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Congressman Bill Keating

Representing the 9th District of Massachusetts

Keating Airport Perimeter Security Bill Passes House

July 11, 2016
Press Release
 
Congressman Bill Keating – then Norfolk County District Attorney – investigated how a teenage boy managed to breach airport security at Charlotte-Douglas Airport and hide himself in the wheel well of a 737 commercial airplane without detection.  Delvonte Tisdale tragically perished in the journey.
 
Concerned for the state of airport security nationwide, Keating began pursuing security gaps at national commercial airports on the Homeland Security Committee when he went to Congress just months later.
 
Keating’s legislation that passed the House today - the Airport Perimeter and Access Control Security Act of 2016, is in direct response to the recommendations contained within an independent review of commercial airports by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that was released at the end of May.  Congressman Keating requested this report from GAO in February 2014.
 
The Airport Perimeter and Access Control Security Act of 2016 requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to modernize and enhance airport perimeter security by consistently updating their risk assessments, as well as by developing a comprehensive strategy to keep perimeters safe in the face of evolving threats.
 
A May 2016 AP investigation found that intruders breach airport security fences every ten days.  Prior to the May 2016 GAO report, the last comprehensive report conducted on the TSA’s oversight of perimeter security was in 2009 and determined that TSA had not conducted a comprehensive risk assessment as required by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Infrastructure Protection Plan.  Data indicates that cumulatively 19% of over 430 commercial airports are evaluated by TSA on a consistent basis and in some years, it was as low as 3%.
 
"The recent attacks on the airports of Brussels and Istanbul demonstrated that airports remain a steady target for terrorists and in the those cases, it was the perimeter areas that were attacked,” said Congressman Keating. “Every airport is unique and the landscape of terrorism is always changing. We need to stay ahead of these evolving threats with both a strong basis of comprehensive security policies as well as the flexibility to adapt and change them as need be.  My bipartisan legislation will close loopholes in airport security practices and ensure that each access control point and perimeter is as secure as possible.”  
 
A summary of Congressman Keating’s efforts to investigate, understand, and secure airport perimeter security can be found here: http://keating.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=358:gao-releases-keating-report-on-airport-perimeter-security-highlighting-deficiencies&catid=14&Itemid=13
 
A copy of the full GAO report requested by Congressman Keating that was released in May 2016 can be found here: http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/677586.pdf
 
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