HR 4179
6-18-08, House Agreed to Bill by Voice Vote
Referred to Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4179
AN ACT
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish an appeal
and redress process for individuals wrongly delayed or prohibited from boarding
a flight, or denied a right, benefit, or privilege, 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 `Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely Redress Act
of 2008' or the `FAST Redress Act of 2008'.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF APPEAL AND REDRESS PROCESS FOR INDIVIDUALS WRONGLY
DELAYED OR PROHIBITED FROM BOARDING A FLIGHT, OR DENIED A RIGHT, BENEFIT,
OR PRIVILEGE.
(a) In General- Subtitle H of title VIII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002
(6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
`SEC. 890A. APPEAL AND REDRESS PROCESS FOR PASSENGERS WRONGLY DELAYED OR
PROHIBITED FROM BOARDING A FLIGHT, OR DENIED A RIGHT, BENEFIT, OR PRIVILEGE.
`(a) Establishment- Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment
of this section, the Secretary shall establish a timely and fair process for
individuals who believe they were delayed or prohibited from boarding a commercial
aircraft or denied a right, benefit, or privilege because they were wrongly
identified as a threat when screened against any terrorist watchlist or database
used by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) or any office or
component of the Department.
`(b) Office of Appeals and Redress-
`(1) ESTABLISHMENT- The Secretary shall establish in the Department an Office
of Appeals and Redress to implement, coordinate, and execute the process
established by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (a). The Office shall
include representatives from the TSA and such other offices and components
of the Department as the Secretary determines appropriate.
`(2) COMPREHENSIVE CLEARED LIST- The process established by the Secretary
pursuant to subsection (a) shall include the establishment of a method by
which the Office, under the direction of the Secretary, will maintain and
appropriately disseminate a comprehensive list, to be known as the `Comprehensive
Cleared List', of individuals who--
`(A) were misidentified as an individual on any terrorist watchlist or
database;
`(B) completed an approved Department of Homeland Security appeal and
redress request and provided such additional information as required by
the Department to verify the individual's identity; and
`(C) permit the use of their personally identifiable information to be
shared between multiple Departmental components for purposes of this section.
`(3) USE OF COMPREHENSIVE CLEARED LIST-
`(A) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall--
`(i) except as provided in subparagraph (B), transmit to the TSA or
any other appropriate office or component of the Department, other Federal,
State, local, and tribal entities, and domestic air carriers and foreign
air carriers that use any terrorist watchlist or database, the Comprehensive
Cleared List and any other information the Secretary determines necessary
to resolve misidentifications and improve the administration of the
advanced passenger prescreening system and reduce the number of false
positives; and
`(ii) ensure that the Comprehensive Cleared List is taken into account
by all appropriate offices or components of the Department when assessing
the security risk of an individual.
`(i) IN GENERAL- The transmission of the Comprehensive Cleared List
to domestic air carriers and foreign air carriers under clause (i) of
subparagraph (A) shall terminate on the date on which the Federal Government
assumes terrorist watchlist or database screening functions.
`(ii) WRITTEN NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS- Not later than 15 days after
the date on which the transmission of the Comprehensive Cleared List
to the air carriers referred to in clause (i) of this subparagraph terminates
in accordance with such clause, the Secretary shall provide written
notification to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate of such
termination.
`(4) INTERGOVERNMENTAL EFFORTS- The Secretary may--
`(A) enter into memoranda of understanding with other Federal, State,
local, and tribal agencies or entities, as necessary, to improve the appeal
and redress process and for other purposes such as to verify an individual's
identity and personally identifiable information; and
`(B) work with other Federal, State, local, and tribal agencies or entities
that use any terrorist watchlist or database to ensure, to the greatest
extent practicable, that the Comprehensive Cleared List is considered
when assessing the security risk of an individual.
`(5) HANDLING OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION- The Secretary, in
conjunction with the Chief Privacy Officer of the Department, shall--
`(A) require that Federal employees of the Department handling personally
identifiable information of individuals (in this paragraph referred to
as `PII') complete mandatory privacy and security training prior to being
authorized to handle PII;
`(B) ensure that the information maintained under this subsection is secured
by encryption, including one-way hashing, data anonymization techniques,
or such other equivalent technical security protections as the Secretary
determines necessary;
`(C) limit the information collected from misidentified passengers or
other individuals to the minimum amount necessary to resolve an appeal
and redress request;
`(D) ensure that the information maintained under this subsection is shared
or transferred via an encrypted data network that has been audited to
ensure that the anti-hacking and other security related software functions
perform properly and are updated as necessary;
`(E) ensure that any employee of the Department receiving the information
maintained under this subsection handles such information in accordance
with section 552a of title 5, United States Code, the Federal Information
Security Management Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296), and other applicable
laws;
`(F) only retain the information maintained under this subsection for
as long as needed to assist the individual traveler in the appeal and
redress process;
`(G) engage in cooperative agreements with appropriate Federal agencies
and entities, on a reimbursable basis, to ensure that legal name changes
are properly reflected in any terrorist watchlist or database and the
Comprehensive Cleared List to improve the appeal and redress process and
to ensure the most accurate lists of identifications possible (except
that section 552a of title 5, United States Code, shall not prohibit the
sharing of legal name changes among Federal agencies and entities for
the purposes of this section); and
`(H) conduct and publish a privacy impact assessment of the appeal and
redress process established under this section and transmit the assessment
to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives,
and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
`(6) INITIATION OF APPEAL AND REDRESS PROCESS AT AIRPORTS- At each airport
at which--
`(A) the Department has a presence, the Office shall provide written information
to air carrier passengers to begin the appeal and redress process established
pursuant to subsection (a); and
`(B) the Department has a significant presence, provide the written information
referred to in subparagraph (A) and ensure a TSA supervisor who is trained
in such appeal and redress process is available to provide support to
air carrier passengers in need of guidance concerning such process.
`(7) REPORT TO CONGRESS- Not later than 240 days after the date of the enactment
of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Homeland
Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate a report on the status of information sharing among
users at the Department of any terrorist watchlist or database. The report
shall include the following information:
`(A) A description of the processes and the status of the implementation
of this section to share the Comprehensive Cleared List with other Department
offices and components and other Federal, State, local, and tribal authorities
that utilize any terrorist watchlist or database.
`(B) A description of the extent to which such other Department offices
and components are taking into account the Comprehensive Cleared List.
`(C) Data on the number of individuals who have sought and successfully
obtained redress through the Office of Appeals and Redress.
`(D) Data on the number of individuals who have sought and were denied
redress through the Office of Appeals and Redress.
`(E) An assessment of what impact information sharing of the Comprehensive
Cleared List has had on misidentifications of individuals who have successfully
obtained redress through the Office of Appeals and Redress.
`(F) An updated privacy impact assessment.
`(c) Terrorist Watchlist or Database Defined- In this section, the term `terrorist
watchlist or database' means any terrorist watchlist or database used by the
Transportation Security Administration or any office or component of the Department
of Homeland Security or specified in Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6,
in effect as of the date of the enactment of this section.'.
(b) Incorporation of Secure Flight- Section 44903(j)(2) of title 49, United
States Code, is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (C)(iii)--
(A) by redesignating subclauses (II) through (VII) as subclauses (III)
through (VIII), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after subclause (I) the following new subclause:
`(II) ensure, not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment
of the FAST Redress Act of 2008, that the procedure established under
subclause (I) is incorporated into the appeals and redress process
established under section 890A of the Homeland Security Act of 2002;';
(2) in subparagraph (E)(iii), by inserting before the period at the end
the following: `, in accordance with the appeals and redress process established
under section 890A of the Homeland Security Act of 2002'; and
(3) in subparagraph (G)--
(A) in clause (i), by adding at the end the following new sentence: `The
Assistant Secretary shall incorporate the process established pursuant
to this clause into the appeals and redress process established under
section 890A of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.'; and
(B) in clause (ii), by adding at the end the following new sentence: `The
Assistant Secretary shall incorporate the record established and maintained
pursuant to this clause into the Comprehensive Cleared List established
and maintained under such section 890A.'.
(c) Conforming Amendment- Title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking
section 44926 (and the item relating to such section in the analysis for chapter
449 of title 49).
(d) Clerical Amendment- Section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002
(6 U.S.C. 101(b)) is amended by adding after the item relating to section
890 the following new item:
`Sec. 890A. Appeal and redress process for passengers wrongly delayed or
prohibited from boarding a flight, or denied a right, benefit, or privilege.'.
Passed the House of Representatives June 18, 2008.
Attest:
Clerk.
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4179
AN ACT
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish an appeal and redress
process for individuals wrongly delayed or prohibited from boarding a flight,
or denied a right, benefit, or privilege, and for other purposes.
END
