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GOP report on 9/11 anniversary eve: Make TSA 'smarter, leaner'
Republicans are suggesting ways the Transportation Security Administration can be "rebuilt" into a "smarter, leaner organization" ahead of a hearing on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The House Homeland Security Committee's Transportation Security subcommittee released a report Monday finding that TSA could be more effective by reducing its number of employees. The report also suggest TSA should consider "enlisting the private sector to modernize and, to the extent possible, automate the passenger screening process to reduce pat-downs, implementing privacy software on all [Advanced Imaging Technology] machines, and sponsoring an independent analysis of the potential health impacts of AIT machines."
The committee will hold a hearing on the report on on Tuesday, which will mark the 11th anniversary of the hijacking of four U.S. airliners by terrorists.
"Since TSA's creation after the devastating terrorist attacks of 9/11, the agency has gone down a troubling path of overspending, limiting private sector engagement, and failing to sufficiently protect passenger privacy," he said in a statement. "Based on vigorous oversight by the subcommittee on Transportation Security, this report shines a bright light on TSA and lays the groundwork for meaningful reform."
Among the report's recommendations is increasing the use of risk-based security technique such as the ones like TSA's Pre-Check known passenger and behavior detection programs that have been touted recently by the agency.
The report also calls for limiting spending on airport security "by reducing the size of the TSA workforce, conducting cost-benefit analyses for all major programs and purchases, and communicating with industry to avoid setting technology requirements that are unattainable."
TSA could "create jobs by contracting with the private sector to perform screening," the GOP report says.
The full report can be read here.
