On the recordMay 30, 2012
I thank Chairman King for the time. I also rise today in strong support of H.R. 3670, a bill introduced by my good friend, Mr. Walz from Minnesota. This bill extends reemployment protections to employees of the Transportation Security Administration by making them subject to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA. USERRA is a law that protects the reemployment rights of servicemembers so they are able to keep their jobs, benefits, and seniority in their civilian jobs after serving on active duty. When TSA was created soon after 9/11, it was given a USERRA exemption to allow the agency to hire new employees without delay for airport screenings. There is no evidence that applying USERRA to TSA will impede TSA's mission of protecting our Nation's air travel system. In fact, bringing TSA under USERRA will strengthen their ability to recruit and retain highly qualified veterans. Mr. Speaker, I would note that in testimony submitted for the record on H.R. 3670, TSA stated that its current practice already conforms to the requirements that H.R. 3670 would put into statute. Therefore, enactment of H.R. 3670 would ensure existing protections could not be weakened by a change in administration rules or regulations. I want to thank my good friend Mr. Walz for introducing this legislation. I also thank Chairman Jeff Miller of Florida and Ranking Member Filner of California for their support, and I thank Mr. King.
