Risk-Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act

Mr. President, I come to the floor to discuss and pass the Risk-Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act.

How many times have you been at an airport screening line, you are getting ready to go through the machines that are going to determine you are safe to travel and standing right there in the line is a man or woman in their military fighting gear--their camouflage and their combat boots--and they are having to take off their combat boots, many times in their 2-week R&R period between their stints in Afghanistan or Iraq, and you think: Oh, my gosh. It is unbelievable that our military people--who are putting their lives on the line, who are sacrificing so much--are having to go through a procedure that does not have a commonsense feel about it.

Last week, Senator Rockefeller, Senator Burr, and I introduced S. 1954, the Risk-Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act. The bill was a modification of the House companion bill that was recently passed by Representative Cravaack from Minnesota in a unanimous decision by the House.

It requires the TSA, the Transportation Security Agency, to create a system to speed members of our uniformed services through airport security.

I would also like to thank Senators Lieberman and Collins for their input on this piece of legislation. We have all worked hard to move this bill through quickly, and it is the House bill we will be taking up very shortly with the modifications I have mentioned.

The bill establishes a timeline for the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Defense together to develop and implement a program to establish expedited security screening procedures for military personnel and their families.

I think we can all agree our military men and women make sacrifices for our Nation every day. The least we can do is try to make their lives a little easier when they travel around the country they defend.

I think they have earned the right to at least go to the head of the line or have some kind of trusted passenger status.

Our Armed Forces are comprised of over 1.4 million brave men and women. They are stationed at more than 6,000 military bases worldwide. For all the hardships they endure, I think they deserve to be at the front of the line in some kind of procedure that expedites their security clearance.

Airports, airlines, and TSA recognize this issue, and they want to reduce the delays. Currently, TSA uses the same screening protocols for all passengers.

The TSA has indicated that it would like to improve the process and to move forward to risk-based screening procedures. They certainly have my support and I know that of many Members, if not an overwhelming majority in Congress, to do that.

Mr. Pistole, the head of the Transportation Security Administration, has testified before our Commerce Committee about the risk-based screening procedures they are trying to put in place that will give them a better opportunity to target people who are more at risk or more under suspicion, while letting frequent flyers and people in the military go through on an expedited basis.

I would say the first identifiable group to get risk-based screening processes should be those who are fighting this war, those with boots on the ground. Members of our military and their families traveling on orders and in uniform should benefit from these new rules. In a time of limited resources, the establishment of procedures to expedite the screening of a pool of travelers who are most certainly our trusted travelers would better allow the TSA to focus their attention on areas of real threats.

Earlier this year, the House passed Congressman Cravaack's bill unanimously, just a couple of weeks ago. I hope our quick and unanimous action will allow the House to quickly reconsider the modified measure and get the bill signed into law as soon as possible.

As we are going into this traveling season--we have been through Thanksgiving, and we are now approaching Christmas. The bill is not going to be implemented by this season. They cannot do it in 2 weeks. But surely by the next holiday season, our trusted travelers, the members of our military and their families, will be able to have this expedited procedure. I hope that as they are traveling in this year's rush through the processes to get home to their loved ones, they will know we are working on something that will make their lives easier and expedite their travels while they are home on leave from fighting the war that is protecting our freedoms and our way of life.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 1801 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment at the desk be agreed to, and I urge passage of the bill, as amended.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table and that any statements related to the measure be printed in the Record.

I am very pleased we have been able to pass this bill for the expedited travel procedures for our military personnel. The TSA will have about 180 days working with the Department of Defense to get procedures in place to do this.

I hope our military people, wherever they are in the world, know how much America appreciates their service. We know they are fighting for our way of life to prevail for our children and future generations.

I yield the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 1801, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

As a member of the Committee of Homeland Security and as an ardent supporter of the men and women of the armed services, I am pleased to return today as we're on the floor to consider the Senate amendment to H.R. 1801, the Risk-Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act.

This legislation requires the Transportation Security Administration to develop a plan for providing expedited screening to our military personnel at airport security checkpoints.

As the gentleman from Minnesota just alluded to, the Senate amendment took a good bill and made it even better by expressly including new safeguards. Last Congress, on a bipartisan basis, an earlier version of this legislation was accepted as an amendment during the consideration of the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act, which passed this House by 397-25, which was not acted upon by the Senate.

H.R. 1801 properly recognizes the preciousness of time--nothing more important than time--to the patriotic men and women serving in our armed services, but it does not compromise aviation security. Our troops help keep our country safe. While first ensuring safety, the least we can do is devise methods to help speed up the screening process for our troops who are in uniform and who are traveling on airplanes while on official duty.

Since 2001, there have been more than 2 million troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. As our military presence in Iraq winds down, more servicemembers will, thankfully, be coming home. We owe it to them and to all of our servicemembers to do all we can to smooth their travels so that they can get home and into the arms of their loving families. This legislation establishes adequate parameters that will ensure that our troops and their families, including the 236,963 military personnel in my home State of California, will be given the opportunity to board an aircraft in a security-approved expedited manner. If approved today, this legislation will go directly to the President for his signature.

With the enactment of H.R. 1801, we have the opportunity to show the country, despite all the acrimony that has been punctuated in this 112th Congress, we can accomplish good things for the American people when we focus on areas of common ground and when compromise is embraced. So I urge my colleagues to support this legislation with the Senate amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I am compelled to build upon this current debate of H.R. 1801 and use this opportunity to urge the Republican leadership to bring to the floor additional bipartisan, commonsense homeland security legislation. This is the only bill reported by the Committee on Homeland Security to be considered before the full House. There are a number of other Homeland Security bills on the Union Calendar that warrant consideration by the full House as well.

Among them is H.R. 1447, introduced by Ranking Member Bennie Thompson.

This legislation seeks to enhance TSA's coordination with private- sector stakeholders on aviation policy. Also on the Union Calendar is H.R. 1165, authored by Representative Jackson Lee, which would strengthen the TSA Ombudsman office.

With bipartisan support, both of these bills were ordered reported by the Committee on Homeland Security. Despite having received bipartisan support from the committee, these bills have lingered on the Union Calendar for 40-plus days. I urge the Republican leadership to schedule these bills for consideration, as I am confident they will return to this House with overwhelming bipartisan support.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from Nevada (Ms. Berkley).

I yield myself the balance of my time.

As you've heard, Mr. Speaker, the measure before us represents discrete, commonsense homeland security legislation. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of this motion to suspend the rules and to concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 1801 so that this measure can be presented to the President for his signature.

I would like to congratulate the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Cravaack) and the staffs on both sides of the aisle for their work not only in this Congress but for their work in the 111th Congress, which was when this was brought forward in the prior TSA act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1801, and yield myself such time as I may consume.

First of all, I'd like to acknowledge the work of Chairman King and Ranking Member Thompson.

As a member of the Committee on Homeland Security, I'm pleased that, for the first time in this 112th Congress, the House is considering important transportation security legislation. H.R. 1801, the Risk- Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act, requires the Transportation Security Administration to

develop a plan for providing expedited screening for our military personnel at airport security checkpoints.

Since 2001, there have been more than 2 million troops that have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Last Congress an earlier version of this legislation was accepted as an amendment on a bipartisan basis, as my colleague mentioned earlier, during consideration of the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act, which passed this House by 397 votes in the ``aye'' and 25 in the ``nay,'' but it was not acted upon by the Senate, unfortunately.

H.R. 1801 properly recognizes the preciousness of time to our patriotic men and women serving in our armed services without compromising aviation security. This legislation will ensure that our troops and their families, including 236,963 defense personnel in my own home State in California, are given the opportunity to board an aircraft in a security-approved, expedited manner.

Our troops help keep our country safe. The least we can do is devise methods that help speed up the screening process for our troops that are in uniform and are traveling on airplanes while on official duty.

As our military presence in Iraq winds down, it is important that we remain cognizant of the burdens that deployments and travel have on servicemembers and their families in times of war and peace.

In addition to travel services, I support and urge this Congress, the administration, and the Department of Homeland Security to strengthen all military services and programs for our troops, including increasing veteran recruitment efforts.

Some of the additional military support that this Congress should consider would be, one, providing tax credits for hiring veterans looking for work; two, strengthening much-needed training programs for separating servicemembers; three, encouraging businesses and government contractors to hire the brave men and women who have been deployed and have now returned with developed valuable skills and professionalism while in the Armed Forces; four, ensuring that the servicemembers leave the military career-ready.

H.R. 1801 is one of many opportunities for the American public and this Congress to demonstrate their support to those who are serving bravely. Further, it is important to note that consideration of H.R. 1801 marks the first time in this Congress that the House is considering a bill reported by the Committee on Homeland Security. I and other members of this committee look forward to this legislation not being our last.

A number of commonsense homeland security bills are on the U.S. House of Representatives calendar and warrant timely consideration.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers. If the gentleman from Minnesota has no more speakers, I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 1801 is needed. It's common sense, and it's a piece of legislation with a history of bipartisan support. I urge my colleagues to support this measure and our troops.

Their time is limited, and it certainly shouldn't be wasted in long lines at the airport. Airports all around the country have multiple checkpoints that expedite the security screening process, and our service personnel have earned this privilege as well.

Likewise, I urge the Republican leadership to put on the House floor additional Homeland Security bills and bills aimed at easing our veterans' transition from military service to civilian careers. It's late November in the first session of this 112th Congress. It's coming to an end, the public is hurting, and Congress must act.

With that, Mr. Speaker, on H.R. 1801 I urge my colleagues to unanimously support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1801) to amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for expedited security screenings for members of the Armed Forces, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The bill under consideration today, H.R. 1801, the Risk-Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act, is a bipartisan effort which directs TSA to establish an expedited screening process for members of the Armed Forces and their families when they are traveling on orders throughout our Nation's airports. Currently, military servicemembers traveling on orders must remove their Class A uniform blouse jackets, metal belt buckles and insignia devices before proceeding through security checkpoints.

While it is important every passenger undergo a security screening before boarding a plane, it makes absolutely no sense to require American servicemembers to take off their jackets and medals for TSA screening before boarding their flights home. Unless intelligence identifies a specific threat, we should honor our servicemembers' willingness to sacrifice themselves for our country by treating them as patriots, not operating under the assumption that everyone intends to harm our country's transportation system.

Importantly, this commonsense bill will streamline the screening process for our servicemembers and lead to decreased checkpoint wait times for other American travelers. Moreover, this legislation will complement TSA Administrator Pistole's move toward a risk-based checkpoint screening system for passengers and will prioritize members of the Armed Forces for inclusion into that process.

I am pleased to report that since H.R. 1801 was passed unanimously with bipartisan support in committee, TSA has now begun testing a military ID reading pilot program for U.S. armed servicemembers at Monterey Peninsula Airport in California. While this bill will not let a member of the Armed Forces bypass security, it will require TSA to develop an expedited screening process designed to reduce our servicemember's checkpoint waiting times and focus more resources on unknown and high-risk passengers.

To be clear, this program does not impact the TSA's existing layered aviation security approach that includes Federal air marshals--the last line of defense--Federal flight deck officers, secure flight vetting, AIT machines, TSA intelligence analysts, explosive trace detection, canine teams, credentialing and boarding pass scanning systems, and behavior detection. It is merely part of the highly integrated risk- based analysis system that allows further concentration of limited resources on potentially higher risk passengers.

In closing, I'd like to thank Transportation Security Committee Chairman Mike Rogers and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King for moving this legislation, and all of my colleagues in committee, particularly Ranking Member Bennie Thompson and Subcommittee Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee, for their support.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Farenthold).

I am prepared to close after the gentlewoman from California closes.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from California for her support on this very important bill and the shared importance, value, and trust we place in our military servicemembers.

I urge support of H.R. 1801, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 1801) to amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for expedited security screenings for members of the Armed Forces.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Today I rise in support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 1801.

H.R. 1801 represents a bipartisan, bicameral effort in honor of the members of our Armed Forces by transitioning to an expedited, intelligence-driven screening process for all U.S. soldiers at our Nation's airports.

Shortly after the House passed H.R. 1801 by a vote of 404-0, the Senate, with the support and leadership of Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison and Chairman Jay Rockefeller, amended and passed H.R. 1801 by voice vote.

I have had time to review the Senate amendment, and, quite frankly, I think it improves the underlying bill. It requires coordination between TSA and the Department of Defense in establishing the expedited screening process and clarifies that the TSA Administrator retains the authority to require additional screening for a member of the Armed Forces should intelligence or law enforcement information raise any concerns.

In addition, the Senate amendment allows TSA to include accompanying military family members in the expedited screening process ``to the extent possible.''

Overall, the Senate amendment to H.R. 1801 improves the bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

In closing, I'd like to thank Transportation Security Committee Chairman Mike Rogers and Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King and Ranking Member Bennie Thompson for moving this legislation.

Additionally, I would like to recognize and thank Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and Jay Rockefeller for their leadership in having this measure pass in the Senate.

I would also like to take some time to recognize some of the great staff on the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees, especially Mandy Bowers, Jennifer Arangio, Amanda Parikh, Steven Giaier, Nicole Smith, Jake Vreeburg, and Minnesota's Eighth Congressional District Legislative Director Paul Blocher and his staff for all they have done in this process.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I have no further requests for time, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time to close.

In closing, I would like to thank the gentlelady from California for her refocusing of the debate on who deserves this the most--our troops.

With that, I would urge all of my colleagues to support this. This is a very big amendment for our troops; so let's give them a Christmas present that really means something to them. I look forward to bringing home the Minnesota Red Bulls safe and sound.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.