Subcommittee on Transportation Security Chairman Rogers Releases Report on Reforming TSA

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Sep 10, 2012 Issues: Counterterrorism, Passenger and Cargo Aviation Security, Surface Transportation Security

Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation Security, released a Majority Staff report entitled “Rebuilding TSA into a Smarter, Leaner Organization,” detailing the Subcommittee’s findings and recommendations to help the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) evolve to become a more effective and more efficient agency.

During the 112th Congress, the Subcommittee launched a thorough examination of TSA’s operations, rules, and regulations and their impact on job-creating transportation industry stakeholders, as well as the traveling public.   This examination included 22 hearings, 15 Member briefings, 7 site visits, and an in-depth review by the Subcommittee’s Majority Members and Staff. 

The report compiles the findings from this examination and provides key recommendations to TSA for rebuilding a smarter, leaner organization, including to:

•         Advance risk-based security by prioritizing the harmonization of aviation security standards worldwide, adopting a comprehensive plan to mitigate evolving threats, and expanding the use of canine explosives detection assets;

•         Strengthen privacy protections by enlisting the private sector to modernize and, to the extent possible, automate the passenger screening process to reduce pat-downs, implementing privacy software on all AIT machines, and sponsoring an independent analysis of the potential health impacts of AIT machines;

•         Limit spending by reducing the size of the TSA workforce, conducting cost-benefit analyses for all major programs and purchases, and communicating with industry to avoid setting technology requirements that are unattainable;

•         Create jobs by contracting with the private sector to perform screening and establishing a five-year procurement plan to guide future investments in aviation security technology research and development; and

•         Cut red tape by working with stakeholders to streamline existing security regulations, issuing final rules for long overdue security programs, and reforming the Prohibited Items List to better reflect evolving threats.

Subcommittee Chairman Rogers said: "Since TSA's creation after the devastating terrorist attacks of 9/11, the agency has gone down a troubling path of overspending, limiting private sector engagement, and failing to sufficiently protect passenger privacy.  Based on vigorous oversight by the Subcommittee on Transportation Security, this report shines a bright light on TSA and lays the groundwork for meaningful reform."

The report is available HERE.

The report will be the subject of a Subcommittee hearing, entitled “Eleven Years After 9/11 Can TSA Evolve To Meet the Next Terrorist Threat?,” tomorrow at 2 p.m. in 311 Cannon House Office Building.  The hearing will discuss the report’s findings and provide Members the opportunity to hear from key policy experts, stakeholders and TSA’s leadership on what additional steps TSA can take in order to better meet ever-evolving terrorist threats while also meeting the needs of the traveling public and transportation industry. Additional information on the hearing is available HERE.

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