House chair urges TSA to spend less on people, more on technology
A key House lawmaker criticized the Transportation Security Administration last week for not doing enough to develop technology that detects threatening objects at the nation's airports.
Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said Thursday during a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing that security systems at the nation's airports can still be "easily breached" due to technology shortfalls, regardless of how many passenger and baggage screeners are working. Mica is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation.
"We've created a multi-billion-dollar mirage. You can have 200,000 screeners, whether they be private or public, and we're still at risk," Mica said. "TSA has done a good job of ramping up an army of screeners. They have not done a good job in developing technology."
According to Mica, TSA has spent too much money on salaries and personnel at the expense of technology.
As an example, Mica cited a security breach last month in which a college student smuggled suspicious items past screeners and onto two Southwest Airlines planes. The items included box cutter blades, knives and liquid bleach. Notes accompanying the items said they were smuggled aboard the planes to test TSA security procedures.
"You cannot deploy enough screeners and individuals to deal with the threat unless you have the right technology," Mica said.
By the end of this year, all airports in the country are supposed to be screening every passenger and bag. However, TSA director James Loy said in October that five airports would not meet the deadline because they do not have adequate electronic screening equipment.
Stephen McHale, TSA's deputy administrator, acknowledged at the hearing that the agency faces technology limitations.
"We do need to improve the technology and improve the equipment we have for our screeners," McHale said.
Promising technology exists, McHale said, but the main challenges are making it suitable for airports and matching the appropriate technology to the likely threat.
TSA is testing two explosives trace detection machines that analyze air for residue of explosives as passengers go through them, McHale said. He declined to say when such machines would be installed at airports, saying only that it would occur "in the not too distant future."
McHale outlined a number of steps TSA is currently taking to enhance technological capabilities at airports. For example, the agency has replaced walk-through metal detectors at airports with the latest technology, and is developing a document scanner that will detect traces of explosives on passenger boarding passes.
TSA is also working with its contractors to develop enhancements to existing explosive detection systems that screen carry-on and checked baggage.
"We are simultaneously working with new vendors to develop technologies that will enable us to detect explosives in smaller amounts than are currently established in our certification standard, and will occupy a smaller footprint at already overcrowded airports," McHale said. "TSA is also looking at new applications of X-ray, electromagnetic, and nuclear technologies to better probe sealed containers for materials that pose a threat."
McHale added that TSA remains on course to install an enhanced version of the Threat Image Protection system at every airport checkpoint lane by next summer. The system superimposes images of prohibited objects on X-ray screens during actual operations and records whether screeners identify them.
McHale also said TSA is evaluating "body scan" technologies. However, he said the agency would not consider deploying such a system until sufficient safeguards are in place to ensure the protection of passenger privacy.