A bill to require security screening of passengers at airports to be carried out by private screening companies, and for other purposes.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jun 14, 2012
Requires the screening of passengers on flights and flight segments originating in the United States to be conducted by employees of a private screening company.
Directs the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration [TSA]) to enter into contracts with private screening companies for such services. Grants airport operators and private screening companies the authority to employ and terminate passenger screeners.
Requires the Assistant Secretary (currently, the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security [Department of Transportation (DOT)]) to approve all airport operator applications to have the airport screening of passengers and property carried out by a qualified private screening company. (Thus transfers the security screening opt-out program from DOT to the Department of Homeland Security [DHS], and denies the Assistant Secretary authority to deny any opt-out application.)
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Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to declare that provisions allowing an employer to make an agreement with a labor organization to require union membership as a condition of employment shall not apply to airport or railway private passenger screening company employers or employees (right to work).
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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