Juror Non-Discrimination Act of 2021

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1097, I call up the bill (H.R. 903) to enhance the security operations of the Transportation Security Administration and stability of the transportation security workforce by applying the personnel system under title 5, United States Code, to employees of the Transportation Security Administration who provide screening of all passengers and property, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, H.R. 903, the Rights for the Transportation Security Administration Workforce Act.

This critical legislation will bring equity and improve working conditions to the Transportation Security Administration by providing better pay, expanded collective bargaining rights, and basic civil service protection to the agency's workforce.

The essential employees of the TSA have continued to work throughout the pandemic, never relenting in their mission to secure air travel despite the risks to their health. They did so before the pandemic and continue to do so now despite enduring two decades of low pay and a lack of basic workplace rights enjoyed by most other Federal employees.

These shortcomings have led to low morale and high turnover impacting TSA's ability to cultivate a mature workforce that can skillfully combat the constantly evolving threats to our Nation's transportation systems. In 2020, TSA ranked dead last on pay satisfaction as part of the annual Best Places to Work in the Federal Government survey.

In addition, the most recent analysis done on employee turnover at TSA shows that over a 2-year span, one in three transportation security officers, or TSOs, quit. That analysis also revealed that in a single year, TSA spent approximately $16 million to hire and onboard nearly 2,000 people who left just months after they got the job. This revolving door of recruiting, training, and then losing TSOs is unsustainable and underscores the need to find a permanent solution that will ensure TSA lives up to its critical national security mission. H.R. 903 would permanently move TSA under title 5 of U.S. Code and eliminate the existing personnel management system that is the source of many of the problems I have enumerated.

This bill will result in better pay and regular salary increases for workers who too often live paycheck to paycheck and experience long paths to career advancement despite years on the job. Employees will benefit from the same collective bargaining rights under H.R. 903 that other Federal employees have, empowering them to collaborate with TSA management to improve working conditions at the agency.

Employees who believe they have experienced wrongful discipline could appeal their case to a neutral party to be heard, just as other Federal employees are able to do. It would eliminate TSA leadership's ability to abuse special personnel authorities in ways that have historically benefited those at the top. In other words, Mr. Speaker, people at the top get big raises but people at the bottom get the short end of the stick.

TSA management would still be able to remove employees from duties if they could compromise the mission of the agency. Furthermore, just like any other unionized Federal agency, TSA's security procedures would not be subject to collective bargaining with the workforce.

We are fortunate to have an administration in the White House that understands the importance of making these changes. This week, the Biden administration issued a Statement of Administration Policy voicing strong support for the bill and noting it is in line with the President's budget request for 2023.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the Statement of Administration Policy.

Statement of Administration Policy

h.r. 903--rights for the tsa workforce act of 2022--rep. thompson, d-

ms, and 231 cosponsors

The Administration strongly supports passage of H.R. 903,

the Rights for the Transportation Security Administration

(TSA) Workforce Act of 2022. This legislation is an important

step in ensuring equitable pay for the TSA workforce and is

aligned with the 2023 President's Budget request to improve

pay for TSA employees. The Administration looks forward to

working with the Congress to enact and fund this important

legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I also applaud the Biden administration for the steps it has taken on its own over the last year to expand employees' access to the Merit Systems Protection Board and explore expanded collective bargaining and increased pay for the workforce. About a year ago, the Secretary of Homeland Security released a memo that instructed the TSA Administrator to make progress on improving pay, collective bargaining, and third-party appeals rights.

Laudably, the President's budget for fiscal year 2023 includes a historic proposal to invest in the TSA workforce in these ways. But critically, crucially, these changes would only apply to the coming fiscal year. That is why it is so essential to pass H.R. 903 so that future administrations cannot turn back the clock on these frontline aviation security workers.

We all know that the nature of an investment is that you have to put some money in upfront and see the returns later. Unlike a typical investment, however, we already have a snapshot into the financial benefit this legislation would yield to workers.

Earlier this year, TSA shared with us that the passage of H.R. 903 would result in a 30 percent salary increase for the entire TSO workforce and a 21 percent increase for Federal air marshals and other law enforcement officers within the agency, bringing them in line with their peers doing similar work at other agencies.

That is astounding, Mr. Speaker, on its face, and it is the least we can do for the men and women who see us each week as we pass through our home airports on the way to Washington, D.C.

Most Members, Republicans and Democrats, thank them for the job that they are doing and say if there is

anything they can do to help, just let them know. Well, Mr. Speaker, passing this bill would do exactly that.

H.R. 903 has 231 bipartisan cosponsors and is strongly supported by the American Federation of Government Employees, the Air Marshals Association, the Association of Flight Attendants, the Transport Workers Union of America, the Transportation Trades Department, the AFL-CIO, and the National Urban League.

I include in the Record letters of support from these organizations.

American Federation of

Government Employees, AFL-CIO,

Washington, DC, May 6, 2022.

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the American Federation

of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE), which represents

more than 700,000 federal and District of Columbia employees

in 70 agencies, including approximately 45,000 Transportation

Security Officers (TSOs) who protect the flying public, I

write to urge you to vote in support of H.R. 903, the

``Rights for the Transportation Security Administration

Workforce Act of 2021'' when it is considered on the House

floor next week.

Passage of H.R. 903 would finally provide due process and

fair pay to TSOs by requiring full collective bargaining

rights and the GS-pay scale as is enjoyed by most federal

government workers. When the Transportation Security

Administration (TSA) was established, its administrator was

given uniquely broad authority over the workforce to set pay

and working conditions. As a result, TSOs do not benefit from

the Fair Labor Standards Act or the General Schedule pay

scale and do not have representational rights accorded by

Congress to most of the federal workforce under the Civil

Service Reform Act of 1978. Under current law, TSOs cannot

appeal adverse personnel decisions to a neutral third party,

rights that are held by the non-TSO workforce at TSA as well

as most law enforcement officers who serve elsewhere within

the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Other DHS

employees, clearly vital to our national security, can and do

appeal adverse actions not only to the Merit Systems

Protection Board (MSPB) but also to the U.S. Court of

Appeals.

When the bill was considered in the House Homeland Security

Committee, I testified in support of the legislation and

shared stories of the struggles TSOs have suffered under

TSA's separate and unequal personnel management system. They

are stories of harassment, intimidation, humiliation,

discrimination and most of all, stories of the despair TSOs

face with no neutral party to turn to. This separate system

is a failure that has fostered a toxic culture that will not

change without legislative action.

On June 3, 2021 Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro

Mayorkas directed TSA Administrator David Pekoske to issue a

new determination and bargain a new contract with the union

to ``more closely mirror the rights and benefits that are

provided to bargaining unit employees under Chapter 71 of

Title 5 of the United States Code.'' In issuing this

directive, Secretary Mayorkas acknowledged that statutorily,

the provisions under title 5 cannot be directly granted and

the TSO workforce does not have the direct right to appeal

adverse actions to MSPB. This can only be corrected in law.

In the nearly 21-year history of TSA, the Secretary's

action was both unprecedented and highly welcomed. However,

his directive makes clear this is a temporary step to provide

relief until these rights can be secured in statute. The time

is now to step up and recognize the rushed decision almost 21

years ago to allow at separate personnel system no longer

serves the employees of TSA appropriately, and thereby

extends a disservice to the American public and to aviation

security.

H.R. 903 honors TSOs' dedication to America's aviation

security by:

Statutorily repealing the TSA Administrator's authority to

maintain a separate and unequal personnel system that applies

only to the TSO workforce;

Statutorily ending the TSA personnel directives that have

allowed TSA to be the judge and jury, with no neutral third-

party review, in workforce disciplinary matters and providing

statutory access to MSPB;

Requiring TSA to follow the labor-management employee

relations statutes that provide workplace rights and

protections to most federal government employees under Title

5 of the U.S. Code; and

Putting TSOs on the General Schedule pay scale with regular

step increases, under which most federal employees' pay is

determined. While it takes 18 years to advance to the top

step in the GS system, it takes 30 years to advance through a

TSA pay band. AFGE notes that President Biden included

sufficient funds in his Fiscal Year 2023 Budget to all for

the migration to the GS system and the necessary bargaining

and MSPB rights.

I ask you to vote in support of H.R. 903 and oppose any

amendments that weaken its intent to achieve fair pay, a fair

opportunity and put an end to this failed, toxic system.

AFGE appreciates your support of our nation's TSOs and we

look forward to working with you to improve the agency and

the rights of its dedicated workforce that keeps the flying

public safe.

Sincerely,

Everett B. Kelley,

National President.

Mr. Speaker, the momentum we need to vote this legislation over the finish line is there, and I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will honor the work of our brave TSOs and the commitment they have made to them by voting for this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne).

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

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see my colleague, the ranking member. But let me just correct him on his correction of the gentleman from New Jersey. A person that works in the Department of Homeland Security is not a labor representative. The labor representative that Mr. Payne referenced is an organized labor representative with the AFL-CIO.

The other thing my ranking member can do, he will have a chance to vote on the President's budget. The raise for the employees is in the budget. I look forward to that opportunity presenting itself. Our TSOs need a raise. If we don't, the gymnastics here on the floor doesn't pay rent, doesn't pay mortgage, doesn't pay tuition, doesn't even buy groceries.

So at the end of the day, let's give these good folks who do a good job an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. That is the spirit in which this legislation is put forward.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, for the Record, title 5 will prevent the misconduct we have seen at TSA, such as senior managers awarding each other over $90,000 in bonuses.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, for the Record, title 5 is not a union. It is a personnel system. It means that if you have rights as an employee of the Federal Government, you know what those rights are. That is not a union.

Now, for TSOs who voted to have a bargaining unit, and they chose the American Federation of Government Employees to be their bargaining unit, that is all. In America, people have choices. Our TSOs decided that they wanted to have union representation, which in America, in a democracy, is their right. I respect that right, and they have done it.

Now we have to treat them like all other Federal employees. That is just what this bill does. There is nothing else here. It just puts them under title 5 just like every other national security-related law enforcement agency, and we are in good shape, so they can pay their mortgages, they can pay their rent, they can do for their children like other Federal employees, plain and simple. Not a big deal.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Correa), a subcommittee chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security.

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

Mr. Speaker, the policies with reference to flying on planes have remained consistent under successive administrations of both parties, including the Trump administration. These passengers have their identities verified through CBP and ICE and received enhanced screening. If the individuals are on the terrorist watch list and they are not U.S. citizens, they are transferred to ICE for title 8 processing and detention.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the robust debate we have had today for this legislation and amendments my colleagues will be offering that seek to improve the bill. But you can't spend thanks. If I told a TSO, ``Thank you for your service,'' almost to the person, they would say, ``Then give me a raise. Treat me like all other Federal employees.''

As our country emerges from what we hope is the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot forget about the TSOs, air marshals, and others within TSA who never paused their work in service of our national security.

With estimates that the number of passengers who travel through airports in fiscal year 2023 will exceed prepandemic figures by 4.5 percent, we are again asking them to do more than ever and not pay them any additional money. Treat them like everybody else. Passage of this legislation will send a clear signal that we acknowledge their commitment and agree they deserve the compensation and workplace protection that reflects that.

In this country, you pay for what you get. Pay our TSOs what they deserve and treat them like all other Federal employees. A 30 percent increase is what this bill would do for our TSOs, and they deserve it. They have earned it. I thank my colleagues for their support and urge passage of H.R. 903.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 1097, I offer amendments en bloc.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of these amendments which seek to improve the work experiences of TSA employees, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. Wexton).

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

Mr. Speaker, I support these amendments en bloc consisting of amendments from my colleagues from Michigan, Virginia, Indiana, New Jersey, and New York.

These amendments, like the entire bill, requires TSA to engage its workforce, hear employee concerns, and make improvements in the service of our homeland security.

As we have heard today, morale and retention at TSA are alarmingly low. This is even more alarming when considering the fact that TSA is a majority-minority workforce, with more than half its workers identifying as people of color. It is important that TSA employees have a safe workplace, free of harassment, and that agency leadership reflects the diversity of its workforce as well.

These amendments offer solutions to real problems faced by TSA employees, such as commuting challenges at airports, as they go about their critical mission to keep air travel secure for the American people.

I thank my colleagues for offering these amendments, and I urge the House to join me in supporting them.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 903. When Congress created the Transportation Security Administration more than 20 years ago in the wake of the attacks on 9/11, this body provided the TSA Administrator with unique authorities in the management of its personnel.

H.R. 903 would eliminate this vital flexibility and infringe upon TSA's ability to immediately respond to evolving threats and to protect the traveling public.

This bill goes against Congress' intent by moving an entire agency into

an antiquated 1940s system of title 5 of the U.S. Code. TSA will not be able to take emerging intelligence and quickly change security screening procedures at airports without unnecessary and dangerous delays due to the collective bargaining requirements of this bill.

Since 9/11, TSA has kept our Nation's transportation system secure. Airport screeners and Federal air marshals have responded time and time again to emerging threats.

For example, checkpoint screenings procedures were changed almost overnight in response to the liquid explosive plot in 2006 and the personal electronic device threat in 2017. Such immediate and agile responses will be severely hindered under H.R. 903. Security policies should not be subject to union bargaining.

In addition, TSA will no longer be able to easily remove employees who have committed serious misconduct. If a TSA screener is caught smuggling drugs or weapons, it will be nearly impossible for TSA to immediately terminate them due to the layers of bureaucracy in the title 5 system.

According to TSA, this bill will cost an astronomical amount of almost $8 billion over a 5-year period, and much of that money won't go to the frontline personnel. The amount of overhead costs associated with moving an entire agency to title 5 means that billions of dollars will be spent on the transition and will require the hiring of hundreds of new employees, not frontline workers who would be protecting the traveling public but, instead, bureaucrats who will facilitate this massive labor relations effort.

If we actually want to address the needs of frontline workers, we would focus on securing more funding for their pay. Instead, H.R. 903 will waste billions in taxpayer dollars to create more bureaucracy and provide even more money to headquarters and those who work there who already have a much higher salary than the dedicated frontline personnel.

I am extremely concerned that passing this bill would create a massive unfunded mandate that will ultimately divert critical funding from other important DHS priorities like border security, cybersecurity, and emergency response.

If my friends in the majority were truly focused on prioritizing and improving the pay of TSA frontline workers, rather than prioritizing and empowering the unions, they would support frontline pay raises without the expense and the unnecessary bureaucracy of title 5.

Unfortunately, the majority rejected an amendment by Ranking Member Katko at the markup that would have done just that--improve the pay of frontline screeners and air marshals, not the high-paid bureaucrats at headquarters, without all the waste that title 5 would provide.

I and many of my colleagues stand ready to raise pay for frontline workers, but I cannot in good conscience support a bill that is fiscally irresponsible, undermines our national security, hinders the agency's missions and flexibility, and prioritizes the interests of the unions over the interests of the dedicated frontline workforce and the traveling public.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 903, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Katko).

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gooden).

Mr. GOODEN OF Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Texas for stating so eloquently what I and I believe everyone in this Chamber agrees with, and that is that the TSA agents, the men and women who work for the American people at the airport, are protecting our Nation.

They are on the front lines, which is why I am rising today to urge my colleagues to do something very simple, and that is to protect Americans from terrorists and dangerous criminals when they fly and to assist the TSA by taking away a very dangerous policy that they have enacted from the top that they are encouraging and forcing these agents on the front lines to deal with. That policy is one of allowing illegal aliens onto commercial aircraft without proper identification.

It was confirmed to me from the TSA administrator that migrants are allowed to use arrest warrants and warrants for deportation to board flights alongside everyday travelers. This was confirmed to me before Christmas last year. Despite my demands and those of many of my colleagues, the Biden administration has done nothing to stop this. Anyone in this country illegally, or with a warrant for arrest, should be detained and brought before a judge, not permitted to travel to the city of their choice.

This should be a commonsense request. I will remind my colleagues that the TSA was created in response to the September 11 attacks, but it seems as if we have forgotten that. The lax policies by the TSA that allow unvetted aliens to board flights without identification presents a serious national security threat each and every day and jeopardizes the lives of the American people.

My constituents, and I would venture to argue those of my colleagues, perhaps some of my open border friends across the aisle, would agree that our constituents deserve to fly in a safe aircraft.

My constituents have to pull out an ID to board a flight, but this TSA has said that if you have an arrest warrant, that is good enough to get through security. I think that is crazy, and I think the American people do as well. I introduced this motion to recommit to protect our skies, verify the identity of travelers, and notify law enforcement if someone is in our country illegally.

There is zero excuse to delay when the ongoing border crisis is putting every single community in our Nation at risk. In just 10 months, the Biden administration allowed over 45,000 noncitizens to fly without an ID, nearly 160 passengers each and every day. We also know this administration is allowing people on the terrorist watch list into our country, and we have no clue who is boarding these flights.

I urge my colleagues to protect our airways and prevent another tragedy like 9/11 from occurring by adopting this motion.

Mr. Speaker, if we adopt the motion to recommit, we will instruct the Committee on Homeland Security to consider my amendment to H.R. 903 to prohibit the TSA from accepting documents such as an arrest warrant or notice to appear as a valid form of identification. I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the Record immediately prior to the vote on the motion to recommit.

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

Mr. Speaker, I think it is clear that all Republicans support increasing the pay of our TSA frontline workers. We know that they are crucial to the security of our traveling public.

But this bill that we are here debating is not a bill that deals specifically with that. If that were the case, in markup Ranking Member Katko's amendment, an amendment that would have provided a $3,000 immediate salary increase to all frontline workers, 5 percent raise on top of that, year one; year 2, a 3 percent raise; year 3, a 3 percent raise; year 4, a 4 percent raise.

This bill that we are talking about today is a bill that is not just to increase pay, which we all agree on, but this is, instead, a labor bill. This is, instead, an attempt to unionize an entire Federal agency.

Mr. Payne spoke about that a little bit when he got up a few moments ago when he talked about the blue-ribbon committee that was established and said that there was not one labor leader on that committee. We shouldn't be putting labor leaders in the position of putting them on committees where we are talking about protecting the traveling public. That committee that he referred to, in 2019 TSA received a report from that bipartisan committee--and I stress that it was a bipartisan committee, the Blue Ribbon Panel Reviewing TSA Human Capital Service Delivery. The panel was composed of former officials from both Democratic and Republican administrations and included the chief human capital officer for DHS under former President Obama.

It says that they strongly--not just recommended, but they strongly recommended against moving TSA personnel under title 5, and then this is a quote directly from that report, and it says here, ``One recommendation the panel heard repeatedly from employees was moving TSA into the General Schedule (GS). The Panel does not agree. The General Schedule is a 70-year-old classification and compensation system from the last century and is the subject of countless studies and recommendations from good government organizations who consistently find it is too inflexible to meet the needs of the 21st century workforce. A better course of action is to use existing ATSA flexibility to improve the TSA pay system so that it operates at a level superior to the GS system.''

Those are not my words. Those are not the words of Republicans. Those are the words of a blue-ribbon committee which was established to study this very thing. Here we see that Congress is going to completely ignore the findings of that committee. We are going to ignore a committee made up of TSA workers, employees, personnel, and supervisors who served on a committee that was established to look at this very point, and we are going to completely ignore that.

We are going to now do exactly what this committee recommended against. And we are doing that not because we want to increase the pay of the frontline workers, which again we all agree on and we all support. We would support a bill today that would do that without putting everyone under title 5. But what this bill is, this is an attempt to unionize an entire Federal agency and a bill which would make the traveling public less safe.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I close by thanking the men and women of TSA, especially the screeners, air marshals, and other frontline workers.

The debate we are having today does not impact the sincere appreciation we have for the tremendous job they do each and every day to secure the transportation system.

While we disagree on the best way forward, we all share the same goal of improving the pay and morale for TSA frontline workforce. It is important not only for the success of the agency but for the security of our Nation. Unfortunately, this bill is not the answer, and, therefore, I cannot support it.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 903, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the amendment. While I appreciate some of the issues my majority colleagues seek to address in this en bloc amendment, the bottom line is, there is nothing that will improve the bill or address the multiple concerns I have in it.

Nothing in this en bloc amendment will preserve TSA's flexible authority to implement immediate security procedures in the face of national security threats. Nothing in this en bloc will ensure that screeners who commit gross misconduct are immediately relieved of their duties. Nothing in this en bloc will protect the rest of the Department of Homeland Security from having its key mission areas--like border security, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism vetting--from being raided to pay for this massive unfunded mandate.

Therefore, I urge my colleagues to oppose this en bloc amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendments en bloc, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, again, these arguments go to further what we talked about earlier. This bill is not about a pay increase for our frontline workers. This isn't a bill about protecting the traveling public. This is a bill about unionizing an entire Federal agency.

My friends across the aisle say that TSA already has the authority to do what Representative Cammack's

amendment sets forth. What is the harm in putting that in the body of the legislation itself?

Should it not be clear to everyone who reads the legislation that collective bargaining should not hold up improvement to security? Should that not be made clear?

Should we not set forth that they already have that? What harm does it do in setting that forth again?

Again, we all want to see that our TSA frontline workers get the pay raise that they need and deserve. What we oppose on the Republican side is the complete unionization of this Federal agency.

I will tell you that this is a critical amendment to our national security. Historically, we look back, and when Congress stood up TSA in the wake of 9/11, they deliberately provided flexibility to the agency to deal with the evolving threats to our transportation system. It is imperative that the TSA Administrator maintain that authority to make immediate changes to screening procedures when addressing national security threats.

The amendment of my good friend from Florida simply preserves that authority and makes it clear that the Administrator has that authority and exempts security procedures from the collective bargaining process.

Without this critical amendment, security changes like those made in response to the 2006 liquid explosives or the 2017 personal electronic device plot could be significantly hampered or delayed if subject to collective bargaining. We simply cannot afford to put our national security on the bargaining table.

I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for leading this important issue, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

My amendment would sunset the requirements of H.R. 903 at the end of fiscal year 2022 if Congress does not appropriate sufficient funds to carry out the bill.

With H.R. 903 having an estimated cost to taxpayers of nearly $2 billion, or $8 billion if you use TSA's own estimates, it is critical that the bill does not simply become an astronomical unfunded mandate.

This amendment will remove this bill's requirement to move TSA to title 5 if sufficient funding is not appropriated specifically for those requirements. This will protect other critical homeland security missions, like cybersecurity and border security, from being raided to pay for this legislation.

In TSA's feedback on H.R. 903, they explicitly stated this: Implementation of H.R. 903 ``without additional, adequate appropriations would have dire impacts upon the TSA mission and negatively impact national and economic security.''

Let me read that again. It said that without proper appropriations, it would have a dire impact ``upon the TSA mission and negatively impact national and economic security.'' That is from TSA itself.

Those are the words of the agency that we are looking at changing, and they are warning us. They are warning Congress that if we do this, and then we don't follow through with the funding, we are putting the traveling public at risk. If this is not clear enough, I don't know what is.

I urge all Members to support this fiscally responsible amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers so I am prepared to close when the majority is prepared.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. In closing, I refer back to the words of TSA. These are not my words. These are not the words of the Republican caucus. These are the words of TSA, which was tasked with a critical mission, and the words of TSA are words that we should take into account when we are debating this amendment and debating this bill.

The words of TSA: Implementation of H.R. 903 ``without additional, adequate appropriations would have dire impacts upon the TSA mission and negatively impact national and economic security.''

This amendment is simple. If we are not going to fund this, we cannot put our national and economic security at risk, and this should be sunsetted.

I ask my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of this committee and the ranking member on the floor, and let me express my appreciation for his acknowledgment and recognition that we should do something. I know he wants to do something. I am going to try to encourage him to do something to alter his position and to stand with this legislation.

I want to take a moment to present tribute and accolades, as should be, though he never asked for such, to our chairman. I cannot remember a day that he did not gather us to meet with the transportation security officers, the American Federation of Government Employees, and others, over a decade maybe, as I chaired the Transportation Security Committee of the Homeland Security Committee, where he has not worked without ceasing, we have not joined him without ceasing, to be able to rectify this injustice. That is what it is. It is a plain and simple injustice.

I stand on this floor, in the name of Gerardo Hernandez, from the Los Angeles airport, who died in the line of duty as a TSA officer. We met his family. We mourn with them. We mourn with those who suffer.

We mourn with those who lost their lives in the pandemic, front line, really front line, because before this was even diagnosed, there were COVID patients or COVID-infected persons going through airports, and our TSOs had no experience, protection, and they were becoming infected by the dozens, and many died.

So breaking news today. This is a breaking news story. This legislation now comes to remedy and solve the problem we have needed to fix, really since 9/11 and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

Specifically, the bill within 180 days eliminates personnel authorities of the

Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation governing the conditions of employment of TSA employees, thus making TSA employees subject to the personnel management system applicable to other Federal employees.

Justice, fairness, the removal of injustice, sets forth transition rules that protect the pay rates, leave rights and other rights of TSA employees, and requires DHS to consult with the labor organizations certified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority to carry out the conversion of such positions.

Let me be very clear: Those persons sitting at desks may wind up in some airport in the midst of crisis. How do I know? During Hurricane Harvey, tens upon tens of TSA and TSO officers flew into Houston because our officers were desperate, suffering from this catastrophic flood and rain.

So it should be across the board. It is fair. It should be no different from other Federal employees. The bill directs the TSA to consult with public and private entities associated with the Federal air marshals to address concerns regarding Federal air marshals, including mental health and suicide rates. Absolutely imperative.

I went to the office of the Federal air marshals when they were under stress, and they thought that they were imploding. The atmosphere of flying, the hours, and the lack of sensitivity of those hours, drove mental health cases among the Federal air marshals. We went to tell them that they were important and that we were going to work on this.

How long must we wait? This bill prohibits TSA employees from using or installing the social media video application TikTok on U.S. Government-issued mobile devices, cleaning things up; requires DHS to prioritize the hiring of veterans, including disabled veterans; and directs the TSA to ensure its employees are provided proper guidance regarding prevention and protections against the coronavirus.

But what it also does is retention. Do you know how much rotation goes on with these TSOs? We bring them in young. Every time I go to airports across America, they are the ones that I stop and talk to. ``How long have you been here?'' I applaud them when they say: ``We came in one year after.'' ``We came in the same year.'' I say: ``You are lifers. Thank you for your service.''

We try to encourage younger persons to understand that they are on the front lines saving lives, because as our chairman said, every day they are picking up guns and various other things that can be a danger to the traveling public. It is crucial that we recognize this.

Mr. Speaker, I acknowledge, again, the shooting incident of Gerardo Hernandez, who became the first officer killed in the line of duty. There was the machete attack at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport that resulted in injury to Senior Transportation Security Officer Carol Richel.

This bill represents longstanding priority. It is breaking news. I stand with TSOs, and I stand with the TSA. It is long overdue. They saved us after 9/11. They came in and stood in the gap. We must fix the morale. We must get rid of the allegation of mismanagement and wasteful procedures, retaliation against whistleblowers, low morale, and security gaps within the agency. This will do that.

So I ask my colleagues to support it. I am on the Budget Committee, and it is paid for. This is going to be the pathway of professionalism at the airport, saving lives, protecting the public, and ensuring that we have a professional, young, and growing team that is going to be part of America's front lines. I ask my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 903, Rights for the TSA Workforce Act, which bill modifies the workplace rights, protections, and benefits applicable to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel.

Specifically, the bill:

Within 180 days, eliminates personnel authorities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and theDepartment of Transportation governing the conditions of employment for TSA employees, thus making TSA employees subject to the personnel management system applicable to other federal employees;

Sets forth transition rules that protect the pay rates, leave rights, and other rights of TSA employees; and

Requires DHS to consult with the labor organization certified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority to carry out the conversion of such positions.

The bill also:

Directs the TSA to consult with public and private entities associated with the Federal Air Marshal Service to address concerns regarding federal air marshals, including mental health and suicide rates;

Prohibits TSA employees from using or installing the social media video application TikTok on U.S.government-issued mobile devices;

Requires DHS to prioritize the hiring of veterans, including disabled veterans; and

Directs the TSA to ensure its employees are provided proper guidance regarding prevention and protections against the coronavirus (i.e., the virus that causes COVID-19).

I view the work of the TSA as vital to our Nation's homeland security.

The agency mission is to protect the Nation's transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce.

The Committee on Homeland Security provides the needed policy guidance and funding to ensure that the TSA has what it needs to create and sustain the most effective transportation security as a high performing counterterrorism organization.

The work of the TSA is a front-line Department of Homeland Security and it is not easy--it can, in fact, be very dangerous.

Like many of my colleagues, I recall the shooting incident at LAX that killed Gerardo Hernandez, who became the first TSA officer killed in the line of duty; and the machete attack at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport that resulted in injuries to Senior Transportation Security Officer Carol Richel.

These incidents only highlight the difficult work that the men and women of the TSA must perform each day to keep our Nation's airports and flights safe.

The bill represents a longstanding priority, since the time I chaired the Homeland Security Committee Subcommittee on Transportation Security to extend to TSA employees the same rights and protections afforded to all federal government employees. The legislation curtails TSA's broad authorities to create and control its personnel systems, instead requiring TSA to abide by the provisions of title 5 which regulate personnel systems for most Federal agencies.

The bill would provide TSA employees with the workforce protections and benefits available to most other Federal workers.

The bill sets forth transition rules to protect the rate of pay and other rights of TSA employees during a transition to title 5.

The bill also requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to consult with the appropriate labor organizations to carry out the transition. This bill does not affect prohibitions against disloyalty and asserting the right to strike against the federal government.

The bill also extends the timeline for the transition from 60 days to a more realistic 180 days, and it contains language to protect employees with grievances or disciplinary actions pending during the transition.

Following terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, there was urgency to have a whole of government response to secure the Nation's commercial aviation.

On that day, nearly 3,000 people were killed in a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

The attacks resulted in the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, which was designed to prevent similar attacks in the future by removing the responsibility for transportation security from private entities.

The Aviation and Transportation Security Act, passed by the 107th Congress and signed on November 19, 2001, established TSA just 2 months following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The urgent need to provide a response to the available security threat was facing meant that much of the work to provide administrative structure and integration measures that would have woven in the civil service protections now be added did not occur at that time.

The urgency of establishing TSA created another type of federal employee with no job security, worker rights, and ability to advance within the federal workforce.

The consequences of these shortcomings is high turnover, low morale, and higher costs for training and retaining personnel that is undermining the security we need for air travelers.

It is past time to make the changes provided by H.R. 1140, so the TSA workforce is treated equally to other federal employees with the power to advance and expand their opportunities as government employees.

Allegations about mismanagement, wasteful procedures, retaliation against whistleblowers,

low morale, and security gaps within the Agency are causes for concern.

TSA has consistently struggled with low morale across the workforce, ranking 303 out of 305 government agencies in 2016.

Low morale has a nexus to the high turnover rate within the ranks of Transportation Security Officers (TSOs).

TSOs represent 70 percent of the TSA workforce, yet have been denied full collective bargaining rights, whistleblower protections, and opportunities to effectively raise issues in dispute to an independent third party, such as the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Additionally, TSOs are subject to a pay and performance system that does not track with the General Services (GS) wage system, the primary wage system for Federal workers.

In order to move the workforce forward and see the necessary changes envisioned, it is imperative for TSA's frontline personnel receive these critical protections.

This is an essential bill that must be sent to the President's desk because it will strengthen transportation security by removing barriers that are undermining retention and professional development at the TSA.

I ask that my colleagues join me in voting in favor of HR. 903.

Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 903, the Rights for the TSA Workforce Act of 2022.

Let me be clear: I strongly and emphatically support increasing funding for the frontline TSA workforce. I strongly support funding for them. They have been severely underpaid for far too long.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, there is a blue-ribbon panel that came out, that my colleague referenced, that recommended against moving them to the title 5 workforce. That blue-ribbon panel, to correct the Record, included the chief human capital officer for the Department of Homeland Security under former President Obama. One of the top men at the Department of Homeland Security for President Obama was part of a blue- ribbon panel that recommended against that.

Even with that recommendation, I am so sick and tired of these frontline workers not getting their proper pay that I was willing to move title 5 funding for them. This bill doesn't do that. This bill goes far beyond that.

Bureaucrats that are sitting in offices nowhere near the front lines, that are not exposed to COVID on a daily basis, that aren't fishing live, loaded guns out of handbags, and subject to all kinds of abuse by the traveling public, are going to get title 5 status, and they get paid a hell of a lot more.

Why? Why do we need that? That is a question, and that is a problem I have with this bill.

The men and women protecting America's transportation systems every day deserve to be compensated fairly for the critical security mission they fulfill.

Unfortunately, despite robust efforts to improve this legislation in markup, and limited to the terms I articulated, my fellow committee members and I on the Republican side were not granted the adoption of a single proposed amendment.

Among the improvements we suggested were quite simply an amendment to limit the scope of the bill exclusively to the frontline TSA workforce, the men and women who really need better pay, rather than already high- paid TSA headquarter personnel.

I am telling you on the record today, if the bill was limited to just them, I would support it. Why do we have to make it for everyone else? 60,000 people. Why? It makes no sense.

Our proposed amendments also sought to grant increased pay directly to the front line, without the need for cumbersome and costly bureaucratic conversion to title 5.

Uncharacteristically, the message from the majority was clear: Take it or leave it. That is very uncharacteristic, because the chairman and I enjoy a very good working relationship. For that reason, though, I am unable to support the legislation in its current form.

With that said, however, I do hope to work in a bipartisan manner to secure much-needed funding increases for TSA in order to lift pay and benefits for the frontline screener workforce as well as procure cutting-edge technologies to address evolving threats to aviation security.

I am pleased to see dedicated funding for significant screener pay increases in this year's budget request to Congress. I stand ready to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to engage our colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee in an effort to secure funding for transportation security officer pay.

I include in the Record a letter to our friends and colleagues on the Appropriations Committee outlining just that.

Congress of the United States,

Washington, DC, May 12, 2022.

Hon. Lucille Roybal-Allard,

Chair, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Committee on

Appropriations, Washington, DC.

Hon. Chuck Fleischmann,

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Committee

on Appropriations, Washington, DC.

Dear Chair Roybal-Allard and Ranking Member Fleischmann:

Thank you for your continued work to support the mission of

the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and protect our

Nation from a litany of evolving threats. As the House

considers H.R. 903, the Rights for the TSA Workforce Act of

2022, I wanted to follow up on my previous letter dated April

28, 2022, related to homeland security funding priorities.

The FY23 President's Budget requests funding for increased

pay for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

front-line workforce. As I've said many times during my years

in Congress, TSA has not paid these dedicated employees a

salary that is commensurate to the security they're providing

to the traveling public.

Additionally, I have long raised concerns that TSA has not

fully utilized the flexibility that Congress provided in the

Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA, Public Law

107-71). The bipartisan Blue-Ribbon Panel on Human Capital

Service Delivery found that the TSA Administrator currently

has the flexibility under ATSA to pay employees more than he

could if the agency was moved to title 5, U.S. Code. This is

an issue of funding, not authority.

The cost to the taxpayer of funding a major overhaul of

TSA's entire personnel system, converting the agency to the

General Schedule, and hiring hundreds of new employees to

manage and negotiate these changes is far greater than the

cost of simply giving the frontline workforce a well-deserved

pay increase. As it currently stands, H.R. 903 creates a

massive and unfunded mandate that could jeopardize other

homeland security priorities such as border security and

cybersecurity if enacted as written.

I encourage you to consider including funding in the FY23

Homeland Security Appropriations Bill to increase the pay of

the TSA front-line workforce. TSA plays a fundamental role in

protecting the traveling public and facilitating the safe

flow of commerce throughout the country.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

John Katko,

Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague, the vice ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, Representative Guest, for his leadership on this issue.

I also thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for engaging in conversations, even when we disagree on policy. But here I really feel that the bill in its current form will go over to the Senate, and it will be dead on arrival. That serves nobody. No one wins in that, and certainly the frontline workers don't win.

If we could get a more bipartisan bill, with a lot more of us that want to be on this and want to help the frontline workers, I think we would have a better product and we could put more pressure on the Senate to do their job.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman. I won't need 5 minutes because this is essentially commonsense legislation. I rise in strong support of this measure.

Title 5, unions. What is wrong with unions? Our Border Patrol officers are unionized. Our local police officers are unionized. Our local sheriffs are unionized, and countless other public safety officers are unionized.

TSA employees, 9/11. It has been more than 20 years, but people like me, I still remember 9/11. I still remember those pictures of firefighters and police officers, unionized, running into these burning buildings in New York City. Those officers and firefighters knew they were going to perish that day, but they ran in to save American lives.

We don't want another 9/11 to happen again. Heaven forbid. But this is what the TSA officers are all about, preventing another 9/11.

Every time I get on a plane, every time my family gets on a plane, you hope to God that those TSO officers, TSA officers do their jobs, make sure that nothing terrible gets on a flight, make sure that there is order, and you want that officer on that line, on that front line, to do their job correctly.

You want an experienced officer, you want an experienced officer who has been there for years. You don't want an officer who has been there a few months waiting for another job because that job doesn't pay him enough. You don't want that officer to look for another job because he is not trained correctly. You want a trained, professional workforce.

That is really what this measure is about, preventing another 9/11. How? Making sure that those frontline TSA workers, employees are prepared, trained, and know what they are doing. Commonsense legislation. I ask my colleagues to please support safety in the skies, safety for our families.

Mr. Speaker, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this amendment, which is unnecessary and failed on a bipartisan vote during the Committee on Homeland Security's markup of this bill.

Law enforcement across Federal Government, as well as State and local, have benefited from collective bargaining representation without any harm to national security. This amendment seeks to have TSA treated differently from other Department of Homeland Security components with union representation, like U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

This amendment is inconsistent with the goal of the underlying bill, which is to ensure that TSA workforce is treated like all other Federal employees--equally.

Further, this amendment is unnecessary because under section 7106 of title 5, the Administrator is already granted this power to, ``take whatever actions may be necessary to carry out the agency mission during emergencies.'' The same provision would preserve TSA's authority to hire, remove, or to assign work employees to fulfill an agency's mission.

So if the law is clear, why is this amendment being offered? The answer is simple. Many here want to avoid talking about the real issue, which is the need to improve compensation and benefits for frontline TSA workers. I would propose that an untrained, inexperienced frontline TSA worker is not good for our national security.

Collective bargaining adds to our national security. Unions like those representing CBP employees would protect the rights of dedicated TSA employees who have come to work without pay during the COVID-19 shutdowns.

If we as a society respect these workers, we will give them the right to collectively bargain and treat them like we should; that is, a trusted, professional workforce that protect us and our families on an everyday basis.

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

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

I thank my colleagues from Florida and Mississippi for this good debate. Let me answer their question directly to the point. They talk about priorities, national security. But this amendment only applies to TSA employees. It doesn't apply to other Federal employees or other members of Homeland Security.

If this amendment was really about national security, you ought to have it apply to all Federal employees, not just TSA employees. That is why this is a red herring.

Bottom line, again, I am going to repeat: Section 7106 of title 5 grants to administrators of these agencies the power to ``take whatever actions may be necessary to carry out the agency mission during emergencies.''

Bottom line, this is an antiunion amendment. It is unnecessary and insulting to the dedicated professional employees of the Transportation Security Administration. TSA employees should not be treated differently from other Federal agency workers who have the right to collectively bargain.

Those advocating for this antiunion amendment forget that for the Border Patrol agents and the Bureau of Prisons employees who have similar security and screening functions, they are also unionized.

TSA itself has told us many times that this bill does not create security problems.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment, just as my colleagues did when it was rejected in committee. I yield back the balance of my time.