Sheila Jackson Lee: “As a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee and a former chair of the Transportation Security Subcommittee, I…”

“As a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee and a former chair of the Transportation Security Subcommittee, I rise in support of H.R. 719, the ``TSA Office of Inspection Accountability Act of 2015.'' Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Thompson for their leadership in bringing this legislation to the floor. H.R. 719 will save the taxpayers hundreds of thousands dollars annually by requiring the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to conform its personnel classification practices to existing Federal law and regulations regarding criminal investigator positions. According to a report by the Homeland Security Department's Inspector General (IG), about half of the employees in the Office of Inspection (OII) are classified as criminal investigators even though their duties do not involve responsibilities that can be characterized as criminal investigation activities. Instead, the responsibilities of these employees primarily consist of administrative duties such as investigating cases of TSA employee misconduct and conducting internal reviews. Classifying these employees as ``law enforcement'' personnel, however, makes them eligible for premium pay and other significant economic benefits. If TSA fails to reclassify criminal investigator positions as noncriminal investigator positions or non-law-enforcement positions, this will cost taxpayers as much as $17,000,000 over 5 years.…”