Security

The man, Ahmed Abassi, allegedly plotted to derail a New York-bound train near the Canadian border. 

Sen. John McCain attributed the increase to budget cuts and the possible passage of immigration reform legislation.

Federal transportation safety officials have released the official proposal to allow full-body scanners in airports for public comment.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Friday afternoon issued a 54-page rundown of why it uses the controversial “advanced imaging technology” (AIT) to scan passengers before they board an airplane and dispel health and privacy risks.

Even though the sophisticated scanners have been in airports since 2008, a federal court said the agency should have allowed for public feedback before moving forward with the technology, since the graphic image produced of the traveler may invade his or her privacy.

The prep work comes against a backdrop of past holiday attempts to terrorize airplanes

A Democratic lawmaker is calling on Republicans to allow a markup of a bill to close a loophole in flight training he filed after a report said this month that potential terrorists could be allowed to train in the United States.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Monday that the Republican-led panel should quickly schedule a hearing to consider his bill, H.R. 6159, which has been dubbed the "Flight School Security Act of 2012."

The legislation was filed after lawmakers received a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report report showing that it was possible for foreign flight students to be cleared for flying lessons earlier than they would be cleared to fly commercially on U.S. airlines.

Thompson said Monday that it was important for Congress to act quickly to change that.

"H.R. 6159 would require all person seeking flight training to be checked against the terrorist watchlist before they receive training," he said in a letter to Homeland Security Transportation Security Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers.  

Minnesota Rep. Chip Cravaack (R) clashed with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Wednesday over federal funding for authorizing airline employees to carry guns on flights.

Cravaack, a former pilot who was himself a former participant in the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program, said the Obama administration was trying to eliminate the program by cutting its funding.

"I see the FFDO program as being absolutely vital, with 1.5 million sorties being flown annually, at the cost to the American taxpayer for $15 a flight," Cravaack said to Napolitano during a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee Wednesday.

"As a pilot that flew for 17 years, as a former federal flight deck officer, I can assure you, ma'am, that the federal flight deck officer is not only the last line of defense, but a chief deterrent for those that wish to use an aircraft as a human-guided missile," Cravaack continued.

“The leak really did endanger sources and methods,” she said on Fox News Sunday. 

Obama's budget proposes a 52-percent cut in the flight deck officer program, which trains pilots on handling firearms.

Janet Napolitano said officials don't weed through the tweets of incoming travelers in an attempt to spot potential terrorists.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Monday tweeted out the text of the speech he was going to give at Monday’s March for Life rally had it not been for his high-profile run-in with the Transportation Security Administration.