At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) promoted the Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening Enhancement Act.
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00:00Pursuant to notice, I now call up H.R. 820, the Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening
00:10Enhancement Act. The bill was circulated in advance and printed copies are available. The
00:15clerk shall designate the bill. H.R. 820, offered by Mr. Swalwell. To amend the Bottles and Breastfeeding
00:21Equipment Screening Act to require hygienic handling of breast milk and baby formula by
00:26security screening personnel of the Transportation Security Administration and personnel of private
00:31security companies providing security screening and for other purposes. Without objection, the first
00:36reading of the bill is suspended with and it is considered read and open to amendment at any point.
00:40The gentleman from California, Mr. Swalwell, is recognized for five minutes on this measure.
00:44Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also want to thank my former colleague, Congresswoman Katie Porter,
00:51who introduced this last Congress. And with the help of the chairman, we were able to
00:56pass it out of this committee with a bipartisan vote. I also want to thank California scientist,
01:03Emily Calandrelli, who has socialized, evangelized this issue with a very touching but concerning
01:12op-ed that she wrote about her own experience. Mr. Chairman, as a parent, there are a lot of stressors
01:21that you will go through with your kids, getting them up, getting them fed, getting them dressed,
01:29getting them to do their homework, getting them to take a bath, getting them to go to bed. We all
01:34experience it. But the absolute nightmare of nightmares is traveling with your children. It is
01:43chaos taking children through an airport. It's just chaos. For whatever reason, they choose this time
01:52to be their absolute worst. They melt down. They're hungry. They don't go to the bathroom when they're
01:58supposed to. They need to go to the bathroom when the plane's about to take off. It's a disaster.
02:03Compounding that disaster for new parents is the way that we treat women who are traveling with
02:12children and breastfeeding. They are treated almost like terrorists. Their breast milk is taken away
02:21from them. It's pulled aside. It's tested in front of them. And anyone who's traveled with children knows
02:27that the absolute worst time to stop and delay children from expeditiously moving through the
02:34airport is at a security line. Backs up the line. They, again, will melt down if they're separated from
02:41their mother. It's chaos. It's hell. It's not good for the security officials. It's not good for
02:48traveling mothers. It's not good for traveling husbands who will be asked, what are you going to
02:54do about this? So, Mr. Chairman, with that in mind, and with a lot of gratitude to our security
03:01professionals who do their best, but I just don't think we've evolved to understand this issue,
03:07we have introduced the Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening Enhancement Act, the BABES Act.
03:12It's a straightforward bill that will make traveling with breast milk and pumping equipment
03:17easier for new parents and caretakers of young children.
03:22The current TSA rules deem breast milk and pumping accessories as medically necessary liquids that
03:27travelers can bring aboard an aircraft. However, they face inconsistent screenings and improper
03:33handling of breast milk causing new parents and their babies, in addition to the chaos I just described,
03:39a lot of other harms. H.R. 820 would help address these challenges by requiring the TSA
03:46administrator to update or issue guidance to minimize the risk of contamination of breast milk,
03:51baby formula, juice, and purified water during TSA screening. It also will have TSA agents,
03:59good meaning, good natured TSA agents, better understand how to move through faster America's
04:07mothers. Another issue that mothers experience, and I hear about this all the time, Chairman,
04:13is that working moms who have to go on the road for their work without their children,
04:19that doesn't mean that they're not still pumping, they're just not with the children. And so oftentimes,
04:25they will bring the equipment, they'll go through the screening, and they are asked by TSA screeners,
04:32well, if this is really breast milk, why don't you have kids with you? The screeners don't know,
04:38they haven't been trained, but to many moms, many who are going through postpartum depression,
04:45this is a mom shaming, a form of mom shaming where they feel awful already that they have to leave the
04:51baby, that they have to work. And I've heard a number of people who have gone through this
04:57experience as well. So we can minimize all of this, make traveling a lot friendlier for anyone who
05:03doesn't have kids or doesn't have young kids. You will move faster through the airport because you
05:07will not be stopped by moms who are being questioned or delayed by their breast milk being unnecessarily
05:14screened. So, Mr. Chairman, I just want to thank you again. You're probably asking, like, why am I the
05:21one bringing this forward? As I said, I'm living this issue right now myself with three little kids,
05:26but I'm doing it, you know, as an ally of someone like Ms. Porter and Ms. Calandrelli,
05:30and so many mothers across America who see this as a bipartisan way for us to just make it easier
05:36for trusted moms to travel through our airports. And I yield back.
05:40Gentlemen, I recognize Mr. McKenzie for five minutes.
05:43Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and would like to thank the sponsor of this legislation for
05:49bringing this forward. I think it is a very important issue and as a dad of a one-year-old,
05:53I am very familiar with this same process that we are going through every time you travel through
05:58one of America's airports. And the testimony that he provided is accurate. It's my same experience that
06:05all too often the good and well-intended agents of the TSA who are trying to do their job trying
06:12to keep Americans safe and move them expeditiously through the process are not given the same
06:19information, the same level of training, and ultimately that leads to inconsistencies in the
06:23process. We've had it where on an inbound and then an outbound flight you receive different treatment
06:29of the same products. And you're saying, well, somehow we made it through the first time without a
06:34problem. But here we are coming back and because of these inconsistencies in training and procedures,
06:39you're experiencing a problem and a delay on the way back. So I think it is probably one of many areas
06:47that I think could use improvement in training and consistency in our TSA screening processes
06:54and procedures. But this one in particular resonates with me. I appreciate the the sponsor bringing it
07:00forward. And as was stated, it's not only going to improve the traveling experience and process
07:06for those of us that have small children, but it's going to improve the process for all Americans.
07:11And so I think it's a good thing that we're bringing this forward, addressing this issue,
07:14and would encourage a yes vote again. So thank you to the sponsor and thank you to the chairman. Yield back.
07:19Gentleman yields. Mr. Crea. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to also thank Mr. Swellwell and of course,
07:25Ms. Porter for this legislation. As a father of four children that were breastfed, going through airports,
07:33two adults, four kids, you're playing zone defense, not always successful. To have to go through that
07:40security system and explain to those nice uniformed officers what it is that you're doing and why you
07:48have those items is a challenge that parents shouldn't go through. So thank you very much.
07:55I do hope we can continue to improve security while making sure parents are taking care of.
08:02It's the right thing to do. Thank you, Mr. Swellwell. I'll be supporting this legislation. Let's keep
08:07it coming. Thank you very much. The gentleman yields. Would anyone else wish to speak on the bill?
08:13Are there any amendments to the bill? Hearing none, the question is on reporting the bill H.R. 820 to
08:18the House with a favorable recommendation. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed? No.
08:24In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it and the motion is agreed to.
08:29Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.