House Passes Bipartisan Katko, Rice Legislation to Improve Airport Access Control Measures Bipartisan Katko-Rice bill strengthens and streamlines TSA's procedures for screening airport and airline employees

Statement

The U.S. House of Representatives tonight passed H.R. 3102, the Airport Access Control Security Improvement Act of 2015, legislation introduced by U.S. Representatives John Katko (R-NY-24) and Kathleen Rice (D-NY-04), Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security's Transportation Security Subcommittee. Both freshmen members of Congress, Reps. Katko and Rice have focused on fighting through Washington gridlock to deliver bipartisan legislative outcomes.

H.R. 3102 comes in response to several recent incidents in which airport and airline employees used their security credentials to bypass security screening and transport prohibited items, including illegal drugs and guns, into secure areas of airports and onto commercial flights. The legislation will streamline and strengthen the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) screening procedures for airport and airline employees by requiring the TSA Administrator to establish a risk-based, intelligence-driven screening model that subjects employees to more frequent, more randomized security screenings and minimizes the number of employee entry and exit points. H.R. 3102 also directs the TSA Administrator to determine whether TSA should expand the number of criminal offenses that disqualify an individual from obtaining a job that requires access to secure areas of airports, as well as to determine whether TSA should lengthen the "look-back period" when reviewing an individual's criminal history.

"Threats to our aviation sector continue to evolve, as evidenced by the recent security breaches at airports nationwide where airport and airline employees have been able to bypass security and smuggle drugs, illegal substances, and guns into secure areas of domestic airports," said Representative John Katko. "This legislation presents commonsense reforms to address these gaps in security and ensure the safety of the traveling public."

"As several recent incidents have shown, weak access controls can too easily allow airport and airline employees to sneak weapons, drugs and other dangerous items into secure areas of airports and onto commercial flights, and that's a risk we simply cannot accept," said Representative Kathleen Rice. "In response to the Aviation Security Advisory Committee's recommendations and the bipartisan investigations we've conducted on the Transportation Security Subcommittee, this legislation takes action to tighten access controls, beef up employee vetting and screening, and better protect the millions of passengers who pass through our nation's airports and fly on our planes. I'm grateful to Chairman Katko for his leadership on the Subcommittee, and I'm eager to work together to ensure this bill is taken up by our colleagues in the Senate and sent to the President's desk."

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