Lawmaker calls for boost in passenger screening technology

Congress should direct the Transportation Security Administration to spend money on screening technology rather than "armies of personnel," House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla. said Tuesday.

He also advocated administrative action to change from a federally operated system to one run by private contractors.

Mica said a report released Tuesday by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general bolsters his argument.

A recent GAO report found that screening operations at airports with privatized systems performed better than those with federal screeners.

"Over the last three-and-half years, we have spent billions of dollars creating a Soviet-style, centralized bureaucracy that has resulted in greater inefficiencies and inflexibility with little improvement in screening effectiveness," Mica said.

Airports have expressed interest in opting out of the federal screening program, but airport officials and screening companies want the federal government to provide private screeners with limited liability protection.

Mica also said he would support a $3 hike in airport security fees, which the Bush administration proposed in its fiscal 2006 budget, only if it is dedicated to purchasing technologies that detect explosives.