Gerardo Hernandez Airport Security Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 720, a bill I am pleased to be a cosponsor of.

The shooting at LAX resulted in the loss of Officer Hernandez's life and served as a stark reminder of the dangers the men and women on the front lines of securing our aviation sector face.

Unarmed and exposed, Transportation Security Officers perform the often thankless task of screening 1.8 million passengers per day.

They do so with limited workplace protections and the great responsibility of preventing another terrorist attack on the scale of 9/11.

Given their vulnerability and the critical role they play in protecting our homeland, it is essential that airports and the law enforcement agencies that serve them have the resources, training, and plans in place to ensure a swift and effective response when an incident that threatens the safety of Transportation Security Officers occurs.

In March of 2014, I had the opportunity to attend the Subcommittee on Transportation Security's site visit and field hearing at Los Angeles International Airport focused on the tragic shooting that occurred there on November 1st of 2013.

While the response of the individual police officers who prevented further loss of life on that tragic day is to be commended, the overall response at LAX left much to be desired.

Panic buttons at the checkpoint were not in working order. The emergency phone Transportation Security Officers have been trained to use did not display the location of the incident to the command center, and the police, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel responding could not communicate via interoperable radios.

The bill before us today represents a bipartisan effort to remedy many of the deficiencies identified following the shooting.

During Committee consideration of the bill last Congress, Representative PAYNE offered an amendment to the bill requiring TSA to conduct a nationwide assessment of the interoperability capabilities of emergency responders at airports.

I am pleased that the amendment was adopted and is still included in the bill before the House today.

Such an assessment will help inform where communications gaps that may hamper emergency response at airports still exist.

I would like to once again give my condolences for Officer Hernandez.

Under current law, the families of individuals serving a public agency in an official capacity as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or chaplain receive compensation if their loved one is killed in the line of duty.

The same is true for families of employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and members of rescue squads or ambulance crews.

Unfortunately, the law has not been updated to include Transportation Security Officers within the definition of what constitutes a public safety officer.

As a result, the families of TSOs who are killed in the line of duty, such as the Hernandez family, are not entitled to funds from the Public Safety Officer's Benefits Program.

Last Congress, Representative Brownley introduced legislation that would grant Transportation Security Officers the benefits of other law enforcement officers that are killed in the line of duty.

It is my understanding that Representative Brownley intends to reintroduce the ``Honoring Our Fallen TSA Officers Act'' this Congress.

I implore my colleagues to support the forthcoming legislation so that the families of the men and women on the front lines of protecting our aviation sector are properly compensated when tragedy strikes.

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