I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 80 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish an Ombudsman Office 
within the Transportation Security Administration for the purpose of 
enhancing transportation security by providing confidential, informal, 
and neutral assistance to address work-place related problems of Trans-
portation Security Administration employees, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 6, 2015 
Ms. JACKSON LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Homeland Security 
A BILL 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish an 
Ombudsman Office within the Transportation Security 
Administration for the purpose of enhancing transpor-
tation security by providing confidential, informal, and 
neutral assistance to address work-place related problems 
of Transportation Security Administration employees, 
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 ‘‘Transportation Secu-
rity Administration Ombudsman Act of 2015’’. 
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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 ap-
pointed as the Ombudsman must have expertise 
in— 
‘‘(i) labor and employment relations 
with Federal agencies; and 
‘‘(ii) dispute resolution. 
‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT AND 
REMOVAL.—The Chief Human Capital Officer 
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of the Department of Homeland Security shall 
notify the appropriate congressional committees 
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.— 
‘‘(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 
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EMCDONALD on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
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. 
‘‘(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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EMCDONALD on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
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) CONTACT INFORMATION.—The Administrator of 
the Transportation Security Administration shall make 
publically available on the Internet site of the Administra-
tion information about the Office of the Ombudsman, in-
cluding regarding how to contact the Office. 
‘‘(e) 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 is 
authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 
2016, 2017, and 2018, $575,000 for implementing section 
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44946 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by this 
section. 
Æ 
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