Transportation Security Technology Innovation Reform Act of 2018

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5730) to require testing and evaluation of advanced transportation security screening technologies related to the mission of the Transportation Security Administration, and for other purposes, 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 any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5730, the Transportation Security Technology Innovation Reform Act of 2018. This legislation represents a culmination of years of bipartisan oversight efforts by the Homeland Security Committee and, more specifically, the Subcommittee on Transportation and Protective Security, which I chair.

My committee colleagues and I have seen, firsthand, the challenges facing TSA in delivering advanced security technologies to the front lines at airports. Technologies such as Computed Tomography and Credential Authentication Technology are years behind where they should be in deployment due to unnecessary delays, opaque testing timelines, and capacity challenges at TSA.

What is even more frustrating is that these technologies, made by American companies, are already deployed at a number of airports overseas in foreign countries, while our own government cannot efficiently test and deploy these already-proven technologies.

For far too long we have seen the traveling public wait for cutting- edge technologies while bureaucratic hindrances and government inefficiencies plague TSA's testing and evaluation process. Today, the House has the opportunity to pass a solution to this problem.

H.R. 5730 will reform and galvanize efforts to bring 21st-century solutions to persistent security challenges facing America's transportation systems. Specifically, this legislation will authorize the core functions of the TSA Systems Integration Facility, or TSIF for short.

The TSIF will be charged with conducting efficient and transparent testing of critical security technologies in a manner that is responsive to stakeholders and the needs of the traveling public.

One key problem that I often hear from technology stakeholders is that TSA does not have the bandwidth or resources to efficiently conduct testing and evaluation of new screening technologies in a timely manner.

This legislation will ensure that adequate staffing and resources are allocated to the TSIF, and that TSA is authorized to collaborate with outside laboratories and stakeholders to expedite the much-needed testing of these technologies.

Further, this legislation provides significant accountability by requiring TSA to share test plans with original equipment manufacturers in order to ensure the integrity and consistency of testing and evaluation processes. The bill includes specific metrics for reporting to Congress and stakeholders on delays in testing so that there is greater visibility into potential bureaucratic hiccups.

H.R. 5730 directs the TSA Administrator to conduct a wholesale evaluation of the agency's testing and acquisition processes and identify areas that can be streamlined and improved. This legislation emphasizes the agency's need to engage and leverage other government agencies, transportation stakeholders, and small businesses, to more effectively and expeditiously deploy critical security technologies.

Mr. Speaker, the Transportation Security Technology Innovation Reform Act of 2018 cuts straight to the heart of the problems plaguing TSA, and directly addresses issues identified by stakeholders.

As any of my committee colleagues can tell you, the threats facing transportation security now are more severe and more troubling than ever, and our ability to effectively mitigate these threats with advanced technology is of the utmost importance.

I wish to thank my friend, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Protective Security, Mrs. Watson Coleman, whose partnership and leadership on this issue has been critical to bringing this bill to the floor today.

I also would like to thank the full committee chairman, Mr. McCaul, for his support of the bill and for shepherding it through the committee process.

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

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

First of all, I want to thank my colleague from Rhode Island for his comments in support of this bill as well, and shepherding it through the process here today on the floor.

I will note--and I want to digress for a moment. We went on a congressional delegation. I led that delegation to Europe and the Middle East several months ago, and it was a bipartisan effort to evaluate the technologies in use at other airports in Europe and in the Middle East. And it was stunning for us to go to those airports and see American-made computed tomography, or 3-D scanners, already on the front lines, already doing the job, already making those airports much safer than ours are today, and those products are made here in the United States.

It is maddening that we had this bureaucratic bottleneck of testing procedures and algorithms and everything else, while the front lines are not being addressed. So this bill attempts to address that backlog, and I am very proud to have been a sponsor of it.

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, and I am prepared to close once the gentleman from Rhode Island does. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

To use an old saying that I like to use, TSA seems to be engaged in the practice of polishing the brass while the fire bell is ringing; and the fire bell is, indeed, ringing with the bad guys trying to get scary technology through our security measures in order to do harm to the American people. And the technologies that are already existing out there are not being put on the front line, and that is a shame. This bill attempts to address that.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the following cost estimate H.R. 5730, the Transportation Security Technology Innovation Reform Act of 2018, prepared by the Congressional Budget Office was not made available to the Committee at the time of filing of the legislative report.

U.S. Congress,

Congressional Budget Office,

Washington, DC, June 28, 2018.

Hon. Michael McCaul,

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has

prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5730, the

Transportation Security Technology Innovation Reform Act of

2018.

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be

pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan

Carrol.

Sincerely,

Keith Hall, Director.

Enclosure.

H.R. 5730--Transportation Security Technology Innovation Reform Act of

2018

As reported by the House Committee on Homeland Security on June 22,

2018

H.R. 5730 would require the Transportation Security

Administration (TSA) to develop programs to test and evaluate

advanced screening technologies related to the agency's

mission. Using information from TSA, CBO expects that meeting

the bill's requirements would not add significantly to the

cost of existing and similar activities related to

transportation security. CBO estimates that any change in

federal spending under the bill--which would be subject to

appropriation--would total less than $500,000 annually.

Enacting H.R. 5730 would not affect direct spending or

revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.

CBO estimates that H.R. 5730 would not increase net direct

spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive

10-year periods beginning in 2029.

H.R. 5730 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll.

This estimate was reviewed by Theresa Gullo, Assistant

Director for Budget Analysis.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5730, the Transportation Security Technology Innovation Reform Act of 2018. H.R. 5730 authorizes TSA's Transportation Security Administration Systems Integration Facility, or TSIF.

Threats against the transportation system are constantly evolving. They demand the TSA be proactive in developing new and innovative technologies. By authorizing the TSIF, H.R. 5730 directs TSA to evaluate, test, collaborate on and, ultimately, deliver advance screening technologies.

H.R. 5730 also includes language to ensure that TSA has the necessary staff and resources to develop the best

and most cutting-edge technology. Importantly, the bill includes language authored by the Ranking Member, Mr. Thompson, to enhance the level of support TSA provides to small businesses throughout TSA's technology testing and procurement process.

Greater participation of small businesses, really, where innovation happens, in the security marketplace, will not only help ensure that promising technologies are pursued; it will also help TSA move away from its reliance on a handful of large technology manufacturers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the House to support this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

H.R. 5730 is focused on closing security capability gaps and streamlining the technology acquisitions process at TSA.

When everything is said and done, TSA's ultimate mission is to ensure the safety and security of the traveling public, and H.R. 5730 would do just that.

I commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. Katko) for his work on this legislation. I think it is going to make an appreciable difference in keeping the traveling public safe.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5730, and I yield back the balance of my time.