HR 1204 Passed in House

After less than 15 minutes of debate today the House adopted HR 1204, the Aviation Security Stakeholder Participation Act of 2013 by a strongly bipartisan vote of 411 - 3. The bill would establish the Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC) which would advise DHS on matters of aviation security and provide the regulated commercial aviation communities a voice in the regulatory development process.

As I noted earlier the House Homeland Security Committee’s report on HR 1204 was published yesterday (and became available this morning on the GPO web site) along with the revised language adopted by the Committee. Changes adopted in the new language included:

• Required TSA to explain to Congress why it does not adopt ASAC recommendations;

• Expand maximum ASAC membership from 30 to 32 organizations;

• Add ‘‘businesses that conduct security operations at airports” and “aeronautical repair stations” to the organizations to be represented in ASAC membership;

• Change the name of the ‘Perimeter Security Subcommittee’ to the ‘Perimeter Security, Exit Lane Security, and Access Control Subcommittee’; and

• Add a ‘Security Technololgy Subcommittee’.

If and when the bill makes it to the floor of the Senate, it will likely pass “without objection” with even less debate than happened today.