Transportation Security Improvement Act of 2005
Key claim: This Senate bill would have funded TSA and DOT through 2009, reserved slices of DHS research money for port and rail security, and created a competitive DHS transportation-security research program, but it never became law.
Abstract
(S1052 · 109th Congress) Transportation Security Improvement Act of 2005 - Title I: Authorizations - (Sec. 101) Amends federal transportation law to authorize appropriations for FY2007-FY2009 to the: (1) Transportation Security Administration (TSA); and (2) Department of Transportation (DOT). (Sec. 103) Amends federal shipping law to require a minimum authorization of appropriations of $35 million for each of FY2005-FY2009 for implementation of new technology projects to improve port security. (Current law authorizes appropriations of $35 million for each of FY2005-FY2009.) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) to set-aside specified percentages of TSA and the Directorate of Science and Technology research and development (R&D) funds for: (1) maritime security related projects or programs, including ferry systems (8%); and (2) rail security related projects or programs (2%). Directs the Secretary to promulgate a strategic plan for transportation R&D that ensures that the research needs for security of all modes of transportation, including aviation, maritime, rail, pipeline, and transit security, are addressed. Requires the Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee to annually evaluate the plan, and recommend changes to the transportation security research program under such plan. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on such plan, including the evaluations and recommendations made by the Advisory Committee. Authorizes the Secretary to transfer up to $15 million each fiscal year to the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) for a focused program in transportation security under its Advanced Technology Program. Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology (Directorate of Science and Technology for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)) (Under Secretary), to establish a competitive research program, headed by a Director, within the Directorate. Latest action (2006-02-27): Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 364.
Why this matters
The bill illustrates a recurring post-9/11 pattern of Congress trying to carve out mode-specific (port, rail, transit) set-asides inside DHS’s broader science and technology research budget, rather than leaving allocation to agency discretion. Even though it never became law, it foreshadowed the competitive DHS transportation-security research programs that later emerged administratively, and it is a data point on how authorizers try to steer homeland-security R&D toward neglected surface-transport threats.