PreCheck is PreCheck Act of 2018

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6265) to ensure that only travelers who are members of a trusted traveler program use Transportation Security Administration security screening lanes designated for trusted travelers, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in 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. 6265, the PreCheck is PreCheck Act of 2018. The name of this bipartisan legislation demonstrates my belief that the Transportation Security Administration should use its PreCheck screening lanes at airport checkpoints as they were originally intended.

This bipartisan bill codifies a solution to a longstanding frustration that I and others have reiterated to TSA on many occasions: PreCheck lanes should not be used as tools to manage congestion for passengers in an airport. Instead of employing a one-size-fits-all approach to passenger security screening, the concept underlying TSA's PreCheck program is one of risk-based security.

This should, when applied as intended, save taxpayer dollars and result in an enhanced security checkpoint experience for all travelers. However, the stated benefits of the PreCheck program have been consistently undermined by TSA's practice of moving unvetted passengers into PreCheck lanes for the sake of expediency.

I have said it before and I will say it again: Security cannot be sacrificed for expediency.

This legislation will require TSA to ensure that only travelers who are members of trusted traveler programs are permitted to use PreCheck security screening lanes at TSA checkpoints throughout the country.

To address the issue of passenger throughput, H.R. 6265 also provides a framework for TSA to expedite screening for passengers who have been determined to pose a lower risk to aviation security.

The effects of this legislation will be far-reaching. By restoring the PreCheck program to its original purpose, passengers who have elected to participate will experience a shorter checkpoint process they were promised when they first enrolled in the program. Additionally, passengers will be more incentivized to enroll in a trusted traveler program when it is working as it should.

To achieve TSA's stated goal of enrolling 25 million passengers by the end of 2019, restricting PreCheck expedited screening lanes to vetted, enrolled passengers is a necessity.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member of the subcommittee, my friend, the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman), for cosponsoring this bill and for her leadership on this issue. I also thank my good friend Congressman Keating for his bipartisan support of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to echo the sentiments of my colleague from New Jersey, the gentlewoman, Mrs. Watson Coleman. She is exactly right. This program is not being used like it is supposed to be used.

The idea of PreCheck was to have a known, trusted traveler program, a traveler program where someone walks through and gets a different level of scrutiny because you know enough about them in advance. When you put people through that same lane and they get a different level of scrutiny that they shouldn't have because you don't know about them, it entirely defeats the purpose of the bill. With terrorism what it is today and the zest to try to attack our aviation industry, it is not a time we should be cutting corners to manage traffic.

Mrs. Watson Coleman is exactly right. We need to have more people staffing these lanes, and we need to have a better running of the PreCheck program itself. If they did those two things, then we would be okay; but we cannot cut corners when it comes to security, especially in the aviation sector.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6265, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the following cost estimate for H.R. 6265, the PreCheck is Precheck Act of 2018 prepared by the Congressional Budget Office was not available to the Committee at the time of filing of the legislative report.

U.S. Congress,

Congressional Budget Office,

Washington, DC, October 11, 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. 6265, the

PreCheck is PreCheck 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. 6265--PreCheck is PreCheck Act of 2018

As passed by the House of Representatives on September 4, 2018

The federal government--primarily through the

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)--administers

several risk-based programs that facilitate, through advanced

vetting of applicants, expedited screening of participating

passengers at security checkpoints. H.R. 6265 would require

TSA to ensure that only travelers who are members of such

programs are permitted to use expedited security-screening

lanes (often called PreCheck lanes) at TSA-regulated

airports. The act would require the agency to increase

enrollment in such programs and to conduct a pilot program

related to the use of modified screening procedures for

passengers deemed to pose low security risks. The legislation

also would specify other administrative and reporting

requirements.

Using information from TSA, CBO estimates that implementing

H.R. 6265 would not significantly affect the federal budget.

The agency is already implementing activities that are

similar to those envisioned under H.R. 6265. As a result, CBO

expects that any change in the agency's spending--which would

be subject to appropriation--would be insignificant.

Enacting H.R. 6265 would not affect direct spending or

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

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6265 would not increase

net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four

consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.

H.R. 6265 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.

The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy

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. 6265, the PreCheck is PreCheck Act of 2018.

Mr. Speaker, in 2011, the Transportation Security Administration launched the PreCheck program to expedite vetted, known travelers through airport checkpoint screening. Today, TSA PreCheck is in more than 200 airports nationwide, improving security by allowing TSA to focus resources on the passengers it knows the least about who may pose a higher risk to the aviation system.

While PreCheck has generally proven popular with passengers, there is a concern that TSA has strayed from the program's original intent. In an effort to manage checkpoint wait times, TSA has pushed travelers who are not enrolled in PreCheck into expedited screening lanes.

While I recognize that large crowds of passengers waiting at checkpoints could pose a security risk, the way to prevent long lines is to staff checkpoints sufficiently, not to abuse the availability of expedited screening lanes.

H.R. 6265 seeks to address this issue by requiring that PreCheck lanes be used only by trusted travelers, with limited exceptions.

It also requires TSA to pilot a risk-modified screening concept under which a new level of screening, somewhere between PreCheck expedited screening and standard screening, could be provided to passengers who TSA deems to pose a lower risk to security.

Finally, this bill pushes TSA to grow participation in the PreCheck program by providing more innovative and convenient enrollment opportunities for passengers.

This bill is a result of bipartisan work and builds upon legislation that the Committee on Homeland Security ranking member, Mr. Thompson, advanced in the last Congress; and it is my delight to work with the current sponsor of this bill, Mr. Katko, as we move forward to ensure that traveling passengers are always safe. I thank Mr. Katko for his collaboration on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, Members on both sides of the aisle have been frustrated by not only TSA's use of PreCheck lanes to address wait times, but its failure to make significant progress in improving PreCheck enrollment opportunities. Enactment of H.R. 6265 should help TSA achieve its original vision for the PreCheck program.

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