Rep. Henry A. Waxman Holds a Hearing On Tsa Airport Security

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Rep. Henry A. Waxman Holds a Hearing On Tsa Airport Security

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM HOLDS A HEARING ON TSA AIRPORT SECURITY

NOVEMBER 15, 2007

SPEAKERS: REP. HENRY A. WAXMAN, D-CALIF. CHAIRMAN REP. TOM LANTOS, D-CALIF. REP. EDOLPHUS TOWNS, D-N.Y. REP. PAUL E. KANJORSKI, D-PA. REP. CAROLYN B. MALONEY, D-N.Y. REP. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, D-MD. REP. DENNIS J. KUCINICH, D-OHIO REP. DANNY K. DAVIS, D-ILL. REP. WILLIAM LACY CLAY, D-MO. REP. DIANE WATSON, D-CALIF. REP. STEPHEN F. LYNCH, D-MASS. REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, D-MD. REP. BRIAN HIGGINS, D-N.Y. DEL. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, D-D.C. REP. PAUL W. HODES, D-N.H. REP. CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, D-CONN. REP. BRUCE BRALEY, D-IOWA REP. PETER WELCH, D-VT. REP. JOHN YARMUTH, D-KY. REP. BETTY MCCOLLUM, D-MINN. REP. JIM COOPER, D-TENN. REP. JOHN SARBANES, D-MD. REP. JOHN F. TIERNEY, D-MASS.

REP. THOMAS M. DAVIS III, R-VA. RANKING MEMBER REP. DAN BURTON, R-IND. REP. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, R-CONN. REP. JOHN M. MCHUGH, R-N.Y. REP. JOHN L. MICA, R-FLA. REP. MARK SOUDER, R-IND. REP. TODD R. PLATTS, R-PA. REP. CHRIS CANNON, R-UTAH REP. JOHN J. "JIMMY" DUNCAN JR., R-TENN. REP. MICHAEL R. TURNER, R-OHIO REP. DARRELL ISSA, R-CALIF. REP. KENNY MARCHANT, R-TEXAS REP. LYNN WESTMORELAND, R-GA. REP. PATRICK T. MCHENRY, R-N.C. REP. VIRGINIA FOXX, R-N.C. REP. BRIAN P. BILBRAY, R-CALIF. REP. BILL SALI, R-IDAHO REP. JIM JORDAN, R-OHIO

WITNESSES: EDMUND "KIP" HAWLEY, ADMINSTRATOR, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

GREGORY D. KUTZ, MANAGING DIRECTOR, FORENSIC AUDITS AND SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS, GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

JOHN COONEY, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FORENSIC AUDITS AND SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS, GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

[*] WAXMAN: The meeting of the committee will please come to order.

Today we're holding a hearing on airport security. Last year, the Government Accountability Office tested the effectiveness of airport security checkpoints by conducting undercover missions to bring explosives through airport screening security checkpoints at 21 locations. The Transportation Security Administration failed all 21 of those tests.

The purpose of today's hearing is to determine whether TSA has improved over the last year. And GAO is here again to tell us about the results of its most recent investigation.

This committee comes to this issue in a bipartisan manner. This investigation was jointly requested by our ranking member, Tom Davis, Bennie Thompson, the chair of the Homeland Security, and myself.

A bipartisan approach is critical, because explosives on airplanes are a dangerous threat. In August 2006, terrorists plotted to bring liquid explosives onto eight flights bound for the United States. The British thwarted that threat, but there are new ones on the horizon.

The terrorist threat to our airlines is constantly evolving. The question is: Is the Transportation Security Administration keeping up?

To help answer this question, we asked GAO to do another round of covert tests. Congress and the traveling public we represent have the right to know whether TSA is effectively addressing this threat.

Unfortunately, the news is not good: GAO's undercover agents once again succeeded in getting dangerous materials through airport security checkpoints.

Last year, the co-chairmen of the 9/11 Commission spoke publicly about the fact that TSA failed GAO's tests. Thomas Kean said he was "dismayed, because I thought the Department of Homeland Security was making some progress on this, and evidently they're not." And Lee Hamilton stated that, quote, "the fact that so many airports failed this test is a hugely important story which the American traveler is entitled to know."

The Homeland Security Department promised to plug these holes, but what we will hear from GAO today is that the department is not succeeding. The transportation secretary administration has had six years and has spent billions of taxpayers' dollars, yet our airlines remain vulnerable. That's an embarrassing -- and dangerous -- record.

I hope today's hearing will ...

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