA 
employee feels that he or she has a voice and feels 
safe raising issues and concerns of all kinds. This is 
important not just for morale; engagement of every 
employee is critically important for security’’. 
(8) Subsequently, in 2014, then-Administrator 
Pistole issued a second determination, which was su-
perseded by a 2016 determination, which changed 
the previous guidelines for collective bargaining and 
limited the subjects that can be bargained as well as 
issues in dispute that may be raised to an inde-
pendent, third-party neutral decisionmaker. 
(9) The 2011, 2014, and 2016 determinations 
cited the ATSA footnote as authority to create a 
personnel system that denies the Transportation Se-
curity Officer workforce the same rights and protec-
tions under title 5, United States Code, as other 
Federal workers, including the right to present 
grievances to a neutral third party, fair pay under 
the General Services wage system, including access 
to overtime pay and earned leave, and Fair Labor 
Standards Act protections. 
(10) The Transportation Security Officer work-
force is an integral component of the security frame-
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work in place since the terrorist attacks on Sep-
tember 11, 2001, and responsible for screening more 
than 738 million passengers annually. 
(11) In the course of their work, Transpor-
tation Security Officers not only identify aviation se-
curity threats but also identify kidnapping and traf-
ficking victims and prevent firearms from being 
brought on planes in carry-on bags. In 2018 alone, 
4,239 firearms were discovered by Transportation 
Security Officers at aviation security checkpoints. 
(12) Every day, Transportation Security Offi-
cers put their safety on the line to protect the flying 
public and on November 1, 2013, a Transportation 
Security Officer, Gerardo Hernandez, gave his life to 
protect the flying public when he was killed by a 
gunman who attacked the Los Angeles International 
Airport. 
(13) Transportation Security Officers are vital 
to aviation security and have kept the American 
aviation system secure, even during lapses in appro-
priations, when they were not paid. For 16 days in 
2013, three days in 2018, and, most recently, 35 
days in at the end of 2018 through early 2019, the 
TSA workforce worked without pay alongside air-
plane safety specialists, air traffic controllers, and 
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other Federal workers responsible for the aviation 
security and safety framework that has protected 
United States air travel since 2001. 
(14) The adverse impact of two missed pay-
checks during the shutdown that took place between 
December 22, 2018, and January 25, 2019, was felt 
disproportionately by the Transportation Security 
Officer workforce, with many Officers receiving 
starting salaries of as low as $32,000. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the Transportation Security Administration’s 
personnel system for the Transportation Security Officer 
workforce provides insufficient benefits and workplace 
protections to these frontline personnel who secure the 
United States aviation system, and that such personnel 
should be provided protections and benefits under title 5, 
United States Code. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘covered position’’ means— 
(A) a position within the Transportation 
Security Administration; and 
(B) any position within the Department of 
Homeland Security, not described in subpara-
graph (A), the duties and responsibilities of 
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(8) the term ‘‘conversion date’’ means the date 
as of which paragraphs (1) through (3) of section 
4(b) take effect. 
SEC. 4. CONVERSION OF SCREENING PERSONNEL. 
(a) TERMINATION
OF CERTAIN PERSONNEL AU-
THORITIES.—Effective as of the date of the enactment of 
this Act— 
(1) each provision of law cited in section 3(6) 
is repealed, and any authority to establish or modify 
a TSA personnel management system under either 
such provision of law shall terminate; 
(2) all authority to establish or adjust a human 
resources management system under chapter 97 of 
title 5, United States Code, shall terminate with re-
spect to covered employees and covered positions; 
and 
(3) section 44935 note of title 49, United 
States Code, is repealed. 
(b) COVERED EMPLOYEES AND POSITIONS MADE 
SUBJECT TO SAME PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 
AS
APPLIES
TO
CIVIL
SERVICE
EMPLOYEES
GEN-
ERALLY.—Effective as of the date determined by the Sec-
retary, but in no event later than 60 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act— 
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(1) all TSA personnel management policies, let-
ters, guidelines, and directives, including the August 
2016 Determination, shall cease to be effective; 
(2) any human resources management system 
established or adjusted under chapter 97 of title 5, 
United States Code, to the extent otherwise applica-
ble with respect to covered employees or covered po-
sitions, shall cease to be effective; and 
(3) covered employees and covered positions 
shall become subject to the provisions of title 5, 
United States Code. 
SEC. 5. TRANSITION RULES. 
(a) NONREDUCTION IN RATE OF PAY.—Any conver-
sion of an employee from a TSA personnel management 
system to the provisions of law made applicable with re-
spect to such employee by section 4(b)(3) shall be effected, 
under pay conversion rules prescribed by the Secretary, 
without any reduction in the rate of basic pay payable to 
such employee. 
(b) PRESERVATION OF OTHER RIGHTS.—In the case 
of each individual who is a covered employee as of the con-
version date, the Secretary shall take any actions which 
may be necessary to ensure that— 
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(1) all TSA personnel management policies, let-
ters, guidelines, and directives, including the August 
2016 Determination, shall cease to be effective; 
(2) all annual leave, sick leave, or other paid 
leave accrued, accumulated, or otherwise available to 
a covered employee immediately before the conver-
sion date shall remain available to the employee, 
until used, so long as such individual remains con-
tinuously employed by the Department of Homeland 
Security; and 
(3) the Government share of any premiums or 
other periodic charges under the provisions of law 
governing group health insurance shall remain the 
same as was the case immediately before the conver-
sion date, so long as such individual remains con-
tinuously employed by the Department of Homeland 
Security. 
SEC. 6. CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT. 
(a) EXCLUSIVE REPRESENTATIVE.—The labor orga-
nization certified by the Federal Labor Relations Author-
ity on June 29, 2011, or successor shall be treated as the 
exclusive representative of full- and part-time non-super-
visory personnel carrying out screening functions under 
section 44901 of title 49, United States Code, as that term 
is used in section 111(d) of the Aviation and Transpor-
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tation Security Act and shall be the exclusive representa-
tive for the employees under chapter 71 of title 5, United 
States Code, with full rights under such chapter 71. Any 
collective bargaining agreement on the effective date of 
this legislation shall remain in effect. 
(b) CONSULTATION RIGHTS.—Within 14 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
consult with the exclusive representative for employees 
under chapter 71 of title 5, United States Code, on the 
formulation of plans and deadlines to carry out the conver-
sion of covered employees and covered positions under this 
Act. The Secretary shall provide in writing to the exclusive 
representative the final plans in accordance with which the 
Secretary intends to carry out the conversion of covered 
employees and covered positions under this Act, including 
with respect to such matters as— 
(1) the proposed conversion date; and 
(2) measures to ensure compliance with section 
5. 
(c) REQUIRED AGENCY RESPONSE.—If any views or 
recommendations are presented under subsection (b)(2) by 
the exclusive representative, the Secretary shall consider 
the views or recommendations before taking final action 
on any matter with respect to which the views or rec-
ommendations are presented and provide the exclusive 
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representative a written statement of the reasons for the 
final actions to be taken. 
(d) SUNSET PROVISION.—The provisions of this sec-
tion shall cease to be effective as of the conversion date. 
SEC. 7. NO RIGHT TO STRIKE. 
Nothing in this Act shall be considered— 
(1) to repeal or otherwise affect— 
(A) section 1918 of title 18, United States 
Code (relating to disloyalty and asserting the 
right to strike against the Government); or 
(B) section 7311 of title 5, United States 
Code (relating to loyalty and striking); or 
(2) to otherwise authorize any activity which is 
not permitted under either provision of law cited in 
paragraph (1). 
SEC. 8. REGULATIONS. 
The Secretary may prescribe any regulations nec-
essary to carry out this Act. 
SEC. 9. DELEGATIONS TO ADMINISTRATOR. 
The Secretary may, with respect to any authority or 
function vested in the Secretary under any of the pre-
ceding provisions of this Act, delegate any such authority 
or function to the Administrator of the Transportation Se-
curity Administration under such terms, conditions, and 
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limitations, including the power of redelegation, as the 
Secretary considers appropriate. 
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 
Æ 
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