Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening Enhancement Act

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening Enhancement Act.

Air travel with children is a nightmare, and I am just talking for the nonparents who have to deal with them at an airport. For parents, it is hell. It is like an Olympic sport. It is like going through a gauntlet dragging little kids who just want to be attached to tablets or anything but the directions that you are giving to them to hopefully get them from the entrance of the airport to the plane.

Oftentimes with little kids, you have, in transit with them, a mother who is breastfeeding. Many of us have experienced going through airport security where our TSA agents, who are good natured and just doing their jobs, can really slow down, jam up, clog, and delay this experience.

For practicality's sake, the last thing you want for your kids to experience when you are trying to move them from the gate to the plane, is any interruption or delay. For traveling moms, it is humiliating to have your breast milk sorted through by TSA agents. It doesn't feel very safe to have agents open up the breast milk. Too many moms have shared with me that working moms are often traveling on their own without their kids, but they are still pumping, pumping and dumping as they would call it, and are asked by TSA agents, what are you doing with breast milk if you don't have kids with you, which is another level of shame that is brought upon the mothers because they already feel guilty that they are not with their kids.

It doesn't have to be this way.

My friend from New York (Mr. Garbarino), who has helped me shepherd this bill through the Homeland Security Committee, has given me a good snicker and a smirk over there because he probably sees me as the least likely person to bring this bill forward and he is the least likely ally that I have on the other side, but the two of us are smart enough to listen to women and families.

Madam Speaker, I will share the origin of this bill because it is a success story for anybody who believes that they can write to their legislator and see a change in the laws that govern us. I thank scientist Emily Calandrelli, a Californian whose advocacy and personal testimony brought national attention to this issue. She wrote about the exact experience I described, traveling as a working mother without her kids and being asked why she had breast milk but no children. Her experience made it clear to many parents who have faced similar challenges.

I thank Senator Duckworth for leading the charge in the Senate and sending us this bill so quickly as well as Representatives Salazar, Pettersen, and Luna for their unwavering advocacy for traveling mothers.

I also thank my former colleague, Katie Porter of Orange County, who introduced this bill in prior Congresses. It is a commonsense bill, and it is rightfully a bipartisan effort.

Compounding the chaos with the anxiety that mothers face are TSA screeners who have inadequate or confusing guidelines as to what they are supposed to do with breast milk. The Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening Enhancement Act strengthens and streamlines TSA's screening procedures so parents can travel with dignity, confidence, and peace of mind.

It requires TSA to work with maternal health experts to create clear, science-based guidelines for screening breast milk, formula, and pumping equipment. It ensures TSA officers receive proper training so that every parent can travel with confidence that they will not be forced to discard essential nutritional products.

Again, this is not a partisan issue. It is a parenting issue. Unsanitary handling of breast milk and formula puts kids at risk. Mothers who can't pump because TSA held up their equipment can suffer painful, preventable medical complications. Every parent who has traveled with young children knows the stress, as I mentioned, that this creates.

This bill is also about accountability. It directs an independent body to audit TSA's compliance with its own policies, ensuring that violations like those experienced by Ms. Calandrelli and by countless moms who shared their stories do not continue.

Madam Speaker, families deserve better than unnecessary stress at the airport. They deserve clarity, dignity, and a safe travel system that works for them, not against them.

Passing this bill now will send it to the President's desk. I can't promise that passing this bill will make your plane get there on time or give you the upgrade you are so desperately hoping

goes through or make sure that your kids behave, but it does finally make our airports a more welcoming place for parents.

I welcome my colleagues' support and encourage them to support this legislation by voting ``yes'' on S. 260.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 260, the Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening Enhancement Act.

This is a straightforward bill that directs the Transportation Security Administration to update or issue guidance to adhere to hygienic standards to reduce the risk of contamination of breast milk, baby formula, juice, and purified water during TSA screening.

The bill would also require TSA to consult with nationally recognized maternal health organizations to help develop guidelines and establish hygienic screening standards for these items.

Traveling with kids is a difficult, stressful experience for many parents and caretakers, one that I expect to undertake beginning in January.

For many new moms, in particular, TSA screening has proven a particularly challenging experience as well-meaning officers enforce inconsistent and opaque screening requirements.

Far too many parents have been left wondering if their breast milk or formula is still safe to give to an infant after TSA has handled and screened it.

This bill would help enforce hygienic practices and make screening less stressful for new parents while maintaining security standards.

Madam Speaker, I thank Senator Duckworth for her leadership on this topic, as well as my colleague Congressman Swalwell, who sponsored the House companion to this bill.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Swalwell), the author of the House version of this bill.

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

This is a commonsense bill that will help make traveling a little bit easier for millions of parents.

On behalf of myself and my wife, a future mother, I thank all the Members who are part of this effort, especially Congressman Swalwell.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 260) to amend the Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening Act to require hygienic handling of breast milk and baby formula by security screening personnel of the Transportation Security Administration and personnel of private security companies providing security screening, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 260.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 260, the Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening Enhancement Act.

This legislation will require the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration to update guidance related to screening of infant feeding materials. It will make the airport experience more bearable for traveling families. I thank my Democratic colleague, Mr. Swalwell, for leading the House version of this legislation, H.R. 820, through the committee earlier this year.

Madam Speaker, I urge support, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no more speakers and am prepared to close after the gentleman from Puerto Rico closes. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

I congratulate my colleague (Mr. Swalwell) on this bill. I am happy to support it. I am very pro-family and pro-parent, and I urge my colleagues to support S. 260.

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