SAFEGUARDS Act of 2026

This Act may be cited as the Spending Aviation Fees for Equipment, Guaranteeing Upgraded and Advanced Risk Detection and Safety Act of 2026 or the SAFEGUARDS Act of 2026.
It is the sense of Congress that—
the fee collected in accordance with section 44940 of title 49, United States Code (commonly known as the 9/11 Security Fee), is an airline passenger-paid fee established with the express purpose of sustaining the safety and security of the aviation system of the United States;
revenue generated from the 9/11 Security Fee should be used exclusively to fund activities, programs, equipment, and initiatives that directly improve the security of commercial aviation, including passenger and baggage screening, security technology upgrades, and the support of personnel responsible for aviation security;
the use of the 9/11 Security Fee for purposes unrelated to aviation security undermines public trust and the original intent of the fee, and all proceeds from the fee should be reserved and expended solely for measures that strengthen the safety and security of the traveling public within the aviation sector; and
the diversion of 9/11 Security Fee revenue to other purposes should be ended no later than 2027, in accordance with section 44940(i)(4) of title 49, United States Code, as it read on the date of the enactment of this Act.
Subsection (h) of section 44923 of title 49, United States Code (relating to the Aviation Security Capital Fund), is amended—
in paragraph (1), by striking the second, third, and fourth sentences and inserting the following new sentences: Beginning in fiscal year 2028 and for each fiscal year thereafter, the first $500,000,000 derived from fees received under section 44940(a)(1) shall be available to be deposited in the Fund. The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall impose the fee authorized by such section so as to collect at least $500,000,000 in each of such fiscal years for deposit into the Fund, subject to the prior termination of any of the fees authorized under such section being credited as offsetting receipts and deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.; and
by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and inserting the following new paragraph:
Amounts in the Fund shall be available to the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration to make grants under this section or enter into related agreements to carry out this section.
Section 44923 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by—
by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection (j); and
by inserting after subsection (h) the following new subsection:
There is established within the Department of Homeland Security a fund to be known as the Aviation Security Checkpoint Technology Fund (in this subsection referred to as the ASCT Fund).
Beginning in fiscal year 2028 and for each fiscal year thereafter, after the first $500,000,000 is deposited into the Aviation Security Capital Fund pursuant to subsection (h)(2), the next $250,000,000 from fees received under section 44940(a)(1) shall be available to be deposited in the ASCT Fund. The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall impose the fee authorized by such section so as to collect not less than $250,000,000 in each of such fiscal years for deposit into the ASCT Fund. Amounts in the ASCT Fund shall be available until expended to the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration to fund the testing, procurement, deployment, installation, and sustainment of aviation security checkpoint technology, subject to the prior termination of any of the fees authorized under such section being credited as offsetting receipts and deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.
Amounts in the ASCT Fund shall be available to the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration to make grants under this section or enter into related agreements to carry out this section.
Paragraph (1) of section 44940(i) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking section 44923(h) and inserting subsections (h) and (i) of section 44923.