TSA

Your morning transportation speed-read:

The National Transportation Safety Board said distraction was the cause of a duck boat accident.

The Department of Transportation's inspector general will investigate the oversight of the Washington MetroRail expansion to Dulles International Airport.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is bringing a bill to ban Transportation Security Administration pat-downs there up for a vote.

Cincinnati is closing one of its airport's main terminals for remodeling.

The Transportation Security Administration's proposed firing of more than 30 employees at Hawaii International Airport for improperly screening checked baggage should be investigated, a pair of staunch congressional critics of the agency said Tuesday.

GOP Reps. John Mica (R-Fla.) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) wrote a letter to the acting inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security that was obtained by The Hill. In it, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the separate House Homeland Defense subcommittee said the proposal firings raise questions about TSA's effectiveness.

Mica and Chaffetz have pushed for more private airport security screenings, arguing that they would be more effective than government employees from the TSA.

"We, along with our colleagues in Congress, continue to be concerned with the Transportation Security Administration's management and oversight of its federal screener operations," they wrote to acting DHS Inspector General Charles Edwards.

The state lawmaker pushing Texas to ban Transportation Security Administration pat-downs is calling on a man mentioned as possible presidential contender to help pass the bill: Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R).

State Rep. David Simpson said in a letter to the governor, whose moves are now being watched by national observers, that Perry could help convince lawmakers to pass the bill before a special session of the Texas Legislature ends. Perry, who is flirting with a bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, is seen as potential top-tier candidate in a field whose only southerners are former Speaker Newt Gingrich and former pizza magnate Herman Cain.

"You write in your book, Fed Up, that you want to 'help foster a nationwide conversation about the role of government in our lives,'" Simpson wrote to Perry. "I can think of no role less suitable for our federal government than that of routinely violating innocent citizens of this state and those of the entire country.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

The Federal Aviation Administration said Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew planes that had been struck by lightning.

A new toy will allow kids to play Transportation Security Administration agents.

A Chicago chef's knives made it through airport security, even though he was patted down.

San Francisco's transportation chief is leaving his job.

The TSA officers in Newark, N.J., were known by airport colleagues as "Mexican hunters," according to a report.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

An Ohio couple say they missed their honeymoon flight because they were held by the Transportation Security Administration over contact solution.

A Newark, N.J., flight was delayed when a flight attendant found graffiti in the bathroom of the plane.

Meet Rahm Emanuel's choice to lead the Chicago Department of Transportation.

High-speed rail is all the rage now, but some Amtrak trains in Detroit are going to be moving more slowly.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A Louisiana airport is displaying posters for movies that have been filmed in the town.

A man was removed from a flight for cursing on a plane.

A disabled man was subjected to a Transportation Security Administration pat-down.

Amtrak has a new operations chief.

The Transportation Security Administration said Friday it was removing more than 30 of its employees at Hawaii International Airport for improperly screening checked baggage.

The TSA had been conducting what it called an "extensive investigation" of the workers at the Hawaii, and it said Friday the firings were the result of the review.

"TSA holds its workforce to the highest ethical standards and we will not tolerate employees who in any way compromise the security of the traveling public,” TSA Administrator John Pistole said in a written statement.

A video by a passenger at the Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix of his mother's reaction to being patted down by the Transportation Security Administration has led to a review of whether filming and taking pictures of such events is a constitutional right.

On May 28, a female passenger in Phoenix reacted angrily to being patted down by TSA officers at the airport security checkpoint, claiming she was sexually assaulted during the search. TSA has defended the legality of the pat-down, but the woman's son recorded her reaction, over the objections of the TSA officers, and uploaded it to YouTube.

"I think he molested me," the woman says in the clip. "I want a police officer now. Now, I want a police officer ... For God's sake, somebody help me."

"I'm going to need you to leave," a TSA agent is heard in the video telling the woman's son. "Are you going through the screening process?"

"You are not allowed to film," another agent says in the video.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood went to the groundbreaking of a streetcar in New Orleans.

A bill in the Texas State Legislature to ban Transportation Security Administration pat-downs there is up for a second vote.

California lawmakers are trying to take over control of a proposed high-speed rail.

Oakland's international airport has been authorized for flights to Cuba.