TSA

The House next week is likely to advance three 2013 spending bills, including one that chops more than $200 million from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and another that gives a significant boost to veterans programs.

The House Rules Committee has set a Wednesday meeting to approve rules for the three bills, which means the House could consider the rules by Thursday and perhaps start work on one or more of them.

Airlines for America said lawmakers should be looking to streamline TSA's operations instead of raising fees to fund the agency.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

It could be harder for relatives to sit together on flights during the busy summer travel season.

A pilot was arrested for having a loaded gun in his bag.

Airline stock prices could go up as gas prices go down.

The panel that is planning a proposed high-speed railway in California wants to delete its old emails.

The Transportation Security Administration said Thursday that it would require commercial airlines to screen all cargo packages that are transported on their flights to the United States by December.

TSA had planned to implement the requirement by the end of last year, but the agency postponed the deadline amid concerns about the cost and time required to screen all packages.

The agency said Thursday that it was ready to move ahead with the requirement, announcing it would take effect Dec. 3.

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Your morning transportation speed-read:

Police say an airport security employee at Newark International who is accused of using a dead person's identification bought the information from a cab driver.

Officials in California are seeking environmental exemptions for a controversial proposed high-speed railway there.

The opening of a new airport in Berlin has been delayed.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) is raising money for an effort to pass a transportation tax in his state.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger recently received a pat-down from the Transportation Security Administration.

But unlike many receipts whose pat-downs become news, Kissinger said this week that the TSA agents who patted him down at LaGuardia Airport on May 11 did a good job.

"Dr. Kissinger wants to make clear that it is not unusual for him to be patted down during security screening at the airport," Kissinger's office said in a statement. "It is routine because he wears a brace on his foot and therefore cannot remove his shoes at the screening checkpoint." 

Your morning transportation speed-read:

The doors on a Washington, D.C. MetroRail train opened while the train was in motion.

Wind has been blamed for delays at London's Heathrow International Airport that have worried officials about the upcoming Olympics.

An Newark International Airport employee accused of stealing a deceased person's identification has pleaded not guilty.
 
Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is opening a new international terminal.

The Transportation Security Administration is defending its safety record after a report released this week contended that the agency had not properly responded to cases of airport security breaches.

The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general released at report commissioned at the request of New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) this week that showed that TSA only responded to 42 percent of the security breaches that were reported between January 2010 and May 2011 at Newark International Airport.

TSA spokesman Kawika Riley said in the same period, TSA screened thousands of airport passengers.

"Last year, TSA’s workforce screened more than 603 million passengers at 450 airports across the country and stopped more than 125,000 prohibited items at airport checkpoints," Riley said in a statement that was provided to The Hill. "Of those items, more than 1,300 were firearms." 

New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) said Monday that a report commissioned at his request shows the Transportation Security Administration has not properly responded to cases of airport security breaches.

Lautenberg said the report, which was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general, showed TSA only responded to 42 percent of the security breaches that it says were reported between January 2010 and May 2011 at Newark International Airport. Newark is the largest airport in Lautenberg's home state.

Lautenberg said in a statement released by his office Monday that the finding "identifies a gaping hole in our airport security system and gives us a framework for how to improve security at Newark Liberty Airport and all across the country." 

The Transportation Security Administration is denying accusation that it placed an 18-month-old baby on its suspected terrorist list.

A pair of New Jersey residents who are of Middle Eastern descent told a Florida television station this week that their 18-month-old daughter was prohibited from boarding a plane with them at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport in Florida because her name was on TSA's "no fly" list.

TSA said in a statement provided to The Hill Thursday that the child was not stopped at airport security because she was on the agency's watch list.

“TSA did not flag this child as being on the No Fly list," the agency said. "TSA was called to the gate by the airline and after talking to the parents and confirming through our vetting system, TSA determined the airline had mistakenly indicated the child was on a government watch list.”