§44927. Expedited screening for severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled veterans

§44927. Expedited screening for severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled veterans

(a) Passenger Screening.—The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and organizations identified by the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs that advocate on behalf of severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled veterans, shall develop and implement a process to support and facilitate the ease of travel and to the extent possible provide expedited passenger screening services for severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled veterans through passenger screening. The process shall be designed to offer the individual private screening to the maximum extent practicable.

(b) Operations Center.—As part of the process under subsection (a), the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall maintain an operations center to provide support and facilitate the movement of severely injured or disabled members of the Armed Forces and severely injured or disabled veterans through passenger screening prior to boarding a passenger aircraft operated by an air carrier or foreign air carrier in air transportation or intrastate air transportation.

(c) Protocols.—The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall—

(1) establish and publish protocols, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and the organizations identified under subsection (a), under which a severely injured or disabled member of the Armed Forces or severely injured or disabled veteran, or the family member or other representative of such member or veteran, may contact the operations center maintained under subsection (b) and request the expedited passenger screening services described in subsection (a) for that member or veteran; and

(2) upon receipt of a request under paragraph (1), require the operations center to notify the appropriate Federal Security Director of the request for expedited passenger screening services, as described in subsection (a), for that member or veteran.

(d) Training.—The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall integrate training on the protocols established under subsection (c) into the training provided to all employees who will regularly provide the passenger screening services described in subsection (a).

(e) Rule of Construction.—Nothing in this section shall affect the authority of the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration to require additional screening of a severely injured or disabled member of the Armed Forces, a severely injured or disabled veteran, or their accompanying family members or nonmedical attendants, if intelligence, law enforcement, or other information indicates that additional screening is necessary.

(f) Reports.—Each year, the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of this section. Each report shall include each of the following:

(1) Information on the training provided under subsection (d).

(2) Information on the consultations between the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration and the organizations identified under subsection (a).

(3) The number of people who accessed the operations center during the period covered by the report.

(4) Such other information as the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration determines is appropriate.

(g) Availability of PreCheck Program to Certain Severely Injured or Disabled Veterans.—

(1) In general.—A veteran described in paragraph (2) is eligible for security screening under the PreCheck Program under section 44919 at no cost to the veteran if the veteran is able to meet the background check and other security requirements for participation in the Program.

(2) Veterans described.—A veteran described in this paragraph is a veteran who—

(A) is enrolled in the patient enrollment system of the Department of Veterans Affairs established and operated under section 1705 of title 38, United States Code;

(B) has been determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to have a service-connected disability under section 1110 or 1131 of such title, as the case may be, and such disability has been determined by such Secretary to have resulted in—

(i) loss, or loss use ¹ of, an extremity;

(ii) paralysis or partial paralysis; or

(iii) permanent blindness; and

(C) as a result of a loss, paralysis or partial paralysis, or blindness described in subparagraph (B), requires the use of a wheelchair, prosthetic limb, or other assistive device to aid with mobility.

(3) Limitation.—The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall carry out this subsection subject to the availability of appropriations and may not increase fees for enrollment in the PreCheck Program for such purpose.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2025—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 118–238 added subsec. (g).

2018—Pub. L. 115–254, §1991(d)(23)(A), substituted "Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration" for "Assistant Secretary" wherever appearing.

Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–254, §1991(d)(23)(B), substituted "Veterans Affairs that" for "Veteran Affairs that".

Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 115–254, §1991(d)(23)(C), substituted "Reports" for "Report" in heading and "Each year," for "Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter," in introductory provisions.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Coordination on Implementation

Pub. L. 118–238, §2(b), Jan. 4, 2025, 138 Stat. 2923, provided that: "The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly—

"(1) implement a process under which a veteran described in paragraph (2) of subsection (g) of section 44927 of title 49, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), can receive the benefits under such subsection by not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act [Jan. 4, 2025]; and

"(2) provide to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate a briefing on the status of implementing the process required by paragraph (1) by not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act."

Outreach for Disabled Veterans on Availability of Transportation Security Administration Programs

Pub. L. 118–238, §2(c), Jan. 4, 2025, 138 Stat. 2924, provided that:

"(1) Coordination.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall implement a process under which such Secretary provides to disabled veterans effective outreach regarding Transportation Security Administration programs designed to improve the screening process for passengers with disabilities.

"(2) Further enhancements to ease air travel for wounded warriors and other disabled veterans.—Notwithstanding subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly referred to as the 'Paperwork Reduction Act'), or any other provision of law, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, shall—

"(A) engage appropriate veterans service organizations and other relevant organizations, as appropriate, to assess the awareness of veterans of relevant Transportation Security Administration programs; and

"(B) examine the need and feasibility of other measures to improve travel security procedures for disabled veterans.

"(3) Briefing requirement.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 4, 2025], the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall jointly provide to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate a briefing on the status of the implementation of paragraphs (1) and (2)."