[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2309 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2309
To enhance the security operations of the Transportation Security
Administration and stability of the transportation security workforce
by applying the personnel system of title 5 of the U.S. Code to
employees of the Transportation Security Administration who provide
screening of all passengers and property, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 3, 2017
Mr. Thompson of Mississippi (for himself and Mrs. Lowey) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To enhance the security operations of the Transportation Security
Administration and stability of the transportation security workforce
by applying the personnel system of title 5 of the U.S. Code to
employees of the Transportation Security Administration who provide
screening of all passengers and property, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Rights for Transportation Security
Officers Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) On September 11, 2001, nineteen terrorists, who
underwent airport security screening prior to boarding domestic
flights, were able to commandeer four airplanes and use those
airplanes to perpetrate the most deadly terrorist attack ever
to be executed on United States soil.
(2) In the aftermath of those attacks, Congress passed the
Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), enacted by
President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001 (Public Law 107-
71), to enhance the level of security screening throughout our
aviation system and transfer responsibility for such screening
from the private sector to a new Federal agency, the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
(3) By establishing TSA, Congress and the American public
recognized that the highest level of screener performance was
directly linked to employment and training standards, pay and
benefits, and the creation of an experienced, committed
screening workforce.
(4) The ATSA included a statutory footnote allowing the TSA
Administrator to ``employ, appoint, discipline, terminate, and
fix the compensation'', including the ``terms, and conditions
of employment of Federal Service for such a number of
individuals as the Under Secretary determines to be necessary
to carry out the screening functions of the Under Secretary
under section 44901 of title 49, United States Code''.
(5) TSA has interpreted the ATSA footnote as applying to
the Transportation Security Officer workforce performing
screening functions, while all other Transportation Security
Administration employees, including managers, are subject to
title 5, United States Code, as incorporated in title 49 of
such Code.
(6) In November 2006, the International Labor Organization
ruled that the Bush administration violated international labor
law when it prohibited Transportation Security Officers from
engaging in collective bargaining.
(7) After the Federal Labor Relations Board approved a
petition for the election of an exclusive representative, on
February 4, 2011, then-TSA Administrator John Pistole issued a
binding determination stating in part ``it is critical that
every TSA employee feels that he or she has a voice and feels
safe raising issues and concerns of all kinds. This is
important not just for morale; engagement of every employee is
critically important for security''.
(8) Subsequently, in 2014, then-Administrator Pistole
issued a second determination, which was superseded by a 2016
determination, which changed the previous guidelines for
collective bargaining and limited the subjects that can be
bargained as well as issues in dispute that may be raised to an
independent, third-party neutral decisionmaker.
(9) The 2011, 2014, and 2016 determinations cited TSA's
authority under section 44935 note of title 59, United States
Code, to create a personnel system that denies the
Transportation Security Officer workforce the same title 5
rights as other Federal workers, including the right to present
grievances to a neutral third party, fair pay under the General
Services wage system, including access to overtime pay and
earned leave, application of the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938, fair performance appraisals under chapter 73 of title 5,
United States Code, and direct protections against employment
discrimination found in title 7, United States Code.
(10) The Transportation Security Officer workforce is an
integral component of the security framework in place since the
terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and responsible for
screening more than 738 million passengers annually. In the
course of their work, Transportation Security Officers not only
identify aviation security threats but also identify kidnapping
and trafficking victims and prevent firearms from being brought
on planes in carry-on bags. In 2016 alone, 3,391 firearms were
discovered by Transportation Security Officers at aviation
security checkpoints.
(11) Every day, Transportation Security Officers put their
safety on the line to protect the flying public and on November
1, 2013, a Transportation Security Officer, Gerardo Hernandez,
gave his life to protect the flying public when he was killed
by a gunman who attacked the Los Angeles International Airport.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
personnel system utilized by the Transportation Security Administration
pursuant to the authority of section 44935 note of title 49, United
States Code, provides insufficient workplace protections for the
Transportation Security Officer workforce, the frontline personnel who
secure our Nation's aviation system and that such personnel should be
provided protections under title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act--
(1) the term ``covered position'' means--
(A) a position within the Transportation Security
Administration; and
(B) any position within the Department of Homeland
Security, not described in subparagraph (A), the duties
and responsibilities of which involve providing
transportation security in furtherance of the purposes
of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (Public
Law 107-71), as determined by the Secretary;
(2) the term ``covered employee'' means an employee who
holds a covered position;
(3) the term ``employee'' has the meaning given such term
by section 2105 of title 5, United States Code;
(4) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland
Security;
(5) the term ``Administrator'' means the official within
the Department of Homeland Security who is responsible for
overseeing and implementing transportation security pursuant to
the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, whether
designated as the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security
(Transportation Security Administration), the Administrator of
the Transportation Security Administration, the Undersecretary
of Transportation for Security, or otherwise;
(6) the term ``TSA personnel management system'' means any
personnel management system, as established or modified under--
(A) section 111(d) of the Aviation and
Transportation Security Act; or
(B) section 114(n) of title 49, United States Code;
(7) the term ``agency'' means an Executive agency, as
defined by section 105 of title 5, United States Code; and
(8) the term ``conversion date'' means the date as of which
paragraphs (1) through (3) of section 4(b) take effect.
SEC. 4. CONVERSION OF SCREENING PERSONNEL.
(a) Termination of Certain Personnel Authorities.--Effective as of
the date of the enactment of this Act--
(1) each provision of law cited in section 2(6) is
repealed, and any authority to establish or modify a TSA
personnel management system under either such provision of law
shall terminate;
(2) all authority to establish or adjust a human resources
management system under chapter 97 of title 5, United States
Code, shall terminate with respect to covered employees and
covered positions; and
(3) section 44935 note of title 49, United States Code, is
repealed.
(b) Covered Employees and Positions Made Subject to Same Personnel
Management System as Applies to Civil Service Employees Generally.--
Effective as of the date determined by the Secretary, but in no event
later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act--
(1) all TSA personnel management policies, letters,
guidelines, and directives, including the August 2016
Determination, shall cease to be effective;
(2) any human resources management system established or
adjusted under chapter 97 of title 5, United States Code, to
the extent otherwise applicable with respect to covered
employees or covered positions, shall cease to be effective;
and
(3) covered employees and covered positions shall become
subject to the provisions of title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 5. TRANSITION RULES.
(a) Nonreduction in Rate of Pay.--Any conversion of an employee
from a TSA personnel management system to the provisions of law made
applicable with respect to such employee by section 4(b)(3) shall be
effected, under pay conversion rules prescribed by the Secretary,
without any reduction in the rate of basic pay payable to such
employee.
(b) Preservation of Other Rights.--In the case of each individual
who is a covered employee as of the conversion date, the Secretary
shall take any actions which may be necessary to ensure that--
(1) all TSA personnel management policies, letters,
guidelines, and directives, including the August 2016
Determination, shall cease to be effective;
(2) all annual leave, sick leave, or other paid leave
accrued, accumulated, or otherwise available to a covered
employee immediately before the conversion date shall remain
available to the employee, until used, so long as such
individual remains continuously employed by the Department of
Homeland Security; and
(3) the Government share of any premiums or other periodic
charges under the provisions of law governing group health
insurance shall remain the same as was the case immediately
before the conversion date, so long as such individual remains
continuously employed by the Department of Homeland Security.
SEC. 6. CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.
(a) Exclusive Representative.--The labor organization certified by
the Federal Labor Relations Authority on June 29, 2011, or successor
shall be treated as the exclusive representative of full- and part-time
non-supervisory personnel carrying out screening functions under
section 44901 of title 49, United States Code, as that term is used in
section 111(d) of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act and
shall be the exclusive representative for the employees under chapter
71 of title 5, United States Code, with full rights under such chapter
71. Any collective bargaining agreement on the effective date of this
legislation shall remain in effect.
(b) Consultation Rights.--Within 14 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall consult with the exclusive
representative for employees under chapter 71 of title 5, United States
Code, on the formulation of plans and deadlines to carry out the
conversion of covered employees and covered positions under this Act.
The Secretary shall provide in writing to the exclusive representative
the final plans in accordance with which the Secretary intends to carry
out the conversion of covered employees and covered positions under
this Act, including with respect to such matters as--
(1) the proposed conversion date; and
(2) measures to ensure compliance with section 5.
(c) Required Agency Response.--If any views or recommendations are
presented under subsection (b)(2) by the exclusive representative, the
Secretary shall consider the views or recommendations before taking
final action on any matter with respect to which the views or
recommendations are presented and provide the exclusive representative
a written statement of the reasons for the final actions to be taken.
(d) Sunset Provision.--The provisions of this section shall cease
to be effective as of the conversion date.
SEC. 7. NO RIGHT TO STRIKE.
Nothing in this Act shall be considered--
(1) to repeal or otherwise affect--
(A) section 1918 of title 18, United States Code
(relating to disloyalty and asserting the right to
strike against the Government); or
(B) section 7311 of title 5, United States Code
(relating to loyalty and striking); or
(2) to otherwise authorize any activity which is not
permitted under either provision of law cited in paragraph (1).
SEC. 8. REGULATIONS.
The Secretary may prescribe any regulations necessary to carry out
this Act.
SEC. 9. DELEGATIONS TO ADMINISTRATOR.
The Secretary may, with respect to any authority or function vested
in the Secretary under any of the preceding provisions of this Act,
delegate any such authority or function to the Administrator of the
Transportation Security Administration under such terms, conditions,
and limitations, including the power of redelegation, as the Secretary
considers appropriate.
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out this Act.
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