[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
AN EXAMINATION OF THE TRANSPORTATION
SECURITY ADMINISTRATION'S FISCAL YEAR
2025 BUDGET
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORTATION AND MARITIME SECURITY
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
MAY 15, 2024
__________
Serial No. 118-64
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
58-379 PDF WASHINGTON : 2025
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Mark E. Green, MD, Tennessee, Chairman
Michael T. McCaul, Texas Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi,
Clay Higgins, Louisiana Ranking Member
Michael Guest, Mississippi Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas
Dan Bishop, North Carolina Eric Swalwell, California
Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida J. Luis Correa, California
August Pfluger, Texas Troy A. Carter, Louisiana
Andrew R. Garbarino, New York Shri Thanedar, Michigan
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Seth Magaziner, Rhode Island
Tony Gonzales, Texas Glenn Ivey, Maryland
Nick LaLota, New York Daniel S. Goldman, New York
Mike Ezell, Mississippi Robert Garcia, California
Anthony D'Esposito, New York Delia C. Ramirez, Illinois
Laurel M. Lee, Florida Robert Menendez, New Jersey
Morgan Luttrell, Texas Thomas R. Suozzi, New York
Dale W. Strong, Alabama Timothy M. Kennedy, New York
Josh Brecheen, Oklahoma Yvette D. Clarke, New York
Elijah Crane, Arizona
Stephen Siao, Staff Director
Hope Goins, Minority Staff Director
Sean Corcoran, Chief Clerk
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND MARITIME SECURITY
Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida, Chairman
Clay Higgins, Louisiana Shri Thanedar, Michigan, Ranking
Nick LaLota, New York Member
Laurel M. Lee, Florida Robert Garcia, California
Mark E. Green, MD, Tennessee (ex Timothy M. Kennedy, New York
officio) Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi
(ex officio)
Vacancy, Subcommittee Staff Director
Alex Marston, Minority Subcommittee Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Statements
The Honorable Carlos A. Gimenez, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Florida, and Chairman, Subcommittee on
Transportation and Maritime Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 1
Prepared Statement............................................. 3
The Honorable Shri Thanedar, a Representative in Congress From
the State of Michigan, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on
Transportation and Maritime Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 4
Prepared Statement............................................. 5
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on
Homeland Security:
Prepared Statement............................................. 6
Witness
Mr. David P. Pekoske, Administrator, U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, Transportation Security Administration:
Oral Statement................................................. 7
Prepared Statement............................................. 9
For the Record
The Honorable Troy A. Carter, a Representative in Congress From
the State of Louisiana:
Letter From Sheriff Joseph P. Lopinto, III..................... 19
Appendix
Questions From Chairman Carlos A. Gimenez for David P. Pekoske... 31
AN EXAMINATION OF THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION'S FISCAL
YEAR 2025 BUDGET
----------
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Homeland Security,
Subcommittee on Transportation and
Maritime Security,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:40 p.m., in
room 310, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Carlos A. Gimenez
[Chairman of the subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Gimenez, LaLota, Thanedar, and
Kennedy.
Also present: Representative Carter.
Mr. Gimenez. The Committee on Homeland Security
Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security will come
to order. Without objection, the Chair may declare the
subcommittee in recess at any point.
The purpose of this hearing is to examine the priorities of
TSA's budget request for fiscal year 2025. I would like to
thank our distinguished witness, Administrator David Pekoske,
for joining us today.
Without objection, the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr.
Carter, is permitted to sit with the subcommittee and ask
questions of the witnesses. So ordered.
I also want to welcome a new Member of the subcommittee,
the gentleman from New York, Mr. Kennedy. Thank you for joining
us.
I now recognize myself for an opening statement.
On behalf of the Members of our subcommittee, I am pleased
to welcome Administrator Pekoske to discuss TSA's fiscal year
2025 budget request.
It has been over 2 decades since TSA's establishment after
the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. While TSA has
grown and evolved as an agency, its mandate from the American
people remains the same, to safeguard our transportation
system.
From freight rail, trucking, and pipelines to commercial
aviation, TSA leads the Nation's efforts in facilitating the
safe and free movement of people and goods throughout the
United States and its transportation systems. We know our
economy depends on this to succeed and remain competitive
around the world.
Throughout this last year, this subcommittee has conducted
hearings on issues ranging from TSA's modernization efforts, to
the role of technology in aviation security, to TSA's identity
management work. This has been important work that gives us a
better understanding of where TSA stands today.
To carry out its mission, TSA needs the technology and the
manpower to stay ahead of the quickly-evolving threat landscape
and to keep commerce flowing freely.
We recognize that manpower continues to be an issue, and
this subcommittee is committed to working with TSA to ensure
that their front-line workers receive an equitable, competitive
wage.
While more work needs to be done to ensure the long-term
viability of TSA's new pay plan, the increasing employee
retention rates are an encouraging sign. I'm confident that
TSA's leadership will continue to be an engaged, effective
partner with this committee in addressing manpower issues.
I am less confident, however, in TSA's development and
deployment of new technology. Last year, I raised concerns with
the painfully slow time lines for TSA's rollout of the new
Computed Tomography systems, and the second generation of
Credential Authentication Technology at TSA checkpoints across
the country.
These are estimated to be completed in fiscal years 2042
and 2049, respectively. That is simply unacceptable. One year
later, I am still concerned that the agency has not made enough
strides to expedite the rollouts of these critical new
technologies.
In fact, when examining the budget request, it appears that
technology has taken a back seat. I am concerned that TSA has
not requested enough for technology. TSA procurement budget
request for fiscal year 2025 is over $40 million less than what
Congress enacted in fiscal year 2023, and the research and
development request for this fiscal year was barely half the
size of the agency's R&D budget in fiscal year 2023.
I understand the agency is also including a request to end
the diversion of the passenger security fee, which would help
the agency account for some of these changes. I am firmly
against the diversion and recognize the need for Congress to
engage this issue more thoughtfully, an end to the bait-and-
switch that is currently happening. Simply put, the American
people pay $5.60 per flight for security. All of it should go
to security.
Despite these challenges, I am pleased that TSA is making
tremendous progress with digital IDs. Through partnerships with
States and global tech leaders, such as Apple and Google, TSA
is working to integrate mobile driver licenses and other forms
of digital identification into their security screening
process.
TSA's work on identity management is making the security
process safer, more efficient, and ultimately less intrusive to
individual passengers. I am proud that the agency is now the de
facto leader within the Federal Government in this space.
As passenger volumes at airports continue to increase, the
role of technology is even more important to ensure checkpoints
are operating efficiently and that passengers have plenty of
time to make their flights. This is not the time to lose focus
on technology.
In closing, the transportation sector needs an engaged,
effective TSA to ensure the free flow of goods, people, and
services across the country and around the world.
Administrator Pekoske, my colleagues and I stand ready to
work with you to fulfill your mandate to the American people. I
appreciate you being here today and look forward to your
testimony.
[The statement of Chairman Gimenez follows:]
Statement of Chairman Carlos A. Gimenez
May 15, 2024
On behalf of the Members of our subcommittee, I am pleased to
welcome Administrator Pekoske to discuss TSA's fiscal year 2025 budget
request.
It has been over 2 decades since TSA's establishment after the
terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
While TSA has grown and evolved as an agency, its mandate from the
American people remains the same: to safeguard our transportation
sector.
From freight rail, trucking, and pipelines to commercial aviation,
TSA leads the Nation's efforts in facilitating the safe and free
movement of people and goods through the United States' transportation
systems. We know our economy depends on this to succeed and remain
competitive around the world.
Throughout this last year, this subcommittee has conducted hearings
on issues ranging from TSA's modernization efforts, to the role of
technology in aviation security, to TSA's identity management work.
This has been important work that gives us a better understanding of
where TSA stands today.
To carry out its mission, TSA needs the technology and manpower to
stay ahead of the quickly-evolving threat landscape and keep commerce
flowing freely.
We recognize that manpower continues to be an issue and this
subcommittee is committed to working with TSA to ensure that their
front-line workers receive an equitable, competitive wage.
While more work needs to be done to ensure the long-term viability
of TSA's new pay plan, the increasing employee retention rates are an
encouraging sign.
I am confident that TSA's leadership will continue to be an
engaged, effective partner with this committee in addressing manpower
issues.
I am less confident, however, in TSA's development and deployment
of new technology.
Last year, I raised concern with the painfully slow time lines for
TSA's roll-out of the new computed tomography systems and the second
generation of credential authentication technology at TSA checkpoints
across the country. These are estimated to be complete in fiscal years
2042 and 2049 respectively. This is simply unacceptable.
One year later, I am still concerned that the agency has not made
enough strides to expedite the roll-outs of these critical new
technologies.
In fact, when examining the budget request, it appears that
technology has taken a back seat. I am concerned that TSA has not
requested enough for technology.
TSA's procurement budget request for fiscal year 2025 is over $40
million less than what Congress enacted in fiscal year 2023, and the
research and development request for this fiscal year was barely half
the size of the agency's R&D budget in fiscal year 2023.
I understand the agency is also including a request to end the
diversion of the Passenger Security Fee, which would help the agency
account for some of these changes. I am firmly against the diversion
and recognize the need for Congress to engage this issue more
thoughtfully and end the ``bait-and-switch'' that is currently
happening.
Simply put: the American people pay $5.60 per flight for security--
all of it should go to security.
Despite these challenges, I am pleased that TSA is making
tremendous progress with digital IDs.
Through partnerships with States and global tech leaders such as
Apple and Google, TSA is working to integrate mobile driver licenses
and other forms of digital identification into their security screening
process.
TSA's work on identity management is making the security process
safer, more efficient, and ultimately less intrusive to individual
passengers. I am proud that the agency is now the de-facto leader
within the Federal Government in this space.
As passenger volumes at airports continue to increase, the role of
technology is even more important to ensure checkpoints are operating
efficiently and that passengers have plenty of time to make their
flights.
This is not the time to lose focus on technology.
In closing, the transportation sector needs an engaged, effective
TSA to ensure the free flow of goods, people, and services across the
country and around the world.
Administrator Pekoske, my colleagues and I stand ready to work with
you to fulfill your mandate to the American people.
I appreciate you being here today, and I look forward to your
testimony.
Mr. Gimenez. I now recognize the Ranking Member, the
gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Thanedar, for his opening
statement.
Mr. Thanedar. Good afternoon. Thank you, Chairman Gimenez,
for calling today's hearing.
Before I begin, I want to welcome Congressman Kennedy to
his first hearing as a Member of our subcommittee. Welcome. I
look forward to working with you.
I also want to thank Administrator Pekoske for joining us
to discuss TSA's budget request for fiscal year 2025. Last
year, TSA faced a major funding shortfall as the agency sought
more than $1 billion increase to pay for salary raises and
expanded collective bargaining rights.
I strongly supported that effort, and I was glad that we in
Congress were able to fulfill TSA's request and fund critical
improvements for the workforce.
For fiscal year 2025, to continue these workforce
initiatives, TSA has asked and has requested a $377 million
increase for periodic pay raises and career ladder promotions,
which will keep TSA employees in line with other Federal
workers.
It is critical that Congress continues its efforts and its
support for TSA's new pay system, which is having a significant
positive impact. Pay raises are making an enormous difference
in the lives of Transportation Security Officers, Federal air
marshals, and other TSA employees across the country. They are
also helping TSA address high rates of attrition, which have
plagued the agency for years and have now fallen nearly in
half.
Tomorrow, TSA and the union representing the TSO workforce,
the American Federation of Government Employees, will formalize
a new collective bargaining agreement that will provide
additional benefits for the agency and its workforce.
I look forward to hearing more from the administrator about
the impact these workforce initiatives are having on TSA's
ability to carry out its security mission.
I also hope to hear more about the difficult choices TSA
has made to determine funding priorities. TSA's budget request
does not include funding for the Visible Intermodal Prevention
and Response, or VIPR program, which is critical to surface
transportation security.
The request also does not include funding for law
enforcement officer and canine reimbursement programs, which
airports rely on to help with security costs.
In addition, the request includes approximately $90 million
for Computed Tomography carry-on baggage screening machines,
representing an increase from fiscal year 2024 funding, but
still not enough to allow the program to deploy machines to all
screening checkpoints on a reasonable time frame.
I hope that Congress will be able to restore and increase
funding for these programs. Doing so will require creative
solutions. As it stands, TSA's budget request assumes that
Congress will be able to redirect to TSA $1.6 billion in
passenger security fee collections, which are slated for
diversion to the general Treasury.
In fiscal year 2024, Congress returned $800 million in
fees, but doing so required an extension of sequestration cuts
to mandatory spending programs in fiscal 2032. Returning twice
the fee in fiscal 2025 would require twice as large an offset.
To go beyond TSA's budget request and restoring funding to
key programs, Congress should also consider a modest increase
to passenger security fees. I am proud to cosponsor Ranking
Member Thompson's bill, the Fund the TSA Act, which would end
the diversion of passenger security fees and raise fees by $2
per trip to provide TSA with the resources it desperately
needs. I encourage my colleagues to give the bill serious
consideration as a solution to TSA's funding challenges.
I look forward to today's discussion, and Mr. Chair, I
yield back.
[The statement of Ranking Member Thanedar follows:]
Statement of Ranking Member Shri Thanedar
May 15, 2024
I want to thank Administrator Pekoske for joining us to discuss
TSA's budget request for fiscal year 2025. Last year, TSA faced a major
funding shortfall, as the agency sought more than a $1 billion increase
to pay for salary raises and expanded collective bargaining rights. I
strongly supported that effort, and I was glad that we in Congress were
able to fulfill TSA's request and fund critical improvements for the
workforce.
For fiscal year 2025, to continue these workforce initiatives, TSA
has requested a $377 million increase for periodic pay raises and
career ladder promotions, which will keep TSA employees in line with
other Federal workers. It is critical that Congress continues its
support for TSA's new pay system, which is having a significant,
positive impact.
Pay raises are making an enormous difference in the lives of
Transportation Security Officers, Federal Air Marshals, and other TSA
employees across the country. They are also helping TSA address high
rates of attrition, which have plagued the agency for years and have
now fallen nearly in half.
Tomorrow, TSA and the union representing the TSO workforce, the
American Federation of Government Employees, will formalize a new
collective bargaining agreement that will provide additional benefits
for the agency and its workforce. I look forward to hearing more from
the administrator about the impact these workforce initiatives are
having on TSA's ability to carry out its security mission.
I also hope to hear more about the difficult choices TSA has made
to determine funding priorities. TSA's budget request does not include
funding for the Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response, or ``VIPR''
program, which is critical to surface transportation security. The
request also does not include funding for law enforcement officer and
canine reimbursement programs which airports rely on to help with
security costs.
In addition, the request includes approximately $90 million for
Computed Tomography carry-on baggage screening machines, representing
an increase from fiscal year 2024 funding, but still not enough to
allow the program to deploy machines to all screening checkpoints on a
reasonable time line. I hope that Congress will be able to restore and
increase funding for these programs. Doing so will require creative
solutions.
As it stands, TSA's budget request assumes that Congress will be
able to redirect to TSA $1.6 billion in passenger security fee
collections which are slated for diversion to the General Treasury. In
fiscal year 2024, Congress returned $800 million in fees, but doing so
required an extension of sequestration cuts to mandatory spending
programs in fiscal year 2032. Returning twice the fees in fiscal year
2025 will require twice as large an offset.
To go beyond TSA's budget request and restore funding to key
programs, Congress should also consider a modest increase to passenger
security fees. I am proud to cosponsor Ranking Member Thompson's bill,
the ``Fund the TSA Act,'' which would end the diversion of passenger
security fees and raise fees by $2 per trip to provide TSA with the
resources it desperately needs. I encourage my colleagues to give the
bill serious consideration as a solution to TSA's funding challenges.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you to the Ranking Member, Mr. Thanedar.
Other Members of the committee are reminded that opening
statements may be submitted for the record.
[The statement of Chairman Thompson follows:]
Statement of Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson
May 15, 2024
Administrator Pekoske has worked closely with Congress to make
great strides in expanding workplace rights and critical pay increases
for TSA's workers, who have long been left behind.
Last July, 30 percent pay increases hit the paychecks of
Transportation Security Officers across the country, finally bringing
their pay in line with other Federal workers.
Those raises have driven a dramatic decrease in TSA's attrition
rates, providing critical stability to the work force.
Higher pay will enable TSA to keep up with busy summer travel, save
money on training new personnel, and increase security by keeping TSOs
with seniority and expertise within the agency.
This week marks the next steps forward in advancing TSA's work
force initiatives.
Yesterday, along with a group of bipartisan cosponsors, I
introduced legislation to codify pay improvements and expanded
collective bargaining rights for the TSA work force in statute.
Tomorrow, TSA and the American Federation of Government Employees--
the union representing the TSO work force--will sign a 7-year
collective bargaining agreement, which was negotiated under the
expanded framework issued by the administrator.
The agreement will provide additional benefits to the work force
and prove that increased opportunities for workers to have a say in
their working environment leads to better security outcomes.
TSA's pay raises and new collective bargaining agreement were made
possible by the initial, historic funding provided by Democrats in the
2022 omnibus spending bill, and more recently, by the full-year minibus
spending bill Congress passed this past March.
TSA's 2025 budget request would carry forward these efforts for
another fiscal year.
The request includes a $377 million increase for pay, which will
allow TSA to provide workers the periodic pay raises and career ladder
promotions provided to counterparts on the General Schedule wage
system.
The request also includes a $174 million increase to boost staffing
levels and allow TSA to continue to screen record volumes of travelers
effectively and efficiently.
Now, we must work with our colleagues on the Appropriations
Committee to secure the funding needed to advance these priorities in
2025.
TSA's budget request includes a legislative proposal for
authorizing committees to return to TSA the $1.6 billion in passenger
security fee collections slated for diversion in fiscal year 2025.
In 2024, Congress was able to return $800 million in fees, paid for
by extending existing automatic cuts to non-Medicare mandatory spending
by an extra year in fiscal year 2032.
We must consider using similar offsets to return fee collections
again this year and provide TSA necessary funding.
Even then, TSA will struggle to make ends meet, as the budget
request fails to fund several key security programs, including the
Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response, or ``VIPR,'' program and
the law enforcement officer and canine reimbursement programs.
The request also includes a proposal to end TSA's staffing of
airport exit lanes, which Congress has repeatedly rejected, and it
provides only minimal funding for next-generation technology
procurements.
Congress must consider all possible solutions to address TSA's
funding challenges, including increasing passenger security fees that
have remained stagnant for many years, despite inflation and increases
in airline ticket prices.
My bill, the Fund the TSA Act, would provide TSA with the resources
it needs to invest in its work force, screening technologies, and
critical security programs by enacting a modest increase to passenger
fees and indexing future fee amounts to inflation.
I hope this committee will consider this bill at our next mark-up.
I would like to thank Administrator Pekoske for his support for the
TSA work force and his work to safeguard travelers.
I look forward to hearing more about his plans for the coming
fiscal year and the future of the agency.
Mr. Gimenez. Again, I am pleased to have a distinguished
witness before us today on this critical topic. I ask that our
witness please rise and raise his right hand.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you will give
before this Committee on Homeland Security of the U.S. House of
Representatives will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. Pekoske. I do.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you. Please be seated.
Let the record reflect that the witness has answered in the
affirmative.
I would now like to formally introduce our witness. David
Pekoske is currently serving his second term as the seventh
administrator of the Transportation Security Administration. In
this capacity, he leads a workforce of over 60,000 employees,
and is responsible for the security operations at nearly 444
airports throughout the United States.
Under his leadership, TSA has improved transportation
security through close partnerships and alliances, a culture of
innovation, and the development of a dedicated workforce.
Prior to his tenure at TSA, he served as the 26th Vice
Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, culminating a Coast Guard
career that included extensive operational and command
experience.
I thank the administrator for being here today, and I
recognize Administrator Pekoske for 5 minutes to summarize his
opening statement.
STATEMENT OF DAVID P. PEKOSKE, ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF HOMELAND SECURITY, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Mr. Pekoske. Chairman Gimenez, Ranking Member Thanedar,
distinguished Members of the subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to appear before you this afternoon.
Before I begin, I'd like to offer my condolences on the
recent passing of Congressman Donald Payne, Jr., a Member of
the subcommittee. He was a wonderful man and a public servant.
On behalf of TSA, I offer our condolences to his family,
friends, and to you, his colleagues. He will be missed.
Turning to TSA's budget, I appreciate your support of our
recently-enacted fiscal year 2024 appropriation. It fully
annualized our new compensation plan, which provides funding to
pay TSA employees at the same pay rate as the rest of the
Federal Government.
Since this new compensation plan was first implemented less
than a year ago, it has had significant positive impacts on
TSA. Our retention is up. We have many more candidates pursuing
opportunities to serve, and morale has markedly improved, as
reflected in the highest-ever Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey
results in TSA's history.
Tomorrow, I will sign a new and expanded collective
bargaining agreement, which is also fully supported in the
fiscal year 2024 appropriation. The President's fiscal year
2025 request seeks to build upon fiscal year 2024 and
recognizes that difficult choices need to be made, considering
the funding constraints we face. I believe this budget provides
the right balance and will position TSA to remain the agile
security agency envisioned when we were established nearly 23
years ago.
Ensuring security of our transportation system requires
constant focus, continued investment, and hard work. I would
like to recognize and thank our TSA workforce and industry
partners in aviation and surface transportation, both domestic
and abroad, for their role and contributions in strengthening
the security of our transportation system.
This is National Police Week, established by a joint
resolution of Congress in 1962, where we pay special
recognition to law enforcement officers who have lost their
lives in the line of duty.
I am grateful for the law enforcement officers of TSA, our
FAMS, and criminal investigators, and our law enforcement
partners across America for their dedication in protecting our
transportation system.
The transportation sector is in the midst of a remarkable
recovery from the pandemic. Passenger volumes were up by almost
13 percent in 2023, and this year the growth continues.
There has been 9 percent growth at Miami International, 8
percent in Detroit, 11 percent at Lafayette Regional, 6 percent
at JFK, 10 percent in Tampa, and furthermore, LAX and Buffalo
Niagara have seen 7 and 14 percent rates of increase in
volumes, respectively.
Seven of the 10 busiest days ever in U.S. airports occurred
in the last 12 months, and 2 in just the past week. We project
that 3.1 million passengers will be screened on some days this
coming summer.
Tomorrow, we will hold a press event with our industry
partners at LaGuardia Airport, where we will talk about our
collective readiness and the strength of our partnership, what
will likely be our busiest summer yet.
An important priority in the President's fiscal year 2025
request is continued investment in technology at our security
checkpoints across the country. Two on-going technology
projects in particular are included in the fiscal year 2025
request. They both improve security effectiveness, efficiency,
and the customer experience. The first is our upgrade of
checkpoint X-ray technology to Computed Tomography, or CT
systems.
At the rate of investment in the fiscal year 2025 request,
which is $90 million, our capital investment plan shows that
this project will be complete in 2042, 18 years from now.
Similarly, our upgrade of checkpoint identity verification
technology, to include facial recognition, increases
performance in this critical first element of checkpoint
screening. At the rate of investment in the fiscal year 2025
request, which is $9 million, our capital investment plan shows
this project will be complete in 2049, 25 years from now.
We have the opportunity to accelerate both projects with
additional investment, as TSA has the vendors and processes in
place to complete them in this decade, not in the 2040's.
One potential solution to the current budget environment
may be the 9/11 passenger security fee. For the past 3 years,
the President's budget has been accompanied by a legislative
proposal that would end the diversion to deficit reduction of
$1.6 billion per year in 9/11 security fee revenue. The
legislative proposal would instead restore all 9/11 fee revenue
to aviation security, as originally intended.
The diversion of fee revenue began with the Bipartisan
Budget Act of 2013 and is due to expire at the end of fiscal
year 2027. Ending the fee diversion early in fiscal year 2025
would provide the flexibility to include more funding in the
Aviation Security Capital Fund and in our operating accounts,
especially additional screener positions, given the passenger
growth that we're seeing.
I look forward to working with you to fully enact the
President's legislative proposal, end the fee diversion
completely, and direct all fee revenue to its intended purpose
of aviation security.
Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Thanedar, Members of the
subcommittee, thank you again for your support of TSA. I look
forward to your questions and to working with all of you to
ensure that TSA has the resources and authorities needed to
meet its mission in protecting our Nation's vital
transportation system. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Pekoske follows:]
Prepared Statement of David P. Pekoske
May 15, 2024
opening/introduction
Good afternoon, Chairman Gimenez, Ranking Member Thanedar, and
distinguished Members of the subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to
testify on the fiscal year 2025 President's budget request, which
includes $11.8 billion for the Transportation Security Administration
(TSA). I am honored to be here and am grateful for the continued, long-
standing, and productive partnership TSA enjoys with this subcommittee,
as well as all the support you have provided to the agency over the
years.
First and foremost, I would like to thank the subcommittee and
Congress for fully annualizing the new compensation system for the
entire TSA workforce in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2024. It has been my No. 1 priority to bring TSA's workforce
compensation levels commensurate with those of our Federal Government
counterparts, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because
it is already paying dividends in ways that will have a measurable
impact on our mission performance. This compensation system now matches
the minimum compensation levels with the General Schedule (GS) pay
scale and as reflected in TSA's 2023 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey
scores, its implementation has already improved TSA's morale and
overall employee satisfaction. TSA's attrition has dropped from nearly
20 percent to roughly 11 percent today, and there has also been a rise
in recruiting, hiring, and retention. With improved employee retention,
TSA is able to be more selective in hiring, moving from needing to hire
over 11,000 Transportation Security Officers (TSO) in 2018 to only
needing to hire 9,000 TSOs in 2023, to keep up with attrition and
increased passenger volumes. All of these improvements were made
possible by your continued support of TSA's workforce and is
fundamental to ensuring transportation security.
I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the
superior efforts of the entire TSA workforce and partners from across
the spectrum--from private industry to foreign partners and
international organizations, advisory committees, academia, State and
local governments, and Federal partners. They have all helped support,
strengthen, and increase TSA's collaboration, security, information
sharing, and growth in customer experience in the new travel
environment.
overview of tsa
Today, within the aviation network, TSA is responsible for the
security of over 440 Federalized airports, with screening services
forecasted this summer for over 23,000 domestic flights and nearly
2,600 outbound international flights per day. With travel volume
rebounding at unprecedented rates, TSA routinely screens more than 2
million passengers, 5 million carry-on bags, and 1.4 million pieces of
checked baggage daily for explosives and other dangerous items in many
locations across the Nation. Seven of our top 10 busiest days of all
time were in 2023, with a record of over 2.9 million passengers. TSA
anticipates seeing over 3 million passengers on a single day at some
point this year. Even with these rising numbers, the TSA workforce
continues to rise to the challenge to meet the mission. I commend them
for all their efforts and accomplishments, which I would like to convey
now. During fiscal year 2023, TSA:
Implemented the new compensation system aligning TSA
employee salaries with the GS scale for Federal employees.
Completed negotiations on a new, expanded collective
bargaining agreement.
Screened over 858 million passengers, 484 million checked
bags, 1.9 billion carry-on items, and pre-screened
approximately 1 billion passengers through Secure Flight. TSA
also screened a record of over 2.9 million passengers the
Sunday after Thanksgiving.
Reached a cumulative deployment of more than 2,000
Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) machines, with 313
systems added in fiscal year 2023, including second generation,
or CAT-2, upgrade kits that enable the use of mobile driver's
licenses and utilize optional facial recognition technology to
match credentials to the passenger, while protecting their
privacy.
Added 267 Computed Tomography (CT) X-ray scanners that
produce high-quality 3-D images, which reduce the need to touch
or manually check bags and eliminate the need to take
electronics and travel-size liquids, aerosols, and gels out of
carry-on bags.
Updated the detection algorithm to enhance the passenger
experience and improve the performance of the nearly 1,000
Advanced Imaging Technology units that safely screen passengers
for on-person metallic and non-metallic threats, such as
weapons and explosives, without physical contact, significantly
reducing false alarms, enhancing accuracy, and reducing the
number of necessary pat-downs.
Expanded digital identity technologies that securely enhance
the customer experience, including testing TSA PreCheck
touchless identity solutions, and collaborating with Apple,
Samsung, Delta, American Airlines, Google, and other private-
sector partners to incorporate mobile driver's licenses into
security checkpoint operations.
Prevented a record 6,737 firearms, of which 93 percent were
loaded, from getting into sterile areas and aircraft cabins.
This was an increase of 195 firearms over fiscal year 2022.
Responded directly to 3 million traveler questions,
typically within 2 minutes, over social media and via text to
AskTSA 275-872. The TSA Contact Center answered 2 million
traveler calls and emails, and the TSA Cares helpline assisted
more than 71,000 travelers with disabilities, medical
conditions, and other special circumstances.
Celebrated the milestone of 18 million active TSA PreCheck
members, enrolled a record of 4 million new members, and
processed more than 1.6 million renewals. TSA also welcomed 8
new airlines, added a second TSA PreCheck enrollment provider
to offer travelers more options, and announced a TSA PreCheck
policy change to make it easier for teenagers to accompany
enrolled parents or guardians when traveling on the same
reservation.
Provided inflight security on thousands of flights and
trained over 5,000 air carrier crew members in self-defense.
Hired more than 9,000 new TSOs and Security Support
Assistants. TSA also trained front-line employees at the new
state-of-the-art TSA Academy West at Harry Reid International
Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, and TSA Academy East in Glynco,
Georgia, where the 100,000th TSO graduated last September.
Continued to remain deeply engaged on the evolving cyber
threat. TSA issued regulatory policy in both aviation and
surface domains to mitigate the cyber threat and build cyber
resiliency. This effort was bolstered by TSA's Intelligence and
Analysis, who provided close to 100 cyber-threat focused
briefings to internal and external stakeholders.
TSA also maintained responsibility for surface
transportation security, which is vast and purposefully open
and public in nature. The surface transportation system
includes:
Mass transit and passenger rail.--Approximately 6,800
local transit providers serving more than 34 million riders
daily.
Freight rail.--Over 570,600 individual freight railroads,
including nearly 140,000 miles of rail and more than 1.6
million freight cars handling almost 28 million carloads of
vital raw materials and finished products each year.
Highway and motor carrier.--1.5 million carriers, over
1,800 over-the-road bus companies, more than 1.8 million
trucking companies, and approximately 500,000 school buses
transporting nearly 25 million students each day.
Pipelines.--More than 3.3 million miles of pipeline,
transporting over 60 percent of the U.S. energy commodities
including natural gas, and crude and refined petroleum.
tsa priorities--vision/strategy/future goals
As you know, TSA was established by the Aviation and Transportation
Security Act in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
against the United States, and was charged with the singular mission of
preventing another large-scale act of terrorism on the American
transportation system. Since that day, TSA has remained steadfast in a
commitment to provide the highest level of security across all modes of
transportation and work with partners to stay ahead of evolving
threats.
In the years since 9/11, TSA has not only had to address the ever-
present physical threats to aviation, but also dynamic and emerging
cybersecurity threats to our Nation's aviation, rail, hazardous liquid,
and natural gas pipeline infrastructure. TSA works closely with the
transportation industry to provide nimble and responsive security
across all modes of transportation through passenger and cargo
screening, vetting and credentialing personnel in critical
transportation sectors, law enforcement, regulatory compliance,
structured oversight and exercise programs, and international
cooperation. TSA has also been entrusted with the REAL ID program,
formerly housed within Department of Homeland Security Headquarters and
is working to implement the regulations based on the REAL ID Act of
2005. TSA is maximizing engagement with the public, licensing
jurisdictions and States, while fully focused on facilitating a smooth
transition to full enforcement beginning May 7, 2025.
TSA's vision is to remain an agile, world-class security agency
embodied by a professional workforce that engages transportation
security partners and the traveling public to outmatch dynamic threats.
To accomplish this, TSA has implemented a comprehensive governance
framework that establishes a clear decision-making structure, enabling
us to address current and future threats. TSA sets agency goals via an
end-to-end risk-based, strategic planning process. That is why early
within my first term as administrator, TSA collaborated with
stakeholders across the transportation system to develop the 2018-2026
TSA Strategy, an 8-year plan highlighting the 3 key priorities
necessary to fulfill TSA's mission:
(1) Improve Security and Safeguard the Transportation System;
(2) Accelerate Action; and
(3) Commit to Our People. This strategy will guide us through TSA's
25th anniversary and be used to further strengthen the
relationship between TSA and those we serve.
To support the TSA Strategy, as well as emphasize and reinforce
accountability, I have issued subsequent execution plans called the
Administrator's Intent. The documents describe short- and medium-term
objectives to advance TSA toward our strategic priorities. In July
2023, I published the third edition of the Administrator's Intent. This
focuses on 20 critical issues involving people, partnerships, and
technology, that continues to build on TSA successes. Furthermore, TSA
develops Roadmaps, aligned with the Administrator's Intent, on specific
cross-cutting and emerging topics. Roadmaps articulate TSA's vision for
approaching these critical areas and enable us to work together more
effectively with employees and external partners to achieve shared
goals and objectives. Currently, TSA has Roadmaps for Cybersecurity,
Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), Insider Threat, Open Architecture,
Air Cargo Security, Checked Baggage, Identity Management, and
Biometrics. This collection of strategic documents not only guides TSA
in its policy and budgetary decisions, but also serves as a way for
Congress and the public to hold us accountable as good stewards of
taxpayer dollars.
These comprehensive strategic planning activities inform TSA's
multi-year budget planning process and Capital Investment Plan. TSA
publishes its Capital Investment Plan annually and it serves as the
guide for determining and prioritizing future investments critical to
mission success. Last year, as directed by Congress, TSA delivered its
first unconstrained Capital Investment Plan that describes an ideal
future state in which TSA is able to mitigate risk to the
transportation sector with additional resources. It is imperative that
TSA continues to invest in, acquire, and field new technologies to
strengthen transportation security.
TSA's level of success is influenced by the help of Congress, as
well as our professional, vigilant, and engaged workforce. That is why
``Commit to Our People'' is one of TSA's 3 strategic priorities. The
funding the committee provided in the Further Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2024 allows for that continued commitment. The
fiscal year 2025 President's budget request includes the necessary
resources to continue this commitment, including $377 million to
annualize TSA's compensation plan adjustment.
The strategic priority of ``Commit to Our People'' also entails
ensuring that TSA provides the workforce with necessary advanced
technology to be successful. Evolving threats require an adaptable and
responsive TSA; therefore, it is vitally important that we equip our
people with the tools they need to combat these threats. To that end,
the fiscal year 2025 President's budget includes $89.6 million and $9.3
million to procure additional systems within the Checkpoint Property
Screening System (CPSS) and CAT programs. These resources will address
capability gaps to detect new and evolving threats to civil aviation in
current property screening technology reliably and efficiently, all
while improving the customer experience.
As of today, TSA needs a total of 3,585 CAT and 2,263 CT machines
to reach full operational capability (FOC). Currently, CPSS
procurements are an estimated 40 percent of FOC, which puts deployments
at approximately 35 percent for CPSS and 57 percent for CAT. Based on
past, present, and current projected funding, TSA will meet FOC for CAT
machines in fiscal year 2049 and CPSS in fiscal year 2042,
respectively. These time lines can improve, with your continued
support, as TSA has the vendors, contracts, and processes in place to
significantly reduce the time to achieve FOC. Full and dedicated
funding for CPSS and CAT are imperative for the Nation's security at
airport checkpoints.
The TSA workforce consistently performs a critical national and
homeland security function and the employees have done a tremendous job
being diligent by monitoring the threats at these checkpoints. Here are
some examples of outstanding performances: At Miami International
Airport, TSO Stephane Colin was operating the X-ray machine when he
discovered multiple prohibitive items. These prohibitive items included
20 brass knuckles, 29 pepper spray canisters, and 30 stun guns. TSA
staff at Detroit Metro Airport, identified a suspicious item in a
checked bag; TSO Reggie Edwards and Transportation Security Specialist
for Explosives James Bucher reviewed and confirmed the item to be an
inert grenade. At Lafayette Regional Airport, LTSO Jeff Camille
discovered loaded firearm in a passenger carry-on backpack. During the
first 2 quarters of fiscal year 2024, Federal Air Marshals, through
their participation in law enforcement task forces, were instrumental
in the arrests of over 200 individuals in the transportation domain.
There are many more examples that reflect the accomplishments of our
professional and vigilant workforce.
fiscal year 2025 budget request highlights
Looking forward into the next year, the fiscal year 2025
President's budget builds upon the resources provided for in the
Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, and continues funding
for TSA's No. 1 priority, the new compensation system. This will enable
continued investment in TSA's front-line workforce, while also
supporting continued innovation in technology to remain ahead of
emerging threats, and resources that help maintain and strengthen
partnerships to continue raising security standards. With appreciation
to Congress for providing the largest necessary increases for the
compensation plan in fiscal year 2024, the budget request includes $377
million to account for periodic pay raises and career ladder
promotions, similar to our GS counterparts, and supports a continued
commitment to the entire TSA workforce. The request includes $174
million in additional resources to support increased passenger volume
for both fiscal year 2024 and fiscal year 2025 through increases in the
screening workforce along with other volume-dependent requirements,
such as staffing for vetting programs and support for Federal Security
Director staffs.
The budget request advances cybersecurity efforts in the
transportation sector and continues procurement and deployment of CT
and CAT at $99 million, along with a request of $18 million to drive
innovation through on-going research and development with TSA's
partners. The budget balances growth and advancement with tough
choices. This includes moderate growth in technology acquisitions and
research and development of new technologies, continues to propose the
elimination of exit lane staffing by TSOs at $111 million, and finds
efficiencies in staffing, contracts, and travel for a total of $105
million. The budget also proposes the elimination of the Visible
Intermodal Prevention and Response program of $68 million, which
removes a surge capacity to protect airports and surface transportation
systems. TSA's FAMS will continue to work with DHS, local law
enforcement, and stakeholders to help mitigate additional risk to the
transportation system. Last, I look forward to continuing to work with
you as to how we may end the diversion of the Aviation Passenger
Security Fee to deficit reduction, restoring those funds to provide for
the true purpose of aviation security.
conclusion
In closing, the fiscal year 2025 President's budget request aligns
with TSA's strategy to improve security and safeguard the Nation's
transportation system, accelerate action, and reinforce TSA's
commitment to advancing its mission. Thanks again to Congress for
supporting TSA through the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process. The
fiscal year 2025 President's budget request honors commitments to TSA's
workforce by providing appropriate compensation and other benefits,
while addressing capability gaps to ensure that the Nation's
transportation security remains the safest in the world.
Securing our Nation's transportation system is a complex task that
requires robust partnerships and a well-trained, dedicated workforce.
To achieve this goal and the priorities reflected within the fiscal
year 2025 President's budget request, TSA will continue to engage with
industry and stakeholders, invest resources in employees and
technology, and encourage the public to be part of the solution.
Finally, through constructive oversight and dialog, TSA seeks a
continued partnership with Congress as we work to secure all modes of
transportation.
Chairman Gimenez, Ranking Member Thanedar, and Members of the
subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you
today. I strongly believe that the TSA priorities outlined in the
fiscal year 2025 President's budget request are not only necessary but
also vital to the economy. As always, TSA will be very responsive in
addressing any questions that you might have throughout this budget
process, and I look forward to this discussion and your questions.
Thank you.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you, Administrator.
Members will be recognized by order of seniority for their
5 minutes of questioning, and I recognize myself for 5 minutes
of questioning.
Administrator Pekoske, you just said that the authorization
to divert the passenger fee ends in 2027. When you make your
estimates of 2042 and 2049, is that assuming that that
diversion will continue past 2027?
Mr. Pekoske. No, sir. It assumes that the diversion will
continue as planned, and that's why it's out so far. If the
diversion were to end, it would be completed much quicker.
Mr. Gimenez. OK. Could you give me a time table. If the
diversion ends in 2027, then how much quicker can you implement
the new technologies?
Mr. Pekoske. Well, if the diversion ends in 2025 rather
than 2027.
Mr. Gimenez. OK. No, I said 2027. Your authorization ends
in 2027.
Mr. Pekoske. Right.
Mr. Gimenez. So assume that it ends in 2027. How much
quicker can you get it done?
Mr. Pekoske. If it ends in 2027, we could get the identity
verification project done in 2033, and we could get the
Computed Tomography, or the X-ray project, done in 2032.
Mr. Gimenez. OK. If we end it now, then you can do it
within this decade. So you'll accelerate it by a couple years?
Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir. Yeah.
Mr. Gimenez. OK, fair enough.
How do we compare with other countries? In other words,
leading-edge, not companies, but countries around the world?
Have you gone around and watched what they're doing, what
they're planning to do?
If we don't invest more in technology, are we going to fall
behind those countries in the ability to protect the American
passenger?
Mr. Pekoske. Sir, I think we'll fall behind to a degree. I
mean, the biggest difference is the United States has 430
airports in its system. No other country has that number of
airports.
From my perspective, it's important that this Computed
Tomography and this identity verification technology and the
on-person screening technology be in every airport, because as
you know, if you enter an airport, you're in our system
overall.
So we have a challenge of scale that other countries don't
have. There are some countries that are investing heavily in
this technology, but there are many others that are not yet
there. But we've been working hard to kind-of bring the
baseline of global aviation security up with these technology
advances.
Mr. Gimenez. Well, let's talk about Western Europe, you
know, France, Germany, Great Britain in particular, OK?
Probably Germany and Great Britain, OK?
Are they doing something different than we are? Are they
going to use the same technology that we are? They're looking
at something else? Also, what is their time table for
implementing these new technologies?
Mr. Pekoske. For some countries, the time table is much
faster than ours, because the airports purchase the technology
rather than their federal government, their central government.
We are all looking at the same technology. We all recognize
around the globe that Computed Tomography is the technology of
the present and the future. It's got a great deal of future
potential out 20 or 30 years.
The key challenge that's in front of all of us right now is
an attempt to align standards of technology performance, and
we've made a lot of good progress on that, particularly with
the European Civil Aviation Conference.
Mr. Gimenez. So in those countries then the individual
airports, those airport authorities, et cetera, they're tasked
with acquiring the technology that their TSAs require. It's not
the TSA itself?
Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir. What happens is the Civil Aviation
Authority in those countries establishes the standards of
technology performance and then works with the airports to
establish a time line for when they can come in compliance with
that, and also predicates some passenger convenience issues
with the acquisition of that technology.
For example, with CT technology, you can permit larger
volumes of liquids. So that needs to be predicated, of course,
on having CT in place.
The other thing that I would add is, as you know, we're
working on a one-stop security prototype that hopefully will
kick off in the next several months. Part of our requirement
and our partner's requirement--so it's bidirectional--is that
we both have CT technology and technology that's performing at
the same level in terms of their software packages.
Mr. Gimenez. Now, wouldn't that also work in the United
States, that we develop the standards, et cetera, and then have
each individual airport have to abide by those standards, and
then they would have to purchase those--that equipment
themselves?
That could work here in the United States. I was thinking
about that. Maybe we're looking about this the wrong way. We
should be actually divvying it up amongst the 440 airports and
tell them, Hey, you have to have this by this date, and then
they'll have it.
Could we work it that way? I think we could.
Mr. Pekoske. You could. I would submit, though, that the
way we're doing it centrally is probably much more efficient,
because we're a big buyer, and we can influence the----
Mr. Gimenez. Well, we could set up the system. We can say,
these are the--this is what you have to buy and here through
this contract, all right? So you'd still have that economy of
scale, but it wouldn't be on the Federal Government to actually
fund every single piece of equipment.
You could probably get it done quicker, because if we say,
you got to do that within 2 years, they may be able to do it. I
don't know that manufacturing has the capacity, but there's
another way.
There's different ways to skin this cat, all right? So I'm
intrigued by the European model, and maybe we can talk about
that a little bit more.
My time is up. I now recognize the Ranking Member, Mr.
Thanedar.
Mr. Thanedar. Thank you, Chairman Gimenez. Thank you,
Administrator, for your testimony, and thank you for your
partnership in advocating for pay raises for TSA employees.
As I travel, I get a chance to meet with the hard-working
men and women of TSA, and I clearly visibly see a difference in
those hard-working officers.
I believe the new pay system represents a sea change for
TSA and provides it with more stable footing to mature as an
agency. I understand that attrition rates have dropped nearly
in half since pay raises were announced.
What impact does the drop-in attrition rates have on TSA's
day-to-day operation, and how does it impact the culture of the
agency?
Mr. Pekoske. Thank you, sir. You're right. I mean, our
attrition rates have dropped by 50 percent. We had, in the last
month, our lowest attrition rate ever for the overall TSA work
force was 7.8 percent. We were up in the twenties----
Mr. Thanedar. Yes.
Mr. Pekoske [continuing]. For a period of time. So it's a
sea change with respect to attrition.
We're also seeing a very significant change. When we open
up jobs for competition, we see far more people applying for
those jobs than occurred in the last 5 years. So lower
attrition, more applicants for open positions. Then, as I
mentioned in the opening statement, we have this survey that
every Federal agency fills out every year. It's the same year
after year, so it's very easy to make very good comparisons.
Highest FEV scores ever in our history over this past year.
Mr. Thanedar. Thank you. Thank you, and I appreciate that.
TSA's new pay system also provides improved career ladder
opportunities.
What are some of those opportunities, and how will they
continue to drive improvements for the agency in years to come?
Mr. Pekoske. Sir, the career ladder opportunities are
critically important for career development, and critically
important for us to increase the average level of experience in
our checkpoint operation so that it's higher than what it was a
year ago.
So the way we work it is, if somebody is new to TSA, comes
in and starts out at a certain pay band, the pay ladder
provides automatic promotions after a year to the next higher
pay band.
So it provides a very significant incentive for people to
progress forward and to stay with the agency. Statistically, we
know that if we have an employee that stays for longer than a
year, they're much more likely to stay for 5. If they stay for
5, they're much more likely to stay for a full career. We
pattern these ladder programs after other agencies and, in
particular, our pattern was after Customs and Border
Protection, which has been very successful in retaining
employees.
Mr. Thanedar. Thank you. Thank you. I understand tomorrow
you will be in New York formalizing the new collective
bargaining agreement. I'm just excited. I wanted to join you,
but I have work to do here in the District of Columbia. But I'm
really excited and I, you know, congratulate you for that
success.
Changing subject here, since the ransomware attack on
Colonial Pipeline in May 2021, TSA has issued a series of
cybersecurity requirements for transportation system owners and
operators across various modes of transportation, from
pipelines to mass transit and rail to aviation.
As industry partners work to implement these requirements,
and TSA works to develop them into full rulemaking, TSA must
have the resources and expertise necessary to understand
industry operations, engage with stakeholders, develop well-
informed policies, and inspect the regulatory compliance.
Mr. Administrator, what cybersecurity investment does TSA
require, in terms of both funding and personnel, and also, what
has TSA done to assess its cybersecurity resource and personnel
needs?
Mr. Pekoske. Thank you for the question, sir. We've done an
awful lot with respect to asking for additional funds for
cybersecurity resources. We have roughly 200 people now within
the agency.
So if you think of where we were back in let's say 2021,
when Colonial Pipeline first occurred, we've made significant
progress. One of the things we found is, we don't have a
shortage of candidates wanting to work in the Federal
Government for however long to help us with our cybersecurity
efforts.
We have in the fiscal year 2024 request which was funded a
bit of an increase, in fiscal year 2025 another increase. The
increases, though, are constrained by our top-line capability.
We certainly like to have more, because we have a
significant responsibility to go out and work with our industry
partners. I mean, we regulate pipeline systems, rail systems,
airlines, and airports. So it's a big swathe of the
transportation sector, and a bigger inspection workforce would
really help us out.
Mr. Thanedar. Thank you. Thank you for your answer.
Mr. Chair, I yield back.
Mr. Gimenez. The gentleman yields back. I now recognize the
newest Member of the subcommittee, the gentleman from New York,
Mr. Kennedy.
Mr. Kennedy. Thank you very much.
Administrator Pekoske, it's a pleasure to meet you.
Mr. Pekoske. Likewise.
Mr. Kennedy. Thank you for your service.
Chairman, Ranking Member, thank you for the kind words.
Happy to be a part of this wonderful committee. I was reminded
earlier in the Homeland Security Committee meeting as a full
that this committee began out of New York and the horrific
terrorist attacks of 9/11.
I know our work continues each and every day to secure our
country and our travelers and the airports and the ports and
the bridges and the freight and the railways.
So thank you, No. 1, for your service. I also want to thank
the workforce. I see there's a number of folks that have joined
you here today, TSA officers. We are grateful to the workers
that keep our travelers moving and safe and our economy moving
all at the same time.
I'm excited about the fact that you'll be at LaGuardia
tomorrow to sign the collective bargaining agreement, the first
in quite some time, and well-deserved for those workers. It's
good for everyone.
On a regular basis as we travel, the traveling public at
airports, for starters, see those officers laboring to move
people through security. Depending on what time of day and what
airport you're at, the line could be extraordinarily long, and
the workforce could be extraordinarily overtaxed and
overburdened, depending on how many people are working.
I'm sure they can tell you better than I can that the
travelers come in waves. We've seen it. It's a regular
occurrence, again, depending on what hub you're at at any
particular time.
What sort of guardrails do you have in place as an
organization to keep the flow moving, to keep the ratio of
officers in a good place so that the traveling public is moved
through in a decisive manner as well as ensuring that those
that are traveling are screened effectively?
Mr. Pekoske. Sir, thank you for your comments. I'm quite a
bit proud of this workforce, of the representatives that are
sitting behind me that do the very hard work each and every day
to make sure that all of us can travel safely and securely. So
I really appreciate your comments.
In terms of things that we're doing, pay was the big issue.
That was our No. 1 priority in the fiscal year 2024 budget.
Really appreciate this subcommittee, the Appropriations
Subcommittee, and the entire Congress supporting us in that
regard. We already see--as Mr. Thanedar noted, we already see
the benefits of this, not just in the statistics, but when you
visit the checkpoints and you engage with our officers, they
feel more valued. They should always feel very valued in what
they do.
For me, it's really important that security is our primary
focus. As you mentioned, 9/11, our job is on our watch not to
ever have a repeat of a terrorist attack on our system. So, we
emphasize security effectiveness each and every day.
But importantly, and we talked a little bit about this in
all of our opening statements, it's important to give our
officers the tools that they need to do this job.
It's not easy, if you're looking at an X-ray image, and
you're looking at hundreds of X-ray images in a given shift, to
be able to find some very small items that might represent a
hazard to people that are flying.
We had, over the past year, detected over 6,700 firearms in
accessible property and carry-on bags, for example. So we have
a keen focus on making sure that we put the technology tools in
place.
But I also think what's very important, and I know the
officers behind me would agree, is that we work very hard to
make sure we have a workplace culture that's positive, that's
focused on career development of helping each individual
officer out so that they can realize their own personal
expectations of service and be able to provide that to the
passengers we see.
You know, what I think about all the time is, I can't name
another Federal agency that has direct contact with on a daily
basis 2.5, 2.6 million people, and represents the Federal
Government, represents the United States, represents the TSA to
all those travelers.
So I'm very proud of the work they do and incredibly
focused on making sure that--my policy is people first. We are
a 62,000-person organization. We don't run if we don't place
people first. I think that our folks are doing an incredible
job, so I appreciate your comments.
Mr. Kennedy. Thank you.
Mr. Gimenez. The gentleman yields. The gentleman's time is
up.
The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr.
Carter.
Mr. Carter. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, for
allowing me to waive on to be here. Thank you very much.
I wish to enter this document from Sheriff Lopinto into the
record.
Mr. Gimenez. Without objection.
[The information follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Carter. I want to thank you for the opportunity to be
here. Sheriff Lopinto of Louisiana has expressed his concerns
about the elimination of funding to the local law enforcement
Explosives Detection Canine Teams' Program and how it would
negatively impact public safety across the country.
Mr. Administrator, thank you for joining us today. I
appreciate my colleagues allowing me to waive on to the
subcommittee today, and I want to take this opportunity to
discuss what the National Explosive Detection Canine Team
Program through TSA, which TSA provides canine and canine
training to local law enforcement agencies.
For many years, TSA has also provided law enforcement
agencies participating in the program with reimbursement for
the costs of housing and taking care of canines. Unfortunately,
in TSA's budget request for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, TSA
proposed eliminating $34.1 million in funding for canine
reimbursements.
In the fiscal year 2024 minibus appropriations bill for the
Department of Homeland Security, Congress followed through on
TSA's proposal and eliminated canine reimbursement funding.
This funding is critical to supporting local law
enforcement agencies' canine operation, which deploy to a wide
range of environments and provide explosive detection
capabilities. Without reimbursements, local agencies may be
forced to reduce or eliminate their canine programs.
Mr. Administrator, I certainly recognize that TSA has a
tough situation and are in a tough spot, trying to balance
competing priorities, especially when given the need to
increase pay for TSA employees, which I strongly support.
However, I am worried that elimination of canine
reimbursements would degrade the ability of law enforcement's
enforcement agencies to respond to threats and security
incidents within the transportation environment.
What impact are you seeing so far for the defunding of this
program, and have you heard from any local law enforcement
agencies what they do in the light of this reduction?
Mr. Pekoske. Thank you, Mr. Carter. I appreciate your
comments and question. You know, I would echo your sentiment
that the National Explosive Detection Canine Program is an
extremely valuable program to law enforcement agencies and to
TSA as well. It is the biggest explosive detection canine
program in the world, about 1,100 canines total.
The reason for the reduction is simply the limited top line
that we have. In other words, we don't have enough money to
fund everything that we need to do. We have to make some very
hard choices whenever that happens.
One of the hard choices was to eliminate the law
enforcement canine reimbursement, but what we did not eliminate
is all the support we provide for those canines. We source and
train the canine. We train the handlers. We offer training in
different techniques. We update the explosive odorless, and we
do certification processes.
So my conversations with officials like Sheriff Lopinto has
been, Listen, this is not something that we want to do. It's
something that our budget limitations require us to do. We hope
that you don't give up your canines and that you engage with us
over the course of the year and renew your agreements with us,
which most law enforcement agencies now----
Mr. Carter. They certainly don't want to, but, as you might
imagine, with the fiscal crunch that you face, local
governments likewise face them.
But we are constantly faced with pay me now or pay me later
scenarios. Something as critical as bomb-sniffing dogs, drug-
sniffing dogs, dogs that have the ability to, in a very large
swat, save thousands of lives by identifying would-be threats
is one of those things that I would implore you, the agency,
and others, to reconsider, given the circumstances and the
outcome that can happen in the wake of having limited or no
access to canine response teams.
As you develop these new agreements, will you work with
local law enforcement agencies to understand their needs and
impacts of the loss in funding of their operations, and will
you consider tailoring each agreement to the needs of law
enforcement agencies in question rather than issuing a blanket
agreement?
As you know, one size does not fit all. Different agencies
in Louisiana particularly. We are Jefferson Parish,
particularly stronger than any other, and oftentimes, has to
loan their canines to other agencies. This elimination would
not only impact the great need at our airports, but also our
bus stations and throughout the rest of the State.
So I would really urge that you look at that. I'm also
asking, make an impassioned plea to our friends as we work on
funding bills for fiscal year 2025. I hope my colleagues on the
Appropriations Committee will take a look at the importance of
this program and figure out a way to restore the funding.
Obviously, having your support in that measure is critically
important.
You can count on our support, not only from this committee
and Homeland Security more broadly, but also from Members of
Congress who recognize. We've seen what happened with 9/11.
We see what's happening in our country every single day
with terrorist threats, and you see them far more than ever
bubbles up to the public. This is one of those cases where
penny-wise and, perhaps, pound-foolish.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Gimenez. The gentleman's time has expired. I now
recognize the gentleman from New York, Mr. LaLota.
Mr. LaLota. The Federal Government's passenger security fee
is a total scam. It's $1 billion bait-and-switch collected off
of hardworking American air travelers $11.20 at a time.
For my constituents and Americans watching at home, in the
name of aviation security and 9/11 airport security, you get
charged $5.60 for every one-way trip you take, $11.20 for a
round-trip for every airplane ticket.
Despite the name of the fee collection program, the
passenger security fee, over $1 billion of those funds
collected under the guise of more security are diverted to the
Treasury for expenditures having absolutely zero to do with
passenger security and keeping our skies safe.
It's a bait-and-switch scam perpetrated by our Federal
Government and hardworking and unknowing Americans are the
victims. To use September 11 to perpetuate the scam is
especially offensive, especially for a New Yorker like myself.
As part of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills, about
one-third of the diversion will go back to the Department of
Homeland Security. It's a start and it's a step in the right
direction, but it's surely not enough. The entire diversion
must end, and that revenue should only be utilized by the TSA.
Thank you for being here, sir. I appreciate your input.
It's always valued by the committee.
My first question is this: In the absence of the full
passenger security fee revenue, and due to its diversion, how
has the TSA managed the inherent risks to airport security?
Mr. Pekoske. Sir, it's very hard to do that. What you see
are technology investments that we know we need to make. We
need to have better X-ray technology across every single
checkpoint in every airport in the country. We can't do that.
We won't get that done until 2042.
The same thing with identity verification. We want to move
to facial recognition, digital identities. That should be in
every single airport. That's 2049. This is a long, long way
off.
You heard Mr. Carter talk about the canine reimbursement
program. We can't fund that because our top line is not there.
We had to pull back law enforcement. This is Police Week. We
had to pull back law enforcement officer reimbursement programs
because of top-line constraints.
I agree with you 100 percent. That $1.6 billion was
intended for aviation security. It ought to go to aviation
security. When that diversion ends, and I really hope it does,
that it increases the top line of TSA by that amount.
Mr. LaLota. Would our skies be safer if we didn't divert
it, the Federal Government did not divert the funds?
Mr. Pekoske. Without question.
Mr. LaLota. Would the travel that Americans have through
their airports be more efficient? Would it take less time to
get through the security line?
Mr. Pekoske. It would, because we could hire more people
and we could put better technology in place.
Mr. LaLota. Great. Thank you for that.
As part of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill, the
funding for security checkpoint technology was also more than
halved, for approximately--from approximately $80 million to
about $35 million.
Last year, the TSA told this committee that, based on past,
present, and current projected funding, it's not until, like
you just said, 25 years from now, in 2049, that TSA will meet
full operational capability for Credential Authentication
Technology machines. Eighteen years from now in 2042, we will
meet the standard for checkpoint property screening systems,
including Computing Tomography.
That was with more than double the funding that was
appropriated in the fiscal year 2024 bill.
Administrator, what does that projection look like now, in
your view, sir?
Mr. Pekoske. Sir, the programs will probably stay within
those same general time frames, 2042, 2043, 2049, maybe 2050,
but it's just crazy late. I mean, you know, when you're looking
at 20-plus years, that's a long, long time to wait.
I would highlight for you, too, that the CT investment is
designed to help us detect very low sizes of explosive critical
to the security of the system, and that needs to be done on an
accelerated basis.
The other thing I would offer very quickly is our R&D
budget was also halved. So, your future capability development
is not at the pace that it needs to be at.
Mr. LaLota. So, in contemplation of the passenger security
fee being improperly diverted, if it wasn't diverted and those
2 metrics you provided, not meeting your goals until 2049 and
2042, if those funds were not diverted and they were used for
their intended use, what would you say about those time lines?
They would not only shift to the left from 2049 and 2042,
respectively. About how far would they shift to the left, if
you know?
Mr. Pekoske. They would shift by about 20 years to the
left. I mean, you go from the 2040's into the late 2020's. It
would allow us also to do a lot of other things that we just
can't even contemplate doing right now with our budget
constraints.
Mr. LaLota. Thank you. I have just a few seconds left. I
want to say thanks for being here and informing us on these
important issues. There seems to be bipartisan interest in
getting this right. We've certainly identified the issue.
Now it's a matter of ensuring that we account for not only
passenger safety, but the efficiency they go through the
airport and plug in holes in our budget. Your testimony today,
sir, is invaluable to that, and I want to say thanks.
Mr. Pekoske. Thank you, sir, I appreciate your support.
Mr. Gimenez. The gentleman's time has expired.
We'll go through a second round. So, I'll be following up
on what I ended up with the last time.
What they do in Europe, and what they do in Europe, some
Members that weren't here, especially Mr. LaLota, you may want
to hear.
It's not the central government that provides the
technology at the airports. It's actually the airports
themselves, and that the central government actually sets the
standards of what they need.
Let me go back to that passenger security fee. When it was
originally established, I mean, I can't imagine that all of it
goes to technology. What else did it go for?
Mr. Pekoske. Sir, it goes to pay. A lot of the development
of the programs we have, working with our industry partners to
make sure that airports, for example, have security within the
airport that is overseen by TSA but not accomplished by TSA.
Mr. Gimenez. All right. So if we--now, I'm not going to
take much longer on this, but I'd like to see you and talk
about the possibility of actually changing our model, that the
individual airports actually, you know, provide the technology
that we say they need, and that's passed on to the passenger.
But somehow, this passenger fee that we have also, that
diversion, that ends up going to TSA, or at least a portion of
it, or maybe a portion of it goes back to these airports to
provide what they need.
But we need to, I think, explore this a little bit more,
because I think that these individual airports can probably get
their stuff done faster than we can. When they're mandated to
do XYZ by a certain time, they'll do it.
The airports generate their own fees, and all the fees that
are generated at the airport are supposed to be used at the
airport. I know there may be some problem with smaller airports
that don't have the volume, but I want to see how they do this
in Europe and why they think that's a better model than us.
Sometimes we just may learn something from them that, yeah,
maybe it is a better model than what we have right now. We need
to accelerate it. I'm with Mr. LaLota all the way.
We need to--if we're saying we're going to charge a fee for
a service, then all that money needs to be for that service. If
not, it's a classic bait-and-switch of the American people who
are thinking they're paying for security when, in fact, they're
not. They're paying to balance the budget of the U.S.
Government.
Yes, some of it is being used for security, but the
majority of it is not. That's not right. So I'll be working
with Mr. LaLota and maybe other Members of this committee,
subcommittee, to see, OK, what we can do about it.
But the good news is by 2027, it's supposed to end, unless
it's reauthorized. I'll tell you this, I'm not reauthorizing it
and I don't think any Member of this subcommittee will probably
reauthorize it either.
So by 2027, at least you'll get it back. But I'm not so
sure that we're the best vehicle for implementing all these
security measures. I think these airports need to start picking
up part of the load too.
So with that, I'm going to yield the rest of my time back,
and I recognize the gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Thanedar.
Mr. Thanedar. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Administrator, earlier this week Ranking Member
Thompson reintroduced his bill, The Rights for the TSA
Workforce Act of 2024, which would codify better pay,
collective bargaining rights, and third-party adverse appeal
rights by applying Title V of the U.S. Code to TSA in statute.
Previous versions of this bill passed the House in the 116th
and 117th Congress.
This year, for the first time, we introduced a bill with an
equal number of Republican and Democratic original cosponsors.
I happen to be one of the cosponsors. So we are representing a
bipartisan coalition of Members who agree that this is the
sensible thing to do for TSA.
Mr. Administrator, do you agree that we should not
backtrack on the advancements we have collectively made for the
TSA workforce, and should, instead, codify them in statute to
ensure their permanency?
Mr. Pekoske. Sir, we absolutely should never backtrack on
the commitments we've made. You would lose the workforce in an
instant in doing that, and it would be very hard to recover.
The bill, as written, would codify many of the things that
we're already doing which provides that guarantee. For me, when
I look at the pay compensation plan that we just put in place,
one of the most important things is to make sure that stays
permanently linked to the General Schedule pay rate so we don't
find ourselves in a position of trying to get back to that
after a couple of years of decline. So we strongly support that
legislation.
Mr. Thanedar. Thank you. Then last year, Ranking Member
Thompson also, you know, introduced a Fund the TSA Act, which
would provide funding to address many of the challenges facing
TSA.
The bill would raise passenger security fee by $2 for a
one-way ticket, and end the diversion of fees away from TSA to
the general Treasury and index fees to inflation going forward.
Doing so would provide sufficient funding for salary increases
and expand labor rights for TSA workers, additional Computed
Tomography machines, and critical airport law enforcement and
canine programs.
Although no one likes increased fees on their airline
ticket, it is critical that we right-size the TSA budget and
make sure you have the resources you need to carry out your
mission.
Mr. Administrator, you have said before that you believe
the Fund the TSA Act would be helpful to your agency, which I
appreciate.
Did you have any conversation about the possibility of
including an increase in passenger security fees as part of the
budget request?
Mr. Pekoske. Sir, I think, you know, if you look at when
the
9/11 fee was established at its current $5.60 level, there is
nothing in there that adjusts that figure for inflation. So, if
you just simply straight line adjust it for inflation, it would
now be $7.50, so roughly the $2 that was mentioned.
So I agree that re-baselining it where it needs to be, and
that generates about $1.5 billion in additional revenue, re-
baselining it where it is. But, importantly, to put an
escalator in that legislation so we don't get behind by 4 or 5
percent each and every year.
Mr. Thanedar. Thank you. Then do you believe TSA's top-line
budget number needs to increase to get the agency all the
funding it really needs?
Mr. Pekoske. Yes, sir. I think that's evidenced in the
reductions you see in our budget, things that we want to invest
in that we have to reduce.
Mr. Thanedar. Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Gimenez. The gentleman yields back. I now recognize the
gentleman from New York, Mr. Kennedy.
Mr. Kennedy. Thank you, Chairman.
Administrator Pekoske, I just want to go back to where we
left off the conversation a few minutes back. I want to talk
about the security in the airports and the passenger
experience, because I think they go hand-in-hand, and not just
for the traveling public, but also for the workforce.
Again, I believe there are times that the work force is
overburdened by large waves of the traveling public. It's not
good for anybody.
What may we be able to do, whether it's a new guidance or
requirements within TSA and how the departments are managed on
the front lines, or is it a need for more investment of
resources to get more staff, recruitment, retainment, et
cetera, so that we can attend to these waves in the different
times that they're coming.
If you're at JFK or LaGuardia on a Friday night, you're
going to have a different experience than if you're there on a
Tuesday afternoon. That's just New York City. Say the same for
O'Hare or Reagan or Orlando or Buffalo Niagara International.
Take your pick, as you know.
So what is it that we may be able to do to address those
issues and make the experience for moving people through the
process more efficient and effective?
Mr. Pekoske. Yes. Thanks for the question, sir. I would
highlight your last point first is, providing more flexibility
in staffing, because what ends up happening is if passenger
volumes increase higher than what was originally projected in
the budget--and fiscal year 2025 is a good example of that. We
project in the budget that passenger volumes will increase 4.5
percent. They're at 8.5 percent already.
So what happens is that burden falls on the screening
workforce. It falls on the vetting workforce that we have that
does all the behind-the-scenes vetting of passengers. It falls
on our Federal Air Marshal Service as well.
So, you know, providing at least close to commensurate
increases in staffing with passenger volume growth--and we
don't need to be exactly the same, because technology and
efficiencies will allow us to be a little bit less than that,
but not by half.
The other thing that I think is really important, and be
happy to have a discussion with you more in depth about this,
is we are putting together what we call a Customer Experience
Roadmap, because the--I believe and I'm sure the officers
believe as well, if we do a better job improving the customer,
the passenger experience, those passengers will reflect that
back to the officers.
I want to make sure that we focus on the individuals in our
system that we have a concern about. That's the whole premise
behind the PreCheck program is that, Hey, we have a certain set
of passengers that we term trusted travelers. We can give them
a lighter level of screening as a result. They move faster.
They wait 10 minutes generally or less all the time. If we can
either, you know, do a couple things: increase that PreCheck
population. That would benefit us. It would benefit the
travelers.
Then, increase things that we look at with respect to the
customer experience. We're doing a lot of work with the U.S.
Travel Association right now on that very topic. Their goal,
and they stood up a commission for seamless and secure travel
in the United States, and I think you'll see out of that
commission results report some very good recommendations for
all of us to consider.
Mr. Kennedy. That's helpful. Does there need to be a
commission study across the Nation to the various ports of call
to address that issue as well?
Mr. Pekoske. Sir, there have been a lot of efforts by the
Executive branch to look at customer experience writ large for
taxpayers and for visitors to our country when they receive any
Federal service whatsoever.
Each agency has some metrics to achieve in that regard. For
us, one of the metrics is, Can we be more consistent in our
wait time experience for passengers? We do have wait time
standards, but we want to make sure that we don't sacrifice
security effectiveness for efficiency. That goes kind-of back
to the staffing and the technology issue I talked about before.
The other thing that the Chairman raised is that we do have
a program for airports. If they want to purchase the technology
themselves, they can purchase off of our, what we call a
capability acceptance list. Many airports have done that
already. LaGuardia has done it. JFK is going to be doing it.
Denver has done it.
This allows them to kind-of get ahead of the curve when
they open up a brand-new checkpoint. A lot of investment in
airports around the country now. They don't want to open up a
new checkpoint--I wouldn't either--and put old technology in
that checkpoint. They want to put the latest technology in
place, and this program gives them that avenue to do it.
Sometimes, you know, it's up to $50- or $60 million worth of
investment on the part of the airport.
Mr. Kennedy. Thank you.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you to the gentleman from New York.
I thank the witness for his valuable testimony and the
Members for their questions. The Members of the subcommittee
may have some additional questions for the witnesses, and we
would ask the witness to respond to these in writing.
Pursuant to committee rule VII(D), the hearing record will
be open for 10 days.
Without objection, this subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:39 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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Questions From Chairman Carlos A. Gimenez for David P. Pekoske
Question 1a. What forms of ``acceptable alternate identification''
has TSA identified for use in special circumstances at security
checkpoints in coordination with its DHS counterparts? Please provide a
list of ``alternative forms of ID.''
Answer. Passengers, age 18 and older, must present valid,
acceptable identification at Transportation Security Administration
(TSA) checkpoints to proceed through security screening. If a passenger
does not have an acceptable ID, TSA may attempt to match the passenger
to the information on the boarding pass using one of the following 3
alternative identification methods:
Two Alternative Forms of ID.--If a passenger does not have
an acceptable ID they may present two other forms of ID
containing identifying information. Both must contain the
passenger's name to enable identity matching at the checkpoint.
Preference is given to a government-issued ID.
TSA Form 415 Certification of Identity.--When a passenger is
unable to present either an acceptable ID or two alternative
forms of ID, TSA contacts the National Transportation Vetting
Center to attempt to verify the passenger's identity through
Knowledge-Based Authentication. During this process, the Center
directs the TSA Travel Document Checker to ask the passenger
specific questions to verify their identity.
Establish identity through an external agency.--If a
passenger's identity cannot be verified through the National
Transportation Vetting Center, the TSA officer must notify a
law enforcement officer assigned to the airport to assist with
verifying the passenger's identity. For passengers who are
foreign nationals, the TSA officer must notify a U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) officer assigned to the airport.
However, a foreign national presenting a U.S. Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) document with an Alien Registration
Number (A-number) will have their identity matched by a TSA
officer using CBP One.
TSA subjects all passengers whose identity is verified using one of
these alternative methods to additional physical screening to ensure
the traveler poses no threat to transportation infrastructure and other
passengers. This level of screening is significantly higher than the
average traveler receives in the course of normal operations. You can
find a list of acceptable IDs at TSA.gov: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/
security-screening/identification.
Question 1b. According to the TSA website, a weapons permit or a
temporary driver's license is not an ``acceptable'' form of
identification. Would these count as alternative forms of ID under
TSA's alternative identification methods?
Answer. There is no acceptable alternate identification list. If a
passenger does not have an acceptable form of ID, the TSA officer will
ask the individual if they have other forms of ID. A weapons permit or
a temporary driver's license may be considered, in conjunction with
other forms of identification as part of this alternative identity
verification process. All passengers who establish their identity
through an alternative identity verification process receive additional
physical screening.
Question 2. Do TSA's acceptable identification policies impose a
disparate cost burden on American citizens who pay for IDs relative to
non-resident aliens who entered the United States illegally who do not?
Answer. TSA's policies for acceptable identification do not impose
a disparate cost burden on U.S. citizens relative to non-U.S. citizens
paroled into the country. For the vast majority of travelers--who
present an acceptable form of ID--TSA's vetting and screening processes
are quick and efficient. For a small percentage of travelers who do not
present an acceptable form of identification, or travelers who have
been identified through Secure Flight as higher-risk travelers--TSA has
additional procedures necessary to address identity verification and
ensure screening appropriate for these individuals. For the individuals
paroled into the country who do not present acceptable ID at the
screening checkpoint, TSA is requiring a biometric match against DHS
databases. If one of these individuals refuses to submit a biometric
capture for use by facial recognition technology, they are not
permitted to enter the sterile area and therefore cannot fly. TSA
conducts additional screening on any traveler whose identity is
verified using an alternative.
Question 3. Which DHS or non-DHS entities are involved with
development of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Secure
Docket Card?
Answer. Within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the
following entities are involved in the development of the Secure Docket
Card: Enforcement and Removal Operations and the Homeland Security
Investigations Forensic Laboratory. Within the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), outside of ICE, U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services and CBP offered input into the card design and
content. Outside of DHS, ICE coordinated with the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement, who uses a
similar card for unaccompanied children.
Question 4. 49 C.F.R. 1542 relates to airport security. Each
airport operator must designate one or more Airport Security
Coordinator(s) in its security program to serve as the primary and
immediate contact for security-related activities and communications
with TSA. Was TSA notified by any airport operator or airport security
coordinator about migrants being sheltered in airports? If so, please
describe in detail each time TSA was notified.
Answer. TSA's requirements for Airport Security Coordinators focus
on compliance with TSA's requirements for the security of non-public
areas (i.e., secure areas) of the airport, specifically the sterile
area and Security Identification Credential Areas. TSA is not aware of
any individuals paroled into the country being housed or sheltered in
secure areas of an airport. As a result, TSA did not receive
notification from any Airport Operators or Airport Security
Coordinators.
Question 5a. 49 C.F.R. 1542.101 relates to the general
requirements of the airport security program. No person may operate an
airport subject to 1542.103 unless it adopts and carries out a
security program. Has TSA received any request to amend an airport
security program from airports that housed or sheltered migrants? If
so, which airport(s)?
Question 5b. If an airport failed to amend the airport security
program and was housing migrants in a secure or nonsecure area of the
airport, would that be in violation of 49 C.F.R. 1542.101?
Answer. An airport operator would not need to amend its security
program to house individuals paroled into the country in non-secure
areas of the airport. TSA is not aware of any such individuals being
sheltered in secure areas and has not received any requests to amend
any airport's security program relative to the sheltering of these
individuals. There is no violation of 1542.101 or the airport security
program for providing sheltering to persons in a non-regulated portion
of the airport property.
Question 6a. Under 1542.107, TSA must be notified when there is a
change in condition affecting security. Was TSA notified of any
change(s) in security conditions by any airport that sheltered or
housed migrants?
Question 6b. If airports did not notify TSA of any changes in
security conditions, did the TSA require any airport to make
appropriate changes after public reporting revealed migrants living in
an airport?
Answer. TSA was not notified of any changes in security conditions
by any airport that is reported to have sheltered or housed individuals
paroled into the country. Based on reports and TSA's discussions with
local personnel, any sheltering of these individuals occurred in a
public portion of the airport property. Local stakeholders would have
responsibility for the security of these areas. There would be no need
for airports to provide notice of a changed condition prescribed by
1542.207 as long as the sheltering of individuals paroled into the
country occurs in a public portion of airport property.
Question 7a. For each airport or airport facility that housed or
sheltered migrants, please provide answers to the following questions:
Was TSA consulted about housing migrants at airport or airport
facilities, either prior to or after migrants arrived? If so, please
describe each of those recommendation(s) or guidance(s).
Question 7b. What area(s) of the airports were migrants allowed to
access within each airport?
Question 7c. Who provided approval for migrants to be sheltered at
each airport?
Question 7d. Who was responsible for security of that area?
Question 7e. Was the TSA notified each time a security incident
occurred?
Question 7f. Were migrants screened upon entering the airport?
Question 7g. Has TSA changed any internal policies or guidance
related to migrants sheltering at airports? If so, please provide a
copy of the old policy and new policy.
Question 7h. Did TSA spend any additional funds to support migrants
being housed or sheltered at airports? If so, please provide the total
broken down by airport and provide a description of what the funds were
used for.
Answer. TSA was not consulted about the sheltering on airport
property of individuals paroled into the country. To the best of our
knowledge, no airport has granted access to sterile areas of the
airport for the purpose of housing individuals paroled into the
country. TSA does not control whether the airports grant access to
public or other areas of the airport that do not affect TSA's ability
to perform its responsibilities. No approval was required by TSA, nor
was it granted by or requested from TSA. Local airport authorities are
responsible for the security of those areas. TSA would be notified, per
standard reporting procedures, of security incidents at an airport
subject to a TSA security program. TSA is not aware of any security
incidents perpetrated by persons paroled into the country who were
being provided housing at airport locations. TSA does not require
screening for persons entering non-sterile areas of airports. Any
person entering the sterile area of an airport from the public side is
screened (with the exception of select individuals working at the
airport that may have bypass authority). As to TSA's knowledge, all
housing for individuals paroled into the country was provided in non-
sterile areas of the airport, local stakeholders would have
responsibility for the security of those areas. No internal policy or
guidance has been issued by TSA as public area security is controlled
by local authorities and TSA is not aware of any efforts to provide
housing to individuals paroled into the country within sterile areas of
airports. No TSA funds were spent relative to the sheltering of
individuals paroled into the country.
Question 8. Are there alternative financing options available to
you or that Congress could consider that would accelerate the
procurement of additional technology systems like CT and CAT-II?
Answer. To accelerate procurement and fielding computed tomography
(CT) and credential authentication technology (CAT), additional
appropriations would be required. There are currently no known supply
chain issues.
Question 9a. We already have a technology fund that uses existing
passenger security fee revenue for checked baggage systems.
Would you be open to using this fund for checkpoint security
technology or creating a similar fund dedicated to checkpoint security
technology?
Answer. The current statutory language for the Aviation Security
Capital Fund (ASCF) limits its use to financing airport security
capital improvement projects, implicitly including checked baggage
technology capital improvement projects; however, with legislative
modifications, the fund could be expanded to cover TSA's direct
acquisition of checkpoint technology in addition to the currently-
authorized checked-baggage systems. TSA supports the expansion of the
authority of this fund to specifically cover the direct acquisition of
checkpoint technologies and checked baggage systems.
Question 9b. Would you support right-sizing this account for
inflation and then pegging it to inflation while expanding the use to
include checkpoint technologies?
Answer. Rightsizing the ASCF and then continuing to adjust for
inflation will reduce the amount of fee revenue available to support
TSA security operations and require additional appropriations. The ASCF
has not been adjusted for inflation since it was introduced in 2004,
effectively reducing the buying power of this account almost by half,
though at the same time freeing up fee revenue to sustain the
Transportation Security Officer (TSO) workforce. TSA supports the
expansion of the authority of this fund to specifically cover the
direct acquisition of checkpoint technologies and checked baggage
systems, which would allow for greater flexibility in technology
procurements and could help reduce the time line of reaching Full
Operational Capability for checkpoint technology for both CT and CAT.
Question 10. What impact does a slow, 20+-year, acquisition program
have on TSA's industry partners? Is there not a significant risk that
industry could lose talent and production capability or even walk away?
This is especially concerning given the growth of People's Republic of
China-based companies at international airports overseas.
Answer. A key factor in the impact of a long 20+-year acquisition
program, that is actively procuring and deploying technology during
that time, is the potential that the technology the program acquires
could become technically obsolete before, by, or shortly after it
achieves Full Operational Capability. This would depend on the specific
platform's degree of upgradability. Most platforms are designed to be
upgradable for many years, but 20 years is challenging in most
instances. Many industry partners are happy to support their systems
for extended times after they have been deployed. Another key factor is
the annual funding available for procurement of new systems. Industry
is incentivized to continue to compete if their risk vs. potential
reward calculations supports a business investment decision. The less
annual funding potentially available to them, the less apt they are to
continue. Vendors must also assess their competition and their ability
to attract government purchases based on the capability they can offer
and the price at which they can provide it.
Question 11a. A delayed time line to field new CT systems means
less effective legacy carry-on baggage screening equipment will be in
place longer.
What is the expected life span of the legacy equipment?
Question 11b. Will those systems last until 2042?
Question 11c. What is the long-term operational cost to maintain
the legacy systems beyond their expected service life?
Answer. TSA does not replace security equipment based on age.
Recapitalization (replacement) of equipment only occurs when the
technology is no longer capable of meeting current detection standards
and cannot be upgraded to do so. Effective preventive and corrective
maintenance and inclusion of parts obsolescence requirements in
Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) contracts provides the ability to
replace every component in a scanner and extends the life of these
systems with new components, meaning there is a continuous service life
extension function in place. However, Advanced Technology (AT)
technical obsolescence (detection) is a real risk prior to fiscal year
2042. DHS established the CT program to address this issue, as AT
detection capability has been determined to be capped at ``Tier 2'',
which limits its ability to detect at the threat masses and with the
material discrimination we believe will be necessary as the threat
becomes more sophisticated. TSA will continue to establish long-term
maintenance agreements that include parts obsolescence requirements to
ensure that legacy AT X-ray systems remain viable until CT Full
Operational Capability is reached. The cost to operate and maintain
legacy systems is equivalent to CT mid-size and base systems, and less
than CT full-size systems. Maintenance costs have risen with inflation,
but have not been significantly impacted by obsolescence. The
operational cost of utilizing and attempting to upgrade legacy systems
until 2042 is the opportunity cost of delaying the deployment of more
capable, more effective CT technologies to address evolving threats.
Question 12a. As you know, in 2023, TSA screened a record 858
million passengers and is on track to surpass that this year. As you
look at TSA's ability to process passengers, I would like to discuss
remote screening and other force multiplying opportunities at TSA that
utilize burgeoning technologies like AI.
To what extent is TSA looking to adopt remote screening at
airports?
Question 12b. How do you see investments in digital infrastructure
at Cat-X airports unlocking new TSA force multipliers like remote
screening and other capabilities that are enabled by high-speed,
secure, private interconnectivity?
Question 12c. How does the efficiency level of remote screening
compare to existing screening procedures?
Question 12d. What investment level in digital infrastructure would
allow TSA to successfully interconnect airports with the TSA cloud
environment?
Answer. TSA is looking to utilize remote screening at airports with
the priority being Category X and I airports. These airports represent
the Nation's busiest airports throughout the country. As technology
matures and TSA is able to utilize remote screening for geographically-
diverse airports, TSA would evaluate the expansion of remote screening
to smaller airports. The greatest force multipliers cannot occur until
the vulnerabilities are addressed in the screening equipment. However,
once vulnerabilities in screening equipment are corrected such that
they can be networked beyond one checkpoint or one airport, high-speed,
secure, private interconnectivity will unlock several TSA force
multipliers. Remote screening may be used across an entire airport,
across an entire State, and across an entire region should high-speed
interconnectivity be provided to each of the locations. This could
drive efficiency for passenger throughput across all of the checkpoints
that are interconnected, but each would require high-speed, secure,
reliable, private interconnectivity. As algorithms get better and
possibly through the use of AI, a system might be able to detect an
aggregation of objects going through various checkpoints that will meet
up at a common destination. Cat X airports have the greatest volume,
thus interconnectivity at Cat X airports will provide the greatest
immediate benefit of these technological advances. The implementation
of remote screening provides a number of quantitative and qualitative
benefits to airports. With the implementation of remote screening
lanes, airports can expect to see an increase of 10-15 percent in
passenger throughput. This increase in throughput is achieved without
the installation of additional checkpoint lanes, but rather through the
addition of an image review position at a ratio of one per every 2
lanes. While this increases the number of TSOs staffing the checkpoint
lane, the increased throughput of the checkpoint lanes offsets the
staffing increase and provides TSA with a much-needed way to keep up
with the increased traveler volume with the existing number of
screening lanes at the Nation's airports. Once vulnerabilities in
screening equipment are corrected such that the devices can be
connected to a wide-area network, an assessment would need to be
conducted at each of the intended airports (starting with Cat X) to
determine the networking and physical requirements to take the digital
infrastructure to the appropriate level. Requirements for each airport
will be different. Each airport will require a site survey to address
items such as local connectivity, interconnectivity, and costs.
Question 13a. TSA has not opened a qualification window for checked
baggage inline screening systems since 2015. In fiscal year 2023, the
Congress appropriated $5 million above the request in the O&S Mission
Support PPA to hire additional support staff to accelerate the opening
of a new checked baggage qualification window. While that funding is
expected to end this year in Q4 of fiscal year 2024, TSA's fiscal year
2025 budget request does not recur this funding.
Answer. Modern Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) EDS technology is
widely deployed at many European and International Airports, including
Last-Point-of-Departure (LPD) Airports. Most European and International
Airports follow a 3-6-month tender process to procure modern EDS
technology that addresses current and rapidly-evolving threats.
However, TSA continues to follow its multi-year Operational Test &
Evaluation (OT&E) process to consider proven COTS EDS technology that
is widely deployed and currently in use with trusted partner nations
world-wide. Instead of working with industry to develop and acquire new
EDS systems, TSA continues to buy the same 20-year-old legacy EDS
systems, which will risk significant end-of-life issues for on-going
supportability.
Question 13b. Does TSA have any plans to establish a new checked
baggage qualification opportunity for industry?
Answer. TSA does intend to create a formal qualification
opportunity for industry. TSA utilized the funding provided by Congress
in 2023 to accelerate requirements development. These updated
requirements will form the basis of the next qualification opportunity
for industry. Finalizing the requirements will require additional
investment. Qualification efforts are a multi-year resource requirement
and will require multi-year funding and staffing commitments. TSA is
working to identify the resource requirements and time lines to
establish the next opportunity. This will require a return to a mixed
life-cycle approach that allows TSA to sustain and enhance existing
systems while managing qualification efforts and consideration of new
systems.
Question 13b. Does TSA have any plans to incorporate Section 1914
of Public Law 115-254, ``Reciprocal Recognition of Security Standards''
into its Qualification and OT&E processes for EDS technology? If not,
why not?
Question 13c. Is TSA aware of any data available from years of
operational use of modern ECAC-approved EDS technology? If so, are
there opportunities for TSA to leverage this data to expedite or bypass
the OT&E process and immediately include certain DHS/TSA-certified EDS
technology on TSA's current checked baggage EDS Qualified Product List
(QPL)?
Question 13d. What efforts has TSA made to date to engage with
security manufacturers to obtain existing operational use data to
accelerate the Qualification and OT&E processes and deploy advanced EDS
technology capabilities at TSA checkpoints? Does TSA have future plans
to do so?
Answer. TSA continues to work on aligning standards with
international partners. In the checked baggage mission space, we
support international partners through our rolling certification test
opportunities. For formal TSA qualification, international data will be
considered in order to reduce the scope of formal qualification
efforts. Future qualification efforts will evaluate all applicable
internationally-sourced operational utilization data to accelerate the
path to qualification. While there is not currently alignment at the
detection level, reliability, maintainability, and availability data
from international sites will be critical in tailoring the scope and
duration of TSA's evaluation to support qualification efforts. TSA will
need to conduct formal qualification efforts to ensure all future EDS
can meet the mission needs of TSOs in actual checked baggage screening
operations. The total potential time savings will not be known until a
formal review of system configuration can be conducted. TSA does not
have an open qualification window for EDS within the checked baggage
mission space. The requirements and resources are not available to
support formal qualification efforts. TSA has added updated detection
standards to its existing certification activities so that vendors can
see the direction of future EDS qualification efforts. TSA has met
individually with vendors of certified systems to discuss future
detection needs, increased system capacity, user interface
requirements, interoperability needs, sustainability cost
considerations, and additional cybersecurity plans for future systems.
During these vendor discussions, TSA has included the types of
international operational data that can be reviewed and examined to
potentially accelerate qualification efforts once a window is open.
Question 14. Does TSA have plans to invest in the establishment of
an open architecture interoperability test bed?
Is TSA's Systems Integration Facility (TSIF) equipped to establish
an open architecture interoperability test bed to evaluate TSA
compliance to open architecture standards? If not, then what
capabilities would the TSIF need to acquire to do so?
What investment requirements are necessary to establish an open
architecture interoperability test bed?
By when could TSA budget for an open architecture interoperability
test bed?
Answer. TSA has already initiated efforts to establish an open
architecture interoperability test bed. Aspects of this work were
conducted in fiscal year 2023, in the preparation and installation of
Threat Recognition Systems (TRS) at the Transportation Security Lab and
TSA Systems Integration Facility. The TRS represents base platform that
allows for evaluation of modules of capability to determine
interoperability with the overall system-of-systems design approach and
the associated key standards the design approach leverages. These
standards are Digital Imaging and Communication in Security (DICOS) as
the data standard and Open Platform Software Library (OPSL) as the
interface standard. TSA also awarded a specific support contract (Open
Architecture Enabled Support (OAES) contract) in fiscal year 2023 to
allow for the continued updates of the DICOS and OPLS Software
Development Kits to support interoperability. In addition to the
physical setups at the labs, TSA is investigating the means of
establishing a more robust virtual test bed for supporting
interoperability testing. Funding limitations have delayed aspects of
this work but TSA is working to transition the TRS design to a hardware
independent containerized approach which will further enable
interoperability and flexibility in test bed implementation. This
virtual TRS increases testing efficiency and provides a means to
expedite testing and reduce re-test on the physical hardware (post-
integration). Additional funding is needed to establish the test bed.
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