Bills introduced by U.S. Reps. Will Hurd (R-TX) and Greg Walden (R-OR) were among five homeland security bills approved on Wednesday by the House of Representatives.
The Enhancing Overseas Traveler Vetting Act, H.R. 4403, introduced by Hurd, would authorize the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State to develop open-source watch list and screening technology. The technology would then be available to help foreign governments identify and stop terrorist travel.
“Many of our European partners have failed to conduct adequate counterterrorism screening,” Hurd, a former CIA officer and a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said. “These gaping security gaps are being exploited by extremists overseas and putting the U.S. Homeland in danger. This bill is about empowering our partners to work together to better fight terrorism. By closing these information loopholes, we can keep terrorists on the run and off our shores.”
The House also unanimously approved Walden’s Treating Small Airports (TSA) with Fairness Act, H.R. 4549, which would require the TSA to restore screening services at airports that have lost commercial service but have a guarantee from a commercial airline to resume services within one year.
At least six airports, including the Crater Lake-Klamath Falls Regional Airport in Oregon, wish to resume commercial air service but have been denied security and screening personnel by the TSA.
“The TSA Fairness Act will help make sure the TSA is not able to stonewall an agreement between the local community and a commercial air carrier who wants to resume flights at a small airport,” Walden said. “I’m proud of the bipartisan support this bill has received in the House, and will continue to work with the Oregon delegation to get this across the finish line in the Senate. Let’s be safe and secure. Let’s be smart and prudent. Let’s pass this legislation and allow our communities to have the air service they need, and our country to have the security that we demand. This is common-sense legislation that needs to become law. Together we’re going to do the right thing even when the TSA will not.”
Hurd, an original cosponsor of the TSA Fairness Act, also praised that bill’s passage.
“People who are dependent on small airports in order to travel and conduct business, deserve the same security that those at larger airports receive,” Hurd said. “Del Rio is home to Laughlin AFB, numerous DHS facilities and a growing community that facilitates international trade between the U.S. and Mexico. Given the national and homeland security-related institutions serviced directly by the Del Rio Airport, and the potential boost to the economy, it only makes sense to provide basic screening.”
U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) applauded the passage of the two bills, which she said would bolster security for Americans at home and abroad.
“The House overwhelmingly passed two measures that will ensure the safety and security of Americans both here and abroad from terrorist threats like ISIS,” Ellmers said. “These measures will strengthen security at our border and improve our ability — and that of our allies — to watch, screen and target terrorist threats.”
The House also approved homeland security bills on Wednesday authored by U.S. Reps. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Candice Miller (R-MI).
McSally’s Southwest Border Security Threat Assessment Act, H.R. 4482, would require the homeland security secretary to prepare a threat analysis for the southwest border that addresses criminal threats.
Miller’s Border and Maritime Coordination Improvement Act, H.R. 3586, would enhance border and maritime security coordination efforts within the Department of Homeland Security.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, thanked Hurd, Walden, McSally and Miller for their work to bring homeland security bills to the House floor.
“The committee continues to work on legislation to increase the safety of the American people by passing bipartisan legislation that closes security gaps before they can be exploited to target our people at home,” McCaul said. “The bills passed (on Wednesday) include measures to enhance security in our aviation sector and southern border, as well as a bill from the Foreign Fighter Task Force that closes security gaps overseas.”