Rights for the Transportation Security Administration Workforce Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. 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.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. 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. ____ Air Marshal Association, May 13, 2021. Hon. Bennie Thompson, Washington, DC.

Dear Congressman Thompson: The Air Marshal Association is proud to stand with you in support of H.R. 903--Rights for the TSA Workforce Act of 2021.

It is long overdue that the men and women who work to keep our transportation system secure are treated with the respect and dignity they have earned. Since the Transportation Security Administration was created in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001, TSA employees have endured a substandard core compensation system that effectively turned them into 'second-class federal workers'. We thank you for championing this necessary legislation throughout the past four Congresses, and you can again count on our enthusiastic support.

On behalf of the Air Marshal Association Executive Board. Sincerely, John Casaretti, President, Air Marshal Association. ____ Association of Flight Attendants--CWA, AFL-CIO Washington, DC, April 30, 2021. Hon. Bennie Thompson, Chairman, House Homeland Security Committee, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Thompson: The Association of Flight Attendants--CWA, AFL-CIO (AFA) represents 50,000 flight attendants across the industry. We offer our strong support for H.R. 903, the Rights for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Workforce Act of 2021.

Twenty years ago, when TSA was created, Congress wrongfully excluded TSA agents from basic rights and protections afforded to most federal employees. The result has been a shameful separate and unequal system of low pay and inadequate protections for this critical group of public safety employees

During the pandemic, 7,787 TSA employees have contracted COVID-19 and 16 have lost their lives to the virus. Under the previous Administration, many TSA agents were forced daily into close proximity with hundreds, even thousands, of maskless passengers. Ignoring the advice and guidance of federal health agencies and public health leaders, TSA and the Administration permitted airports to set their own rules for mask-wearing, denied their workers access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and never created a preventative testing system. These constitute a profound and unacceptable failure to address the vulnerabilities of this essential and frontline workforce. The solution is clear. Congress must extend to TSA personnel the equal protections and representation long-denied under federal law.

As aviation's first responders, Flight Attendants depend on the professionalism and expertise of the TSA workforce every day. TSA employees need and deserve a strong voice at work to help promote the best conditions for security of air travel. H.R. 903 ensures full collective bargaining rights for Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to negotiate for better working conditions, puts TSA officers on the General Schedule pay scale, and provides officers with much needed statutory worker protections against unfair labor practices.

Security is very personal for me. I remember airport security prior to September 11, 2001. I remember the faces of the screeners who allowed terrorists to enter Terminal C at Logan and to board Flight 175. I remember the screeners' faces because they were there all the time, seven days a week, all hours of the day. I remember the sound of their voices, their tired smiles, and the long hours they worked for the lowest bidding security company just so that they could provide for their own families. I often wonder how those security agents have coped with their part in failing to stop the most fatal attack on U.S. soil. Do they understand they were set up to fail?

Twenty years ago, the decision to federalize airport screening improved aviation security immediately. When AFGE won the largest organizing campaign in the public sector in over 70 years and gave these workers a voice at the agency, our security improved again. My colleagues and I depend on TSOs to keep us safe. We also depend on our union. We know that our union has made flying safer for everyone through constant vigilance, and by giving frontline workers--the people who know the operation--a clear and strong voice in the workplace. Safety and security doesn't just happen; it happens because we demand it of ourselves, demand it of management, and demand it of government.

The unjust decision to exclude TSA from the basic rights and protections of federal employees has produced a workforce that is among the lowest paid and least secure. While TSA's diversity is a cause for celebration--55 percent of the TSA workforce identifies as a racial or ethnic minority--this makes their exclusion even more problematic, creating yet another disparate treatment, another barrier to advancement for historically-marginalized workers.

We finally note that the drive to win long-denied rights for TSOs aligns with the goals of the newly-formed White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. The first goal of this landmark Task Force is to ``lead by example by ensuring that the federal government is a model employer with respect to encouraging worker organizing and collective bargaining among its workforce (emphasis added).'' The moment for action has arrived.

AFA applauds your leadership and support for the aviation workforce and pledges to work alongside you and members of this Committee to secure the basic worker rights and protections long denied to Transportation Security Officers. Respectfully, Sara Nelson, International President. ____ Transport Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, Washington, DC, May 4, 2022.

Dear Representative: On behalf of more than 155,000 members of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), I am writing to encourage you to support the Rights for the Transportation Security Administration Workforce Act of 2022 (H.R. 903).

The security of our air system is guarded by Transportation Security Officers (TSOs), working for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Despite being entrusted with the well-being of our air system, TSOs do not have the same statutory rights as other federal employees. H.R. 903 would ensure TSOs are guaranteed a fair wage scale, the ability to appeal disputes to an independent third party, whistleblower protections, and other essential collective bargaining rights.

As anyone who has flown on a plane has seen, TSOs serve on the front lines of aviation security and carry out an indispensable role in protecting the safety of the nation and the flying public. As essential personnel, TSOs are required to report to work without pay during government shutdowns, pandemics, and other emergencies. Despite performing vital roles necessary for the security of our country, our TSOs are currently among the lowest-paid members of the federal workforce, largely because they do have historically not had access to the same workplace protections as other Federal workers.

All workers deserve the right to collectively bargain. The failure to provide fair pay and standard protections for TSOs has contributed to a workforce with low morale, high stress, and extensive turnover. In order to keep our country safe and provide workers with the pay and protections that they deserve, the Transport Workers Union strongly urges you to vote yes on the Rights for the Transportation Security Administration Workforce Act of 2022. Sincerely, John Samuelsen, International President. ____ TTD, Washington, DC, May 5, 2022. TTD, Calls for Passage of the Rights for the TSA Workforce Act of 2022.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I urge you to vote YES on H.R. 903, the ``Rights for the TSA Workforce Act of 2022'' when it is considered next week.

Every day, thousands of Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) show up to work to keep our aviation system, mass transit networks, and large public gatherings safe and secure for transportation workers and the general public. However, since the creation of the TSA, its dedicated and skilled employees have been denied many of the basic federal worker rights and protections enjoyed by other federal workers, including those in the Department of Homeland Security. There is no justification for the ongoing mistreatment of the men and women of the TSO workforce, and H.R. 903 takes critical steps to ensure that they have the workplace rights they have earned and deserve.

H.R. 903 would repeal the TSA Administrator's authority to maintain the existing unequal personnel system that applies only to TSOs, and require TSA to provide the workplace rights and protections granted to other federal employees under Title 5. The bill would also grant TSOs access to the Merit Systems Protection Board--a neutral arbiter in workplace discipline matters that nearly all federal employees have access to, including TSA management and administrative personnel. Finally, the bill would put TSOs on the general pay scale with regular step increases. These reforms would dramatically and immediately improve working conditions for TSOs and are vital for the future success of the workforce.

TSOs have had to endure this workplace inequity for far too long, and it is a significant factor in the low morale and high turnover rates that confront the agency. That our government continues to maintain this system for the professionals who keep every American safe is simply unconscionable. TTD calls on the House to pass H.R. 903, and to reject any amendment that seeks to eliminate critical components of this bill, including the provision of fair pay and the establishment of collective bargaining rights. Sincerely, Greg Regan, President. ____ National Urban League, May 4, 2022.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the National Urban League, an organization with a 112-year history of advocating for policies that promote civil rights and economic empowerment for African Americans and other historically underserved communities, and our Urban League affiliates in 37 states and the District of Columbia, we write to express support for H.R. 903, the Rights for the Transportation Security Administration Workforce Act of 2022. Ensuring that Transportation Security Officers (TSOs)--whose service helps keep us safe and our economy moving--receive the same rights and protections as other federal workers is important to the mission of the National Urban League. We urge Congress the swiftly pass this important piece of legislation.

It is vital that Transportation Security Administration (TSA)'s workforce be protected in the workplace and compensated fairly in order to continue to reflect communities they serve. Nationwide, 55 percent of the 60,000 workers at TSA are people of color. Black Americans make up about 11 percent of the overall population but nearly triple that (32.7 percent) of transportation screeners. Latino and Asian Americans also make up a larger share of the transportation security workforce than their share of the US population and women make up over 41 percent of employees.

In spite of the fact that TSA is driving the diversity and inclusion of people of color and women in our country's homeland security workforce, its workers are not afforded the protections and benefits of their counterparts elsewhere in the Department of Homeland Security or the federal government at large. TSOs face inequities compared to other federal employees. They lack the rights and protections afforded to their peers in the federal government under Title 5 of the U.S. Code. TSA screeners do not have the same protections to collectively bargain. Their pay scale lags behind that of other agencies in the government and they are missing out on the Family and Medical Leave Act protections available elsewhere in the government. Potential whistleblowers in TSA are not protected. Without access to an objective outside body like the Merit Systems Protection Board or negotiated grievance procedures, TSOs are denied the ability to appeal adverse personnel decisions in the same way as other federal employees. And unlike the progressive disciplinary system applied across other federal agencies, including other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) components, TSOs are subject to a cumulative disciplinary system.

This is reflective of the unfair barriers to pay equity and workplace protections people of color and women face as a whole. Due to historic injustices such as slavery, segregation, redlining, unequal access to government programs, and ongoing institutionalized and systematic discrimination, Black men on average make 87 cents on a White man's dollar. Black women face an even larger pay gap on average, making only 63 cents for every dollar earned by a White man. At the same time, 80 percent of Black mothers are the sole, co-breadwinners, or primary breadwinners for their households. These trends track for the Latino community as well. One cause of this disparity is that people of color are often overrepresented in lower paying professions that yield fewer benefits and fewer protections. Removing barriers to success and increasing protections to match those of other federal workers in the TSA, which employs a higher proportion of people of color and a higher proportion of women than the Department of Homeland Security overall, is absolutely a matter of equity that should be addressed urgently.

It is past time this disparity is addressed. TSOs should have the same fair pay, union rights, and treatment as other federal workers. The Rights for the Transportation Security Administration Workforce Act of 2022 would codify these rights and give long overdue workplace protections to TSA officers. The National Urban League supports this legislation and urges you to support it as well. Sincerely, Marc H. Morial, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Urban League. Joi O. Chaney, Executive Director, Washington Bureau, Senior Vice President, Policy & Advocacy, National Urban League.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. 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 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.

Jackson Lee), a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. 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.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. 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.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. 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.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi.

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, 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.

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

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Wexton).

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.

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