[House Report 116-201] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] 116th Congress } { Report HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session } { 116-201 ====================================================================== TSA REACHING ACROSS NATIONALITIES, SOCIETIES, AND LANGUAGES TO ADVANCE TRAVELER EDUCATION ACT _______ September 11, 2019.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed _______ Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, from the Committee on Homeland Security, submitted the following R E P O R T [To accompany H.R. 3691] [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] The Committee on Homeland Security, to whom was referred the bill (H.R. 3691) to require the TSA to develop a plan to ensure that TSA material disseminated in major airports can be better understood by more people accessing such airports, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. CONTENTS Page Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1 Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 2 Hearings......................................................... 2 Committee Consideration.......................................... 2 Committee Votes.................................................. 3 Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 3 C.B.O. Estimate, New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures............................................... 3 Federal Mandates Statement....................................... 4 Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 4 Duplicative Federal Programs..................................... 4 Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff Benefits....................................................... Advisory Committee Statement..................................... Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation................... 5 Minority Views................................................... PURPOSE AND SUMMARY The purpose of H.R. 3691, the ``Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Reaching Across Nationalities, Societies, and Languages to Advance Traveler Education Act'' or ``TRANSLATE Act'' requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to identify the languages that are primary to individuals that work at and travel through each major airport in the United States and to develop a plan to disseminate materials in major airports to improve communications with those populations. This includes materials for those with vision and hearing impairments. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION TSA screens more than 2.2 million passengers and crew members daily. International flights travel to and from 270 foreign airports and over 100 countries into and out of the United States. Tourists visit the U.S. to shop, sightsee, and visit national parks, monuments, and theme parks. Tourism is important to the economy of the nation as well as local communities, accounting for approximately $1.1 trillion of travel spending annually in the U.S. and supporting 15.7 million jobs. The aviation industry contributes 5 percent to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. For many Americans and international visitors, going through TSA security screening represents the most common and intimate interaction they have with the U.S. Government. Ensuring tourists and travelers have the best experience possible is vital to our nation's economy. This bill seeks to make the security screening process as effective and efficient as possible by improving TSA's signage and communications to be better understood by the diverse passenger population transiting our Nation's airports. Supporting the needs of TSA's frontline workforce to carry out the agency's mission is of the utmost importance to this Committee. Many challenges are present at the checkpoint and communication between Transportation Security Officers and the traveling public is necessary at every step to ensure cooperation. To the extent that the public is better informed of what is being asked of them and what they can expect, the passenger screening experience will go by more efficiently and expeditiously. A seamless experience best serves the public and TSA's frontline workforce and in the end the agency's mission to protect the traveling public and the nation's aviation system. HEARINGS For the purpose of section 103(i) of H. Res. 6. Of the 116th Congress the following related hearing was held: The Committee held a hearing on July 10, 2019 entitled ``About Face: Examining the Department of Homeland Security's Use of Facial Recognition and other Biometric Technologies'' where the importance of understandable signage and TSA materials was discussed. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION The Committee met on July 17, 2019, with a quorum being present, to consider H.R. 3691 and ordered the measure to be reported to the House with a favorable recommendation, without amendment, by unanimous consent. COMMITTEE VOTES Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives requires the Committee to list the recorded votes on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto. No recorded votes were requested during consideration of H.R. 3691. COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the descriptive portions of this report. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office. U.S. Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Washington, DC, August 28, 2019. Hon. Bennie G. Thompson, Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3691, the TRANSLATE Act. If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew Pickford. Sincerely, Phillip L. Swagel, Director. Enclosure. [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] H.R. 3691 would require the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to make security information more accessible to travelers at airports who do not speak English and to people with vision or hearing impairments. TSA would need to develop a plan and implement the bill within one year of enactment. H.R. 3691 also would require the Government Accountability Office to report on the implementation. Using information from TSA, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3691 would have no significant effect on the federal budget. According to the agency, most of the requirements in the bill are already being planned and implemented. The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew Pickford. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office. DUPLICATIVE FEDERAL PROGRAMS Pursuant to clause 3(c) of rule XIII, the Committee finds that H.R. 3691 does not contain any provision that establishes or reauthorizes a program known to be duplicative of another Federal program. PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R. 3691 would require the TSA Administrator to develop a plan to ensure that TSA materials can be better understood by more people accessing major airports. ADVISORY ON EARMARKS In compliance with rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, this bill, as reported, contains no congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of the rule XXI. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION Section 1. Short title This section states that the Act may be cited as the ``TSA Reaching Across Nationalities, Societies, and Languages to Advance Traveler Education Act'' or the ``TRANSLATE Act.'' Sec. 2. Plan This section requires the TSA Administrator to submit, no later than 180 days after enactment of the section, a plan to Congress on how TSA can disseminate materials in major airports to be better understood by more individuals accessing major airports. Secondly, the plan must include identification of the most common languages other than English of individuals who work and travel through each major airport. The plan is required to account for communication to individuals with vision or hearing impairments or other barriers to understanding. Next, the TSA Administrator, acting through the Office of Civil Rights and Liberties, Ombudsman and Traveler Engagement, must take into consideration data regarding international enplanements and the local populations surrounding major airports. The Committee believes that TSA's consideration should include evaluation of available federal, state, and locally-held data on local populations, including data that may not have previously been in TSA's possession, to accurately assess local populations. Then, the TSA Administrator must implement the plan within 180 days following the submission of the above referenced plan to Congress. Afterward, within a year of implementation, the Government Accountability Office will submit a review of TSA's implementation of the plan submitted to Congress. The final provision defines the terms used in this act including: ``airport,'' ``major airports,'' and ``TSA material.'' [all]