Mineta: TSA hiring campaign in jeopardy without supplemental funds

The Transportation Security Administration may have to stop hiring federal baggage screeners, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta warned Monday. Speaking at the annual Government Executive-sponsored Excellence in Government conference in Washington, Mineta said that unless Congress passes a supplemental funding bill, the newly formed agency would have to take some truly "Draconian steps." "We will not be able to pay wages for existing contract screeners, who need to be on the job until November," he said. "We will be forced to stop hiring federal screeners and suspend equipment deliveries." TSA is slated to take over passenger and baggage screening responsibilities at the nation's 429 commercial airports on Nov. 19. It must have explosive-detection equipment deployed to airports by Dec. 31. Additionally, the secretary said, more than 20,000 air traffic controllers could be furloughed for anywhere from five to eight days starting in September if funding does not come through. Congress and the administration have been bickering for weeks about the overall size of the supplemental funding bill that would support a host of government agencies involved in homeland security and the war on terrorism. President Bush initially proposed $27 billion, but a House-backed measure was slightly higher than that figure, and the Senate bill has reached $31.5 billion. Bush has threatened to veto any bill that does not adhere to his spending limits. Calling on Congress to act, Mineta said TSA can ill afford to shut down, let alone slow down its buildup. "If that did happen, we could not recover quickly, because we believe that many contract screeners would simply never come back to work," he said. Meeting with reporters after his speech, Mineta brushed aside concerns expressed by many airport executives that even if TSA gets the funding it says it needs, they won't be able to meet the tight December deadline to screen all checked luggage with explosive-detection equipment. Airport executives have suggested that fliers could be greeted with long lines until major facility modifications are made. Mineta said the agency will meet its statutory deadlines. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, plans to introduce legislation tomorrow extending the deadlines. Her bill would allow airports unable to meet the Dec. 31 deadline to work out a plan with TSA for fully complying with the regulation. Last week, other aviation experts also called on Congress to extend the deadlines.

While Transportation officials have not endorsed the notion of extending deadlines, Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels on Friday said TSA could use some extra flexibility to comply with the law. He said the administration might soon propose some modifications. The Excellence in Government conference started Monday and runs through Wednesday at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington.