Title II — Oversight

H.R. 1455 · 113th Congress · Apr 10, 2013 · Lineage

II Oversight

Sec. 201 Enhanced oversight

Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 109 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(l) Enhanced oversight—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Under Secretary shall develop and implement a system to be carried out, to the maximum extent practicable, by the contracting officer who oversees each respective private screening company providing screening services at an airport, to enhance monitoring of performance of each such private screening company. The system shall, at a minimum, provide year-to-year information about performance by each such private screening company, and be in a format to provide for comparison with airports in the same category whose screening services are provided by Federal Government personnel with respect to detection rates of threats and threat image tests, recertification pass rates, covert performance assessments, and evaluations used to assess screener performance on various elements that may affect security and a passenger’s overall travel experience.”

Sec. 202 Security breaches

Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 201 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(m) Security breaches

“(1) In general—A private screening company shall regularly report to the Under Secretary each security breach at an airport where baggage and passenger screening is conducted by such a private screening company. Each such report shall include—

“(A) a detailed description of each security breach;

“(B) information regarding where each such breach occurred;

“(C) information regarding law enforcement notification and response; and

“(D) any corrective action taken in response to each such breach.

“(2) Annual reports—The Under Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate an annual report containing the information required pursuant to paragraph (1), including the definition of “security breach” used by the Under Secretary for purposes of this subsection. To the extent practicable, the report shall be presented in a non-classified format with a classified appendix where necessary.”

Sec. 203 Covert testing of contract screener performance

Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 202 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(n) Covert testing—The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct annual covert testing of airports where private screening companies provide screening services. To the extent practicable, such covert testing shall be conducted at one airport with contract screener personnel within each airport category that was not the subject of covert testing by another Federal entity during the same year. The Comptroller General shall submit to the Under Secretary and to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report that contains the results of such covert testing. To the extent practicable, each such report shall be presented in a non-classified format with a classified appendix where necessary.”

Sec. 204 Contracting prohibition for compromising covert security testing

Subsection (d) of section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 101 of this Act is further amended—

(1)

in paragraph (1), by striking “and” at the end;

(2)

in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and

(3)

by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

“(3) on or after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, neither the private screening company, nor its parent company, if applicable, has compromised any covert security testing by notifying individuals employed by such private screening company that such covert testing was occurring, or otherwise been found to have knowingly compromised covert testing conducted pursuant to subsection (n) or any other covert test conducted by the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, the Comptroller General of the United States, or the Under Secretary.”

Sec. 205 Proper handling of sensitive security information

Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 203 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(o) Proper handling of sensitive security information—The Under Secretary shall require each private screening company that provides screening services at airports to provide all individuals employed by such private screening company with annual training for the proper handling of all sensitive information, including sensitive security information.”