Security, subcommittee on transportation and protective security, will come to order. Before i commence with my statement, i do want to note for the record how happy i am to have miss Watson Coleman as my new ranking chair on this. We have a very good working relationship as well and i think its something more people in congress could try and do. Were going to endeavor to do that Going Forward. Miss Watson Coleman, thank you for being here. Thank you, delighted to be with you. Thank you as well, mr. Payne. Others on the committee may have some of tconflicts, will be com in and out. The subcommittee is meeting today to examine how tsa can better achieve its mission to secure Transportation Systems across the United States. In addition, the hearing will cover opportunities for tsa to improve as it relates to technological advances and communications with its state, local, and private sector partners. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Id like to welcome everyone to the subcommittee on transportation and ekt proive securitys first hearing of the 115th congress which gave us added responsibilities to have oversight of the secret service as well as tsa. So we got kind of doubled on our workload here. Much to the chagrin of my staff. Im great to feel my constituents for giving me the opportunity and privilege to return to congress and continue to chair this important subcommittee. This committee has a proven track record of working together to advance longterm, commonsense, and strategic reforms to the department of Homeland Security. While there may be divisions and the discord elsewhere, here in this room we all share an unshakeable commitment to ensuring the security of the traveling public. Because we know that the consequences of failure are just too great. The Transportation Security Administration was founded just weeks after 9 11. Congress did what it does best, it reacted to a crisis and fortunate fortunately unfortunately threw a lot of money at it without sometimes thinking about the overall structure. Nearly 16 years later the american taxpayer has spent billions and the it is clear tsa is long overdue for an overhaul. The agency has been plagued with uncertainty and a lack of consistent leadership. Since 2014 tsa has had six different administrators leading the agency. Six. While we have been able to advance legislation to address many of the challenges that tsa faces, it is incumbent upon us to provide clear direction and intent in a fullscale reauthorization. Without continuity at the top it is impossible for any organization to successfully implement a longterm strategic vision. Instead, we have all left hand left with the many fits and starts of the last few years. Juxtapose that with, for example, the fbi, an agency where the director is there for a 10year term and how the stability really helps moving forward. Tsa began to move in the right direction. A new training and Education Program was put into place for all frontline employees. Emphasis was placed on engagement with the private sector and tsa launched an Innovation Task force to seek out new technologies. All of these things had a very positive effect on morale, these to some extent. While these were important first steps they did not go far enough. Now many of these potentially transformative initiatives are left to languish or disappear altogether with yet another change in leadership when the president names a new administrator. It would be wise for the new administrator to continue to build upon many of these positive changes initiated by admiral neffinger. Help garner congressional support for reform and improvement within the agency. Over the last few years we saw recordbreaking numbers of americans traveling. Unfortunately, tsa was at times ill prepared for the volume of travelers and was caught flat footed. At the height of the wait time crisis last summer, News Coverage around the country showed passengers stranded at airports overnight due to long tsa wait lines, sleeping on cots or on the floor. The number of passengers will continue to increase and we must ensure tsa is prepared to effectively and efficiently screen passengers. Simultaneously, tsa must focus on working wits it state and local partners to keep all areas of our airport safe and secure. This issue was front and center on january 7th when a disturbed individual opened fire in the baggage claim area at the hollywood ft. Lauderdale International Airport, resulting in a loss of five lives and scores of injuries. Air traffic was brought to a halt as Law Enforcement officials and First Responders rushed to contain the situation. This tragic incident served as a stark reminder of the threats facing our nations aviation system. Although tsa is one of the youngest agency in the federal government it has come to operate as an entrenched federal bur accuracy. This means oftentimes it fails to achieve important efficiencies and lacks a flexibility to respond to an everchanging threat landscape. I believe that with the start of this new administration we have a unique opportunity to effect positive change at tsa. The purpose of our hearing today is to look forward, not backwards, forward. We will hear from the many willing and ready partners tsa has to help inform us what innovations and the efficiencies tsa could better leverage to enhance its ability to achieve its critical mission. The private sector is a primary engine of innovation and efficiency in the u. S. Economy. The department of Homeland Security and tsa must look to them for best practices and new technologies that can simultaneously improve Aviation Security and Passenger Experience. I hook forward to hearing from all of our Witnesses Today on the specific reforms in addition to advance tsa and make the traveling public safer. With that i am pleased to recognize the new Ranking Member of the subcommittee, the gentle lady from no one, miss Watson Coleman, for her opening statement. Thank you, chairman katko, i really do appreciate this opportunity to work with you and i look forward to working in a bipartisan way to ensure that we have efficiency, effectiveness, and a robust traveling economy that benefits from the things we shall do together. I want to thank you for convening this hearing. At the outset let me say that i am looking forward to working with the Transportation Security Committee to address those challenges within all modes of transportation. The Transportation Security Administration as well as airlines, airports, and other stakeholders have experienced major challenges recently in regard to Aviation Security. While there have been many Lessons Learned and improvements made to Aviation Security, there is much to be done in this area. Mr. Dow, i understand the u. S. Travel association has taken time to reduce and plan for the future of Aviation Security and i look forward to hearing your perspective on how we can enhance security while facilitating an efficient experience for travelers. I also look forward to your perspective on ensuring that the Aviation Security fee, which is currently diverted to offsetting the deficit, is utilized as a resource for enhancing Aviation Security. The purpose for which it was originally introduced. Miss brooks, i look forward to hearing the perspective of Aviation Security stake holders around the world. Through your expertise as head of security for Airports Council international. Aviation security is a global issue and your exposure to technology and diverse Security Policies through the Smart Security initiative will add great value to this hearing. President cox, i thank you for being here today. In 2016, tso screened more than 738 million passengers, 466 million checked bags, and discovered more than 3,300 firearms in carryon bags. However, when issues arise at the nations checkpoints, such as lengthy wait Times Associated with the recent peak travel season, or reported high failure rates from covert testing, transportation Security Officials usually bear the brunt of the traveling publics frustrations. Eventually we learned that a multitude of factors can contribute to these issues, including but not limited to technology, policies and the management. Not just transportation and Security Officers. I thank tsos for working day in and day out to ensure that no weapon or person with ill intent is able to harm us via our commercial aviation system. I look forward to your testimony about disparities between the rights of these federal employees in comparison to those in the other work force. As we discuss the future of tsa and transportation security, we cannot leave out the perspectives of those that you represent. I also believe that this subcommittee must convene a hearing on this topic that also includes the perspective of the agency whose future we are discussing, the Transportation Security Administration. Lastly, year after year the funding for the aviation sector is multiples higher than the funding for the false sector. My district has extensive rail infrastructure, including amtraks northeast corridor, as well as both freight and commuter trains that run through it and are extremely important to my constituents. Given the attacked on trains in brussels in which a metro train was the subject of a bombing that killed and injured travelers, as well as the attempted attack on a highspeed train traveling from amsterdam to paris, we must ensure that discussions of the future of tsa and transportation security also incorporate other modes of transportation, mr. Chairman. And i look forward to engaging in those opportunities with you. Those who wish to do american citizens harm will continue to attempt to exploit soft targets and the we must shore up vulnerabilities that exist throughout all Transportation Systems. Once again i thank all witnesses for appearing before us today and look forward to your testimony. With that i yield back the balance of my time. Thank you, ms. Watson coleman. Other members of the committee are reminded Opening Statements may be submitted for the record. We are very pleased to have a distinguished panel here to testify before us today on this very important topic. The idea of having you here is to hear from you the concerns you have before we find out who the new administrator is so that when that administrator gets here, hell know that we have a game plan as well to help them address some of their issues. Our first witness, mr. Roger dow, serves as president and chief executive officer for the u. S. Travel association. Prior to 2005 mr. Dow had a 34year career at marriott international. Most notably, mr. Dow served the United States army with the 101st Airborne Division in vietnam where he received the bronze star and other citations. Something i think about often these days, my son is beginning his career in the army, in the infantry, after graduating from college as an officer. So ill be swearing him into the army as an officer in may and thats going to be a high honor for me, also high fear as you imagine. Our second witness, miss nina brooks, has been head of security Airports Council international in montreal since 2015. She has worked in the Aviation Industry for many years, started her aviation career at virgin atlantic. In addition to her current role miss brooks teaches Aviation Security at mcgill university, a truly fine institution, and is a member of the Editorial Board of Aviation Security international. Im hoping at some point she invites me up to montreal to see a hockey game because im a hockey nut. Our third witness is mr. Cox, j. David cox, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees whom we know well. Mr. Cox was first elected president of afge in august of 2012 ask was reelected to a second year term in august of 2015. Ive had many conversations with your group and i always find them fruitful, productive, and helpful. I applaud you for that. Thank you all for being here today. I now recognize mr. Dow for his opening statement. Thank you, chairman katko. Thanks to your son for what hes about to do. Ranking member Watson Coleman, im a jersey boy, i grew up in jersey, so my hearts there. Good to be with you. Member of the committee, i thank you for allowing this testimony. U. S. Travel, talking on behalf of u. S. Travel which represents the entirety of the travel industry, 2. 1 trillion of our economy, 15. 1 million jobs, 1 in 9 jobs. Our mission is simple, to get more people actively traveling to the United States and within the United States. Weve been driving the National Discussion on Aviation Security and traveler security for a decade now and have worked with every one of the administrators and look forward to working with the next administrator. We have a belief that greater security and increased travel are mutually compatible goals. And i also believe that without security there is no travel period. And so this is why this is so important. Five years ago we made a recommendation to the tsa of several points that we believe could take place. Last month we issued an update of that report and i was pleased that the chairman was with us as we rolled it out and also with us was member keating. It was at a roll call where we talked about items that ill get to that can really make a difference here. Its very important with a new congress and the dawn of a new administration that we really make sure that were doing the right thing for the safety of americans. Were pleased to offer many policy recommendations here and were going to suggest a new series of reforms that we think are very important. To give the American People the best return on the investment that were making in our countrys security at the airports. We recognize tsa has a mission that is critical to detect and deter any threats and the challenge you mentioned, mr. Chairman, of the 750 Million People that go through airports every year. Its complex, its expensive, its extremely important. Recognize that tsa has made many good moves, but we think there is more that can be done. And as you mentioned with long lines and all of that, theres been some perceived failures. There have been real failures but also perception that those lines could make it difficult to travel. Weve done some research that shows that americans would take two or three more trips if they felt they could get through an airport efficiently, but when they think theres big lines they avoid the trip, make a telephone call, thats not nearly as effective as facetoface. We know theres many challenges that tsa has faced over the past five years. And we think a lot of work remains. Some of the ideas we put forward id like to work, 15 recommendations. Id like to focus on just a few of those in our report transforming security at airports, an update on progress and the future of american aviation and security. First is fee diversion. You mentioned that. Its so important. Whats basically happened is the fees went up by 1. 6 million, but the decision was made to keep the amount of money going to tsa at tsa, and that overflow would go to the general fund. And we are strong believers that that onethird of fees should go to tsa and to improve tsa. And congress has stopped diverting funds and the put those fees toward staffing, technology, equipment, et cetera. The next way is the best way to really ensure is the trusted Traveler Programs. We all know precheck and the Global Entry Program are very effective but when it comes to those programs i talk about the four ps. One is the process. Weve got to get ability to sign feel up efficiently and i dont think we need to have two forms of i. D. , i can get on any plane, any airport, with one form of i. D. We can do things like that to get people signed up. Promotion. If 10 Million People signed up, it would be 850 million. The private sector, if we had an opportunity to get these people signed up, we would put money towards promoting it and getting people to sign up. We would also look at price. When you look at price, if its 85 to a businessman, thats not much. But if you take a company that signs up several thousand people, we should figure out a way to get a volume discount. For a family of four, 320. We should think about what we can do and making a priority is very important. Next area we want to focus is on is Innovative Technology. Weve got to not just talk technology, weve got to put it in place and spend the money to do so. Empower the airports and private sector to really help, spp, basically the secure partnership program, to really help bring more innovative ideas, better security, and were extremely interested in this. This committee is doing extraordinarily important work. And as i say, once again, without security, there is no travel. Thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate your testimony. I have many questions to ask you when the time comes. Appreciate that. Now, i now recognize miss nina brooks for her testimony. Thank you. Chairman katko, Ranking Member Watson Coleman, members of the subcommittee, id hike to thank you for the opportunity to provide a perspective from the Airports Council international, the global trade representative of the worlds airports on the advancements in Airport Security, screening practices, and in particular the Smart Security project. Recognizing the challenges of growing passenger numbers continues the evolving security threats and limited resources. Aci and our Airline Partners at the International Air transport association joined forces in 2013 to define a future for passenger and cabin baggage screening where passengers proceed through security with minimal inconvenience, where securi security. Today this vision is being widely recognized throughout the world by airports, airlines and regulators. An increasing number of airports around the world are implementing measures and processes recommended by the Smart Security program. The objectives of the program is threefold. Firstly to deliver strength and security through a focus on risk, better use of existing technologies, and the introduction of advanced detection capabilities. Secondly, to increase the Operational Efficiency of checkpoints, including faster throughput, better use of equipment, reduced cost per passenger, and the best use of space and staff. And finally, to improve passenger and Staff Experience through reduction in queues, waiting lines, reduced handling, and better use of technology for less intrusive less time consuming security screen. Although focused on the screening checkpoints, Smart Security also benefits the security of the airport as a whole, particularly through the reduction in queues and crowds in public areas. The Smart Security program is structured through trials, tests and informationsharing. Airports, regulators and airlines have worked together to test different technologies and processes and have shared their findings with the project team in order to produce a set of best practices or guidance material. This in turn is shared with the Wider Community so that all can benefit from the experience of participant in the project. Theres no one solution for all airports. Instead, the project has identified a number of components that can be implemented depending on the regulatory requirements, the needs, facilities, and the risk profile of the airports. For this reason, theres not one smart checkpoint that can be used as an exact model, rather, a menu of options that can be combined to meet requirements. Smart security has demonstrated significant improvements in Operational Efficiency, passenger satisfaction, and security value. To give you some examples, some of the components deployed include centralized Image Processing or remote screening to enable xray machines to be networked and images viewed away from the checkpoint location or across lanes. Trials have demonstrated significant efficiency improvements. Some airports have seen increases in throughput as well as reductions in total passenger processing time busy an average of 30 seconds per passenger. Checkpoints, environments and management enhancements include greater automation, results opt maytation such as parallel divesting, and monitoring solutions. Using these some airports have reported a flow increase up to 20 . Some airports have incomplemented a new look and feel at checkpoints such as amsterdam which is designed to provide a calmer, more passengerfriendly environment for passengers to divest and then be reunited with their possessions. This reimagined checkpoint benefits the Passenger Experience but also aids the detection of suspicious behavior. Using fullbody scanners for passenger screenings also demonstrated to provide Effective Security while improving the Passenger Experience in reducing the need for full manual searches. Airports that have taken part in tiles include a. M. Administer bam, dublin, london heathrow, gat rick, manchester, and many others. Many have implemented components, for example, the Canadian Transport Security Authority installed new automated lanes in montreal and calgary. Lanes are about inning to deploy in United States using many of the same principles such as lane automation, parallel divesting. Looking forward the focus for the coming year will be on technologies such as security tom graph, advances in trace detection, human management tracking, identity management, and differentiated screening according to risk. Some of the key enablers for Smart Security have been the outcomefocused rec lation, flexibility and checkpoint design and configuratioconfigur understanding that not all airports and risk profiles are the same, Adequate Funding for staffing, screening technology, and research and development, along with efficient processes for testing and evaluation of new technologies. In the United States weve been working with tsa toward sharing of information from the implementation of the automated screening lanes at hartsfieldjackson atlanta International Airport which implements a number of these Smart Security best practices. Weve also had some very constructive discussions with tsas Innovation Task force. We believe that theres a great deal of opportunity here in the United States to benefit from the lessons learnt by Smart Security and vice versa. And we look forward to working further with tsa and more u. S. Airports. Id like to thank you for this opportunity to testify and i look forward to your questions. Thank you very much. I also look forward to the discussion moving forward. I hear you loud and clear, mr. Dow and ms. Brooks, about the technological aspects. Weve been beating that drum since we started on this committee, that tsa is behind the curve in technology. Not just a brief example i had last year, i had to go to ireland for work, really struggled, of course. But we went through england. And the use of biometrics in england were stunning. You walk up, stand before they check your passport, do a facial recognition scan in about 1 second. When i went to go check into the gate, checking to go on the airplane, you it again. They matched the facial recognition from the person who came in to the person who got on the airplane. They have Technology Like this all over the world and its maddening to me that we dont have it here. Im going to definitely explore that with you moving forward. All the technology in the world will be useless if you dont have the right personnel doing the job. So thats why im looking forward to hearing mr. Coxs testimony. I now recognize mr. Cox for his testimony. Mr. Chairman, welcome back. Afg is so excited to have you back at chair of the subcommittee. And to Ranking Member Watson Coleman, congratulations on your new post. Congressman payne, it is always so good to be with you. Mr. Dow and the chairmans son and all men and women who are serving in the military and all veterans, we owe them a debt of gratitude for their service to this country. And i would remind everyone the 40,000 transportation Security Officers that work for tsa that afge proudly represents, over 31 of them are also veterans that have served this country and continue to serve this country by keeping all of us safe and secure. Every member of congress travels home to their district, they travel back to conduct hearings and to hold votes, and they do it safely because of the great work of tsos. Airline pilots and the flight attendants travel safely right now all over this country because these men and women are protecting us and keeping us safe. And my main message today is that no discussion of the future of tsa should ever exclude the voices of the tso workforce. Tsos are the eyes, ears and hands of tsa at the checkpoints and the baggage areas of our nations airports. They are the most visible of tsas components and most likely to be blamed for perceived failures on the part of the agency. They are rarely, if ever, recognized for a job well done. The best way for congress and tsa to show its appreciation for tsos contributions to National Security would be fair treatment on the job. Second, we ask that congress ensure tsos have the resources necessarily to carry out the agencys mission, such as appropriate and proper equipment. And finally, we ask that congress hold tsa accountable for both of these priorities. Security screening of passengers and baggage was made a direct federal government responsibility after a National Examination of Aviation Security following 9 11. That examination found that fatal security lapses were due in no small part to the fact that screening contractors operated with too little oversight. The screeners they hired had little training, no understanding did not understand operating procedures, high turnover, and very low pay. For 15 years, tsos have kept america safe from terrorism and other risks. They have got the job done and done it very effectively. Their record is one that we should all applaud. Tsos seized over 3,300 firearms, most of them loaded, at checkpoints. And they defied all projections this past summer with long wait lines due to understaffing and made it happen throughout this country. Yet there are some politicians who believe that we should privatize tsa. Make no mistake, privatization through the Screening Partnership Program Takes us back to pre 9 11 conditions. The future of tsa lies with civil servants, tsos, and not private contractors. Tsos sign up for their job because they want to serve the American Public by keeping our air travel safe. In return, they have every right to expect fair treatment from their employer, the federal government. Tsos have the workplace policies changed every time there is a new administrator, and we have had more than our fair share, sir. Each time we go through many changes of all working conditions, afg recently ratified a new contract with the agency, many of the terms and conditions of employment were changed unilaterally without any input from congress or from the union that represents those employees. Id certainly believe the one thing that we could do that would help tsos is to grant them title v rights under the u. S. Code. This would prevent discrimination, it would give them full collective bargaining rights. Id certainly like to salute senator schotts, warren, merkley, and others who have introduced legislation in the senate and its our understanding that our Ranking Member, bennie thompson, and congresswoman nita loy, will be introducing legislation in the house for title v rights for tsos. Thank you so much, mr. Chairman, and Ranking Member, for having us today and we look forward to taking any questions. And its always a pleasure to be with you. Thank you, mr. Cox. You make a very good point. The frontline folks are rarely recognized at tsa for a job that they do day in, day out. Its a very difficult job, trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack every time. Its remarkable that they found 3,300 guns last year. Its also deeply troubling that they found 3,300 guns. But every day they get up and go to work and they have the pressure of the safety of the traveling public in their hands. So i definitely want to commend them for their work. I thank them for their work. Our job is not only to support them but try to make their job as easy as possible. And its clear to me and well have more discussion about this that the technology is lacking in this country compared to the rest of the world. Its kind of like asking someone to go fight a battle with bow and arrows when your adversaries have more sophisticated weapons. We have to give them better tools to work with and better working conditions under which to work. So thats the tension we have in these days of limited budgets. Finding the efficiencies and finding ways to make them better what is we need to do. Again, i applaud them for all their efforts and please extend that to them for me. I now recognize myself for five minutes of questions. And i think i want to start with theres so much to ask you, we may do a second round here if time permits. But just quickly, mr. Dow. You mentioned that the average traveler would take two to three more trips a year if the experience in traveling is better than today. I would probably take more trips too if the seats were a little bigger. Being a tall person, its brutal, especially when someone puts a seatback in front of you. I cant sit up straight hardly in those seats. Did you do any sort of a calculation as to what the Economic Impact would be of those two to three more trips per year . Just ballpark figures . Ballpark 85 billion. Billion . Billion. 888,000 jobs. What were finding is people, when it gets to be an hour flight that might be a three or fourhour drive, theyre driving. That creates another problem, puts more people on the roads. Theres no question about it, travelers, anything gets in their way, impedes them from wanting to travel. So this is so critical to get people through efficiently and safely. Right. I appreciate that. Now moving forward, there does seem to be a virtual certainty that the amount of additional travelers per year is going to explode in this country. Indeed around the world. I wonder if you could comment based on your projections and your experiences whether were ready for it, number one. From an infrastructure standpoint, also from a processing standpoint. Were absolutely not ready for it. Right now weve gone in the past five years from 55 Million International travelers, domestic up to 77 million domestic travelers going up 3 and 4 a year. So were going to get to a point that 750 million travelers is going definitely to be 1 billion travelers. When that happens, in a short time, we are not ready for it. Our airports, we dont have the facilities, the screening areas, the technology. It will be a mess. And it will impede the growth of the economy and jobs. So theres no question. Thats going to be upon us before we know it. This is not a tenyear problem, this is a fiveyear problem. What do you see tsas greatest hurdles they need to clear in order to make it ready for that challenge . The greatest hurdles, youve heard it several times, to be able to have tech nothing, to make sure the tsos are doing the Mission Critical jobs versus standing there and watching someone exit the airport that someone else could do if they try to go the wrong way. Theres many jobs weve got these welltrained people and weve got to get them really utilize their talents and find other ways. The lady next to me talked about trace thing rfrts theres a lot of things we can do. Tsa has to get technology, has to get efficiency, has got to get more people in precheck. Trusted Traveler Program is critical. I agree with that. The i think that weve made Great Strides with that. But theres much more we need to do. Syracuse, my airport, for example, we put in they used to have to travel to sweden, new york, 45 minutes away, on a not very good road, to go to Border Patrol to get yourself a preclearance, which is insane. So i put a kiosk had them put a kiosk at the airport, now we have close to 50 of the travelers coming out of syracuse in precheck, which is amazing. Its completely changed the burden on the tso officers the tsa officers, as well as the enjoyable experience for the public. Theres so much more we can do. Im probably going to follow up again with more questions if i have time here. But i thank you for that. Theres so much more we need to talk about but technologys key. Thats why miss brooks id like to ask you questions. The ssp program, obviously theres many initiatives and what have you. But it seems when you travel internationally at some of the airports, schippo, some of the others in europe, that the technology is light years ahead of ours. What do you see as the biggest technological drawbacks we have here in the United States that critically need to be addressed . I think some of the thing that is were starting to see in the automated lanes are actually making Great Strides towards actually getting greater throughput at checkpoints. Would that be in the automated lanes in the the trailer. Theres a lot more that can be done with that. The trailer is very visible. Theres a lot that can be done with actually automating Threat Detection and actually putting some intelligence into the machines themselves. Then that coupled with i mentioned centralized Image Processing. Thats networking. The checkpoints. So you can actually have a continuous flow of images provided to the screening officers. Weve seen a great deal of efficiency gained from that. And then actually through networking the checkpoints you can also get a lot of efficiency in terms of understanding the throughputs and getting Good Management information from the checkpoints to enable you to better deploy your resources. We talked about biometrics a little bit. I think that for the future is going to be absolutely critical. We talk a lot about screening according to risk. But if you dont know who the person is youve got in front of you and who youre screening you cant do that. So i think thats going to be a very, very important piece. Being able to say that this bag in this tray belongs to this person, and i know who this person is, and i know that theyre supposed to be here going through this checkpoint and traveling today. Thats a piece that really is missing right now. And its being worked on all over the world. I dont think anybodys quite cracked that nut yet but its something that we really need to be working on. We have really been on tsa over the last couple of years. Weve had 18 subcommittee hearings which is i think more than anybody in congress. Weve held tsa to task. Weve had all kinds of meetings with them. Weve had roundtable discussions with Industry Leaders in attempt to try and drag them out of the proverbial stone age as far as screening equipment goes. Theres still an awful long way to go. Do you see glimmers of hope on the horizon with changes that have been made recently within tsa . Yeah, absolutely. I think the task force, the Innovation Task force that was set up, is really looking at some of these future technologies. And making great progress. In some of the areas that were very interested in as well. I would really like to see the work of that task force continuing. And with a lot of engagement with us as well. So that we can share experiences and help by looking globally at what everybodys doing and bring all that information together. Some of the future technologies, particularly with things like standoff screening so you could walk through a checkpoint without having to stop, thats really where we want to be. Through the work of airports and regulators and organizations like tsa, then we will be able to get there. But we need to push ahead with the r d and obviously that requires money. So unfortunately it comes back to the bottom line again. Yes, it does. I appreciate it. Theres so much more to ask all of you. Mr. Cox, i suspect miss Watson Coleman has questions for you that i would have asked anyhow. The chair now recognizes Ranking Member ms. Watson coleman. Before i engage in my questions i ask that i get an opportunity to make some observations. I really appreciated the ones that you made with regard to the testimony that was offered. Absolutely. Thank you. It is really important that the three of you were here to give us your perspective. It is so important that we make sure that theres efficient and effective traveling. Its so important that we contribute to the economy with people who want to travel. It so is important that we recognize the significance of the people on line and recognize that because things have not happened that are bad, dont ignore the problems that exist as it relates to them. And the information with regard to technology and how we stand in relation to the rest of the world is really important. I think it speaks volumes to a couple of things. Tsa needs stability, it needs the access to the fees that are being diverted for other reasons, because that money can be used for purposes of improving technology, the newest, most Innovative Technology that is evidencebased and works, as well as supporting the people, the staff, that is charged to doing this. So before i engage in my very short questions, i just want to ask unanimous consent that representative jackson lee be allowed to sit and question the witnesses as well. Without objection, so ordered. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for your indulgence. So i will start with mr. Cox because i dont want to disappoint my chairman. Mr. Cox, in the past it was common for tsos and tsa to revel in the fact that the agency was able to screen a certain amount of travelers within a certain amount of time. Following the leaked oig report in 2015 which brought to light a number of tsa security gaps, tsa rightfully rechanneled its focus to effective screening. With steadily increasing volume of travelers and pressure to screen them in a certain amount of time, and i do hope that there is an increase in traveling and i hope that this ban that were trying to wrap our brain around right now is understood and applied appropriately so it doesnt decrease the appropriate travel. How has tsa worked to ensure that effective and efficient screening is of the utmost importance . Thank you, congresswoman. Tsa has definitely refocused on the training, training for quick and fast to the most efficient mannerism to get the passengers through. But they realized they needed to be screening for quality. That teaching and training folks exactly what to look for, all of us go through airports and i see those screens and i have no idea what im looking at, but these are trained professionals, a skillful work force. And being able to focus directly on training, and i commend our previous administrator neffinger for spending the time and resources to retrain tsos and to do that. And obviously thats a hardship because if a persons in training, theyre not directly on the job that day. One thing i would point out, we are about 5,000 less transportation Security Officers today than we were several years ago, so we have less people doing a lot more screening. With that, that was going to be my second question. About 40,000 now . Correct. And you say thats 5,000 less than we had . We had right at 45,000 i would say three or four years ago. Given what youve experienced and given what mr. Dow has even expressed in terms of expectations of increased traveling, how many tsos do you feel would be needed . I wouldnt be the best person to ask, but certainly that 5,000 thats been lost i believe needs to be returned. The air traffic is much higher. Technology is improving. And we applaud, and we want greater technology. Yes, the frequent Traveler Program, all those things come hand in hand. Still yet we can never get rid of the human element. There is a person even at the frequent traveler check lane that has to be there, the Human Resources still have to exist with all of that. Thank you. I know weve got some serious concerns with the fact that tsos are not covered under title v. Correct. I know you recently ratified your second collective Bargaining Agreement with tsa. How is negotiating with tsa different from negotiating with other dhs agencies that are represented by your union . Tsos do not have merit system protection board rights as all other federal employees and most other agencies. There is not the ability to have a negotiated grievance procedure to resolve workplace disputes. There are very, very limited things that can be negotiated. Basically we spend a lot of time talking about when you can wear a jacket and when you cannot wear a jacket. Or when you can wear shorts or long pants. So those are very minimal things but very important for the work. Border patrol agents, i. C. E. Agents, cis, all other Homeland Security employees coast guard many of those have title v protections. Its been noted that tsos have the lowest just about the lowest morale in the workforce. And i would suspect you might align that concern with the fact that they dont have these same rights and privileges as other federal employees do . That is correct. They dont have the same rights and privileges, nor are they on the gs pay scale. Their pay is less than most other federal employees. And so its an entirely different employment system. Does that impact the ability to recruit enough and to retain enough . Yes, maam. The turnover in tsa is higher than many other government agencies. Im going to have some questions for mrs. Brooks and mr. Dow, ill do it on the second round. So i thank you for your indulgence thus far. Miss Watson Coleman, if you just have a few minutes of questions, we might try to do this one round if youd like to go a few minutes longer. Okay. Thank you, thank you. Mr. Miss ms. Brooks. As you observe integrating Innovative Technology into the passenger screening process will help make Airport Security procedures more effective and more efficient, what are the Biggest Challenges to getting the stateoftheart technologies into our airports as compared to the procurement processes within airports around the world . Is it the money . Is it the lack of planning . Money does come into it. Of course. One of the things that i think really needs to be looked at is the time it takes for our technology to get out of the lab and into the airports. The certification processes. Theres a lot that can be done with that. Clearly tsa has to certify equipment and thats absolutely right. But that turnaround time is very important for getting things actually out into airports. And maybe there are opportunities to look at whats done in europe with ecat, for example, the certified equipment. Maybe some some rogts that if europes already certified something, maybe theres a lessrig rules process that can be done here. Maybe theres some reciprocal arrangement. That really is critical to getting things done. Does the instability of the leadership in tsa, whether or not there is indeed an alignment between a longterm plan, longterm needs, longterm budgeting, does that affect the rollingout of technology that you see in other in use in other airports thats already evidencebased . I think probably the shifting emphasis between whether theres a recessive element or something seen as critical and important in the rollout of new technologies, yes, that probably does have an impact, given one administrator to the next may have very different views about how fast these things need to happen. We certainly had some very good experiences with the previous administrator, admiral neffinger. May i ask my last question . Sure. Thank you. This is for mr. Dow and president cox. According to media reports Airline Crews have been caught up in the president s recent travel ban. Specifically Airline Crew Members from seven countries referenced in the executive order are now prohibited from entering this country. Despite having approved u. S. Entry visas. Some crew members have been detained and carriers have had to shift staff away from u. S. Routes to prevent additional crew members from being affected. According to the International Air transportation association, the executive order was issued without prior coordination, warning, causing confusion among both airlines and travelers. It also placed additional burdens on airlines to comply with unclear requirements to bear implementation costs and to face potential penalties for noncompliance. What does a botched rollout of the travel ban executive order say about the importance of dhs consulting and coordinating with partners like carriers, airports, and travel industry stakeholders and employees in the development, implementation of the Security Policy . Ill start with you, mr. Dow, and ill ask you, mr. Cox, to respond. Then i will say thank you to my chairman. We respect and appreciate the president s concern for the safety of america. That said, we need to find a way to end the confusion and the chaos that it has created. And we urge them to get through this quickly, these 90 days. Because theres a great deal of misunderstanding that was caused and i think its very important to have everybody in the loop to work through these things. We understand and respect the need for security, but we also need to make sure that the world knows clearly what were doing. I think theres been a great deal of confusion. Clearly afg proudly represents the national Border Patrol throughout the country. And the comments and feedback that i have had from those agents is basically confusion of not knowing exactly what to do at airports and that that has sort of focused resources away particularly from our southern border where we worry strongly about drug cartels and those that are into Human Trafficking and many things that are very, very harmful that clearly most people coming into airports have met the proper visa requirements and the have the proper paperwork. We always want to prevent against anyone coming into this country to do harm to the American Public. Chairman katko, let me just say that we think when we think of our safety and security, we think of our intelligence community, our fbi, places of that nature. We wouldnt privatize them. With regard to travelers, i think that thats the same level of security were expecting and hoping for. And while we can use the best technologies in the world, i believe that those who take an oath to uphold our constitution and work as employees of our workforce are the ones that should be making sure that were safe and secure at airports. Thank you. With that i appreciate your indul indulgence. I would note matter of practice with this committee, the Ranking Member will have more flexibility with respect to time moving forward. Im unfortunately given a growing list of people doing questions today, we will not be able to grant all of you as much flexibility. Well ask you to stick as close as you can to the fiveminute limit as you can. The chair now recognizes mr. Hill begins, gentleman from louisiana. First i want to welcome you to congress, welcome you to this committee. Mr. Higgins, the floor is yours. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Question for mr. Dow. So if we can move to Airport Security overall, id like to ask you about your opinions regarding the vetting and supervision of airport employees that have regular access to aircraft and luggage and cargo. Theres a great deal of emphasis being placed upon the screening of travelers. And those of us that fly regularly wonder, what is the level of screening being given to the employees that have access to the aircraft that were entering . And to our luggage and cargo to travel as well. Overall, just give us some feedback, please, on the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of Premises Security at United States airports. Yes, sir. First of all, we believe that everyone who has access to the air Transportation System has to be properly vetted and screened. And thats back of the house thats hotel talk. Back of the house employees, pilots, everyone has to do that. You asked a question also on how important it is to the last part of your question . I dropped it, i apologize. Just your overall assessment of the vulnerabilities or weakness of airport Perimeter Security. Yes, im glad thats a very important area. As weve seen, a couple of problems that we have had around the world have been outside the screening area. I think its extremely important that we put measures in there, whether it be presence of security, security practices. But we have to be careful we dont move tsa out to the beginning of the highway, getting to the airport. Because so many airports are so difficult to get through. So we have to have systems, people have to know were watching those areas. But Perimeter Security is important, but we do not want to move the checkpoint to the road approaching the airport which would be a total disaster. Its a high priority and weve got to address it. Yes, sir. Im wondering what level of coordination tsa has with airport police. To address these matters of the safety of the aircraft and the travelers. Just as Ranking Member said of having everybody involved, i think its very important that local police, airport police, and security and our secret Service People all work in conjunction to put a net. In your state ive seen a tremendous amount of cooperation between the state police, the city police, in new orleans, which is very important. So i think its important, it can be done. You need to get everyone working together. It on their radar tha need to look not only at the Security Check point but understand and have a plan in place for Perimeter Security. Thank you for your testimony. Mr. Chairman, i yield the balance of my time. Thank you, the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey mr. Payne. Thank you, mr. Chairman and to the Ranking Member of the subcommittee. Its really an honor and a privilege to have her join this committee that has really done great work and worked in a bipartisan manner. Over the course of the time that ive been involved, looking forward to continuing that work. Your testimony you discussed implementing improvements to the check point experience. In your opinion what are the most effective and pressing adjustments that should be made to the precheck process in order to encourage greater participation among trusted populations without sacrificing the security of all the passengers . Very good, question. Thank you. Precheck process number one, weve got to get more people in the program. We have millions of people who have been vetted very deeply from a secure standpoint. We should figure out how to get those people in the program. The second thing i can apply for a mortgage and get an answer in 40 seconds. We should be able to have people apply for precheck and get a very quick answer going through all the security processes. If we can do that, that will help. As i said earlier promote more. If i owned tsa i would put a lot of dollars behind promoting and getting another 10 or 15 million in this program and that in turn would raise over a billion dollars. So we need to promote and have a good process and sign people up. It has to be a priority. It has not been a big enough priority whether it be with congress or a lot of people to get people in this program. You and i are not going to blow up an airport. We need to figure out how to get more of us in this program. Thank you, sir. Ms. Brooks, what reasons can you give for the lack of innovation here in the states as opposed to other jurisdictions where youve seen this technology implemented you know, we here in america like to pride ourselves on being on the cutting edge and in so many instances im finding that were lacking in areas. Can you give me some context on why you think we are where we are . I think the innovation actually isnt lacking, its there. Its happening in the labs. Tsas doing a lot of really good york and looking at new technologies and some of the things were starting to see rolled out now in airports for example, in atlanta is actually getting toward that innovation. I think it comes to getting it out there more quickly and again it comes down to there has to be Adequate Funding to get that technology tested, certified and rolled out into the airports. I get concerned sometimes about, you know, us trying to reinvent the wheel. If theres something, you know, thats working at heathrow, my pride isnt going to keep me from saying, well, how are you doing that . How are you implementing that . I just dont understand, you know, the lag time in finding technology that is moving us forward and advancing and, you know, getting to the airports in a timely manner if its working there. I think the collaboration that we have now with tsa is critical and i really hope that with the new administrator Going Forward that we continue that because we are starting to exchange some very good information with tsa and have some very good discussions about the technology, the research, the trials, the processes that are happening both in the u. S. And in the rest of the world. So i think theres a lot we can learn from each other and i really hope that that continues Going Forward. Because weve seen a big difference in the last couple of years. Thank you. President cox, is good to have you here again. We respect the work of the men and women at tsa and the ts os are really on the front line and we have to make sure that we some of us in Congress Make sure that the traveling public and people in this country understand the difficult work being on the frontlines every single day that our ts os are and really raise their profile and respect in this country for the work that they do. 3,300 weapons that they found and thats just firearms. On january 23rd, President Trump signed an executive order initiating a federal hiring freeze. Tsos are federal employees. Have you received any guidance from the administration on whether or not this hiring freeze will effect tsos . I have not, sir. Its our understanding that there is a hiring freeze for all of Homeland Security at this point. I may be wrong with that. Its changed by the moment but its our understanding there is a hiring freeze for tsa and other departments inside of Homeland Security. Well, i think that some type of correspondence should go out to the administration in terms of maybe looking at that freeze in this area, making sure that the traveling public is safe should not be something thats curtailed. You said youre down 5,000 tsos. Yes, sir. Theres about 5,000 less than there was just several years ago. Okay. I really think thats something that needs to be addressed and hopefully through this committee he we can do so and with that, i yield back. Thank you, mr. Payne. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. Keating. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Welcome the new Ranking Member and the staff. Its great to be here. One of the things that concerns me generally is the fact that were viewing this in the lens of terrorist attack which we should and peoples safety personally. However theres another target for these attacks and thats our economies. And its the economy of an industry, its the economy of the countrys that are effected by this and so i want to thank mr. Dow for the dialogue that the chairman and i participated in and the close relationship with this committee. I think its very important from an interesting standpoint. You do that and president cox, i fly a lot, ive got to tell you, and the attitude of the people on the frontline that are there is extraordinary. The helpfulness and ive really been impressed by that. Its a tough job but ive seen definite high level of helping people even when theyre perhaps doing some things that common sense would prevail against. I just want to delve on a couple of issues. Number one, mr. Dow or ms. Brooks, enhancing precheck, we touched on it, but how we come in terms of the airlines themselves being helpful . The idea of for instance, being able to exchange some frequent flier miles in exchange for precheck status if people want to make that tradeoff . Is that something thats been explored . How are businesses that people that work for them, are they stepping up more . And what can we do to expand that, you know, to a greater extent even . Well, two things, thank you for all your engagement in this issue. Youve become an expert on this so i appreciate it. You mentioned the you mentioned the economy. When september 11th happened, this travel industry came to its knees in 45 minutes. The u. S. Economy followed in about 30 days. The World Economy in two months so the link between travel and the economy is so clear. When you ask about tsa precheck, we would like to see all of those things happen. Some companies have stepped out and will pay for their employees, google, some of the Tech Companies have done that, but we need to get these ability to use frequent flyers miles. Enterprise, rentacar is doing that. So the people can make that tradeoff. So you can make the tradeoff. It doesnt matter how they get there. As long as we get more people on this program, allows more tso resources to look for the folks we dont know a lot about it. Weve got to make it a high priority. Im sorry to interrupt. Yes, sir. Is one other area where they maybe could make a tradeoff that would help in my experience and thats the extra charge for the baggage . I see so many, you know, slowups as a result of people just struggling to get the extra bag on so theyre not charged with it. Maybe theres something they could do with frequent flier miles and the extra charge for baggage too because that does slow things now and makes security harder as well. Just a thought. I wish someone from the airlines could speak with you also on that, so thank you. Thank you. Mr. Cox, one thing im worried about, were talking about the freeze and the freeze will have an effect because youre going to lose some good recruits that will give up. And when people see a freeze and theyre already working in a tough job like that theyre going to quit and youre going to lose some very valuable people along the lines. I think training is important as anything else. Ive seen it in so many other areas in the major cities how cross professionalization training together and airports with soft targets now more and more being a concern. Thats what we saw in istanbul and brussels and in ft. Laur der dale. That training is more valuable with local police and the people that are there for Airport Security. Do you see a need for further funding for that training yourself with your personnel . Yes, sir. Theres clearly a need for more training and i think you touched on it very nicely. There are more people that work in an airport than just the screening employees. Theres the vendors, the airline employees, the passengers. Theres lots of personnel in airports. Theyre almost a city unto themselves. Youve got to have training for all those individuals thats working in those facilities every day and to play on some things, the chair, mr. Dow and you have said, i think were talking about infrastructure. Infrastructure that would improve the economy because we get more people to travel, that we move them through faster. All these things that will help our economy. I think investing in better equipment, investing in the Human Resources, all of that will do great things for our economy, so im excited to see Congress Talk about improving the infrastructure. I do think ive seen some of the new technology myself and thats not replacing peoples jobs thats being able to shift people. To other jobs. Which are important too. So i yield back. Thank you. Thank you. There being no more witnesses, we dont have time for another round because i have a hard stop in a short period of time. Let me ask you something since we have a few minutes here. Is there anything that you wanted to say that you didnt have an opportunity to say briefly that we shouldve touched on or something thats important to note before we conclude . I think one thingss thats important too is to engage the airport. Some are favorable to spp and tsa take a look at the main mission of security and keeping us safe and bring in the technology and the folks from the airport because they can add on facilitation and equipment and canines and we have to have a better marriage between the folks that run the airport and the tsa. I couldnt agree more. When some administrative glitches was in tsa that helped contribute greatly to the wait lines in airports. One they started talking more, those lines were alleviated significantly along with the working collaboratively with the folks on the frontlines. Youre absolutely right in that regard and i thank you for noting that. Mr. Chairman, can i have unanimous skoent for one comment . Thank you. With the help of the committee here we passed in the house just this week a bill that will take the gao study about looking at the uniqueness of the design of every airport into consideration with our safety plants. We have moved forward as a committee. Anyone else before we conclude . Mr. Chairman, i have to say this will all honesty i think particularly this subcommittee has a great chairman, a great Ranking Member. I agree. I know. And i mean it from the bottom of my heart, because you work together, you want to find solutions. Its easy to zoontly identify problems. The American People are looking for solutions, employees are looking for solutions, government does lots of good things that helps this country operate and helps the private industry operate, so i am excited about this congress and this subcommittee and i will work with you and gao works with the two of you to find solutions to help our economy and keep us all safe. I thank you, mr. Cox. I appreciate the kind words and i think theyre well earned by everyone on the committee. We do try and dispense with party ploilts to do the right thing to keep our American Public safe and to keep the system humming and make it better. And thats our job and hopefully it can snow what other people in congress can do. Thank you. I just wanted to underscore mr. Dows point that engagement with the airports, engagement with other industry parties is absolutely critical and where weve seen the best results, im not just talking technology but also people, human factors, screening check points, parameters, inside the threat, all of that it works best when theres strong collaboration between industry and the regulators so that would be my probably my key message. Thank you. I want to thank all the folks here today. When the situation permits itself as a matter of course Going Forward, we will have more flexibility in how we conduct the hearings. I cant guarantee you its always going to be like that. I will signal certainly at the outset how were going to be doing it. We have a structure we follow but when we can deviate from it for the good of the order to get a more full hearing, were going do that if we can. Id like to thank the witnesses for the thoughtful testimony. And members of the committees may have additional questions for the witnesses and well ask you to respond in writing. Without objection subcommittee stands adjourned. Thank you all. Announcer tonight at 8 00 Milwaukee County sheriff and donald trump supporter at this Constitutional Coalition dinner. Also featured activist Peggy Hubbard after posting a video on facebook criticizing the black lives Matter Movement. Not acknowledging the underlying myth of the black lives Matter Movement and the false narrative of Police Involved killings is counter productive to the common good of this great republic. A feeding frenzy of race provoc tors, selfserving politicians at the highest level of state and national government, anarchist and dozens of other groups sensing
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