Rep. Mica: 'TSA sting another eye-opener for agency crying out for reform'

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) said Thursday that a media investigation into thefts from airport security checkpoints reveals the Transportation Security Administration is "crying out for reform."

ABC News reported Thursday that a TSA officer at Orlando, Fla.'s Sanford International Airport took home an iPad it purposely left behind at the airport's security checkpoint. The device was located using a tracking device, the station said.

Mica said Thursday that the report reinforced his frequent criticisms of TSA.

“This case in which a TSA employee absconded with private property from a screening checkpoint is another eye-opening example of how this bloated security agency cannot properly recruit, train, retain, and oversee a ballooning 65,000-person workforce,” Mica said in a statement released by his office.  

“This national news report confirms complaints I’ve received that, earlier this year, led me to order an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) into disturbing examples of passenger effects being pilfered and other concerns," Mica continued. "That investigation is currently underway and is a result of complaints by the public and others that have had firsthand experience with this ongoing problem.”

ABC said the TSA officer responded to allegations that he took the missing iPad by saying first that he did not have it. Later, the TSA agent said his wife removed the device from the airport, ABC reported.

TSA has said it has fired the employee that was identified in the ABC investigation.

"TSA holds its employees to the highest ethical standards," spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said in a statement. "TSA has zero tolerance for misconduct in the workplace and takes immediate action when allegations are substantiated.”

TSA said between 2003 and 2011, less than one percent of its total workforce has been terminated because of theft involving passenger's luggage. TSA says on its website that it has about 50,000 employees.

The ABC video can be viewed below.

- This post was updated with new information at 8:24 p.m.

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