Order. Today, we are considering the nomination of David Pekoske to be the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration at the department of Homeland Security. Administrator pekoske, welcome back to the committee. And congratulations on another nomination for this position. And thank you for your willingness to continue to serve in a challenging and Important Role in the federal government. Over 20 years ago, the Transportation Security Administration was established in response to the september 11th terrorist attacks, to carry out the essential mission of ensuring that travelers are both safe and secure. Since its creation, travelers have encountered tsa on a daily basis. Most notably, during the security screening process at our nations airports. In fact, tsa currently screens over 2 million travelers each and every day. This is a significant undertaking, and it wouldnt be possible without our dedicated frontline tsa staff. Who work hard each and every day to ensure our Transportation Safety but especially throughout the national pandemic, where they continue to serve with great honor. Administrator pekoske, im grateful for your vocal support of the tsa workforce and i would florida working with you to ensure that our tsa officers receive that compensation and benefits that they certainly deserve. As we discussed during last weeks hearing, the threat to our Homeland Security posed by Unmanned Aircraft systems is rapidly growing. I know tsa has requested explicit authorities to conduct counterUnmanned Aircraft system activities to maintain our transportation security. And i certainly support these efforts. Im working on Bipartisan Legislation and to reauthorize and strengthen counter Unmanned Aircraft system authorities to better tackle this threat. Which i plan to introduce in the coming weeks. As we work to protect travelers from threats in the sky, we must also focus on the travel experience on the ground. As chairman of this committee, i have long pressed the department of and its component agencies to address concerns raised by communities, including michigans muslim and arab communities, about challenges they face during the travel screening process. Security of our Transportation System is absolutely critical, but we must also ensure that tsa is upholding civil rights and Civil Liberties and the privacy of our travelers. I am pleased that customs and Border Protection has recently announced a new Senior Community relations manager, to address the its very unique concerns. But i would like to see tsa take a more proactive step to be responsive to the affected communities and address these concerns as well. Administrator a cow ski, if nominated for a second term you will play a Critical Role in ensuring our screening procedures and standards, specifically the dhs traveler inquiry program, are fair and equitable, easy to navigate and as transparent as absolutely possible. I look forward to working with you to ensure tsa can proactively protect travelers and our transportation facilities. And to hearing more from you about your vision for continuing the tsa is critical mission. Ranking member portman will be joining us shortly. We have a lot going on all around capitol hill right now, he will be here shortly and well have an opportunity for Opening Statements at that time. But now, it is the practice of the committee to swear in witnesses. So, if you will please stand, sir, and raise your right hand. Do you swear that the testimony that you will give before this committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god . I do. Thank you. You may be seated. Today, our witness is David Pekoske, who is nominated to serve a second term as administrator of the Transportation Security Administration at the department of Homeland Security. Administrator pekoske oversees 60,000 employees and is responsible for Security Operations at nearly 440 airports throughout the United States. And the security of highways, railroads, mass transit systems and pipelines. While at dhs, administrator pekoske also served as the acting secretary and as the senior official performing the duties of deputy secretary. Previously, administrator pekoske served as the 26th vice commandant of the United States coast guard. And as the executive in the Government Services industry, where he led teams that provide counterterrorism, security and Intelligence Support Services to government agencies. Administrator, welcome back to this committee. Thank you, once again, for your service and your willingness to serve once again. You may proceed with your opening remarks. Thank you, mister chairman. Good morning chairman peters, Ranking Member portman and distinguished members of the committee. Ive had the honor of serving as a leader of the Transit Security administrator for nearly five years now. And it is my great privilege to be before you today, to be considered for a second five year term as administrator. I think President Biden for renominating me for this Important National security position, and also thank secretary mayorkas and the entire dhs team for their support during this process. I deeply appreciate the support my family provides me in this position in throughout my career. When President Biden announced my renomination, one equate and said to me, thats a tough job, why would you want to do it again for another five years . The answer to this is simple. I want to continue to support the amazing tsa workforce. The tsa workforce is exceptional and, during my time at tsa, they have performed at a highlevel image challenging in historic circumstances. Whether it is transportation Security Officers, air marshals, inspectors or all of the tsa employees who support them behind the scenes, im immensely proud to be part of an organization laser focused on protecting our nation and its Transportation Systems. They are a dedicated, committed workforce. Our transportation Security Officers interact with millions of people every day and perform a critical National Security function for our nation. Their watch never stops, they came to work without pay during a 35day partial Government Shutdown in 2019. They staff the checkpoints when much of the rest of the country remained home amid the onset of the covid19 pandemic. And transportation Security Officers have been an important part of the recovery of air travel that we are seeing this year, especially the summer. Similarly, our federal air marshals protect the nation during shutdowns, pandemics and other highlevel incidents. They do so with a level of professionalism and integrity that serves as a model for the entire tsa family. There were prices and inspiration to me and totally deserving of our full support. That starts with funded the president s fiscal year 2023 budget request, which provides pay equity for tsa employees and, finally, puts them on an equal pay footing with the rest of their counterparts in the federal government. If confirmed, i will continue to do all that i can to advocate for and hopefully implement pay equity. I will continue to work hard to ensure the tsa workforce is well prepared to meet the challenges of the next five years and beyond. Tsa did not do its job alone, our Mission Success is directly dependent on the cooperation between the agency and its myriad of partners. In aviation, we continue our Strong Partnerships with critical stakeholders. The airlines, airports, state and local governments, other federal agencies, foreign governments and, of course, pilots and flight attendants. Equally important other growing partnerships that we have with the surface transportation sector, where tsa works closely with the oil and natural gas pipeline, passenger and transit rail, freight rail, trucking and bus industries. Finally, amid the challenges of growing cyber threats, tsa relies heavily on forging partnerships with the owners and operators of our critical transportation infrastructure, for which tsa serves as a security regulator. I value our Strong Partnership with organized labor, employee Resource Groups and Advisory Panel to provide advocacy for our workforce. They help us remain strong by promoting healthy and thriving working environments for our tsa family. I want to take a second and recognize these partnerships and think all of those entities for their contributions towards securing our nations Transportation Systems. If confirmed, i will do everything i can to make sure that he has a maintains and strengthens these important partnerships, to ensure that our pursuit of the highest level of transportation security works in tandem with the facilitation of trade and commerce in the Transportation System. Finally, i want to thank this committee for your critical work to provide the authority to the department and now explicitly to tsa to counter unmanned aerial systems. I also appreciate the committees work on Critical Infrastructure security, to include efforts addressing the cybersecurity of the transportation sector. If reconfirmed, i hope to continue this important cooperation between haste gagged and tsa. 20, years tsa has grown significantly and learned about how to be the best of protecting our nations Transportation Systems. We still have more to do, but i remain committed to tsas future. Chairman peters, Ranking Member portman and distinguished members of this committee, i look for to answer your questions. Thank, you sir. Thank you, administrator. Ranking member portman, you are recognized for your opening comments. Thank you, mister pekoske, for your willingness to serve again. And mister chairman, thank you for having this hearing. This is a really really critical position, i dont need to tell you that. You know well. Its also one that this committee cares a lot about, given our oversight responsibilities. Tsa has played a vital role since 9 11 of course, in combatting terrorism and ensuring that our aviation and Transportation Systems are protected. As i walk through the tsa line, which i do twice a week, i say thank you for protecting us. Because thats what you do. We appreciate that and we have fought to try to help ensure that your tsa personnel are treated appropriately in the federal government, Law Enforcement context. We want to do more in that regard. So, we appreciate your work and the diligence that the tsa work for us that. If you look at the record, although geo and others have hope to make your system work better by putting out flaws, we have been blessed with not having the kinds of incidents that everyone feared we would have repeatedly after 9 11. I will say that 9 11 type threats, having been really be the greatest challenge in the reason tsa was bulked up and appropriately those threats have evolved over time. Specifically, i want to talk to you about how tsa needs to realign to meet those of all being threats. Their job is not just to protect our airports and air travelers, but also the nation surface Transportation Systems. And so, Colonial Pipeline, you may know, its a big issue of concern with this committee. We had hearings on, it weve drafted legislation, actually enacted some legislation to help deal with that kind of threat. Expose vulnerabilities and tsas oversight of our nations surface Transportation System, specifically the pipelines but, more broadly, that Ransomware Attack at Colonial Pipeline was the largest attack on Oil Infrastructure in the history of the country. It also prompted you to issue the first ever Cyber Security related security directives for owners and operators of pipelines that require mandatory reporting and mitigation measures. When issuing these directives, tsa used emergency authorities, as you know, to bypass regulatory notice. I remain concerned that the use of this Emergency Authority departs from tsas previously collaborative approach with Industry Experts on cybersecurity standards. This committee, i think, is on a bipartisan basis has some concerns about this. And the concern we have is the repeated refusal to provide information this committee about those draft directives in congress. This includes a chairs and Ranking Members of the committee and other congressional committees. Despite having shared copies of the giraffes of these directives to the pipeline industry. Youve provided them to the pipeline industry into the oversight committees. Declination gotten is that he wont provide drafts because their predecisional and therefore deliberative, i guess that confuses me, since youve already shared them with external companies and officials. Today will be an opportunity for you to explain how these documents can be both to terminally deliberative and externally share with the private sector. Thats a contradiction. You know, i think sometimes when things come to congress, they tend to become too public. I can say is, i think chairman in peters and i in particular have a history of treating these kinds of documents in the appropriate way. We need to know whats your directives are. Saying to the private sector to make sure that we protect our responsibilities, which are incredibly important right now, in order of whats happening with these pipelines and other potential threats. Again, thank you for your years of service, the tsa will continue to be a important piece of Security Framework in the United States as we get back to air travel. I was just in the airport on monday and it was packed. I was told that we are 85 of where we were precovid this summer. Frankly, we are back to where we were in the summer of 2019. Thats good to hear, i know Business Travel is still off. Even with inflation and all the concerns about our economy. Your travelers are back and we have to be sure the tsa provides its Important Service to protecting our nation and we appreciate what you do every day. Again, thank you mr. Chairman for meeting with us at this hearing and i look forward further talking with the straps directive. Thank, you Ranking Member portman. There are three questions that this Committee Asks of everyone who comes before us. Ill ask you, mister klukowski, if you can respond with the yes or no to either these questions. First, is there anything you are aware of in your background that might prevent a conflict of interest with the duties of office in which you happen to know. No, sir. Do you know anything, personal or otherwise, that would anyway prevent you from fully and honorably discharged responsibilities of the office to which you have been nominated. No sir. Do you agree, with a reservation, to comply with any requests for summons to rip here and testify before any duly constituted committee of congress if elected. Thank you. Administrators pekoske, me and you have spoken at length about concerns raised from the muslim in american communities. About many of the tsa implemented lists in policies and programs that can lead to additional strings at the airport. We can both agree that security for the Airline Travel is of utmost importance, thats something i focused on 100 , as i know you are. There are also multiple documented cases of individuals remaining on these lists for over a decade, even though there is no evidence whatsoever that they pose any sort of threat. My question for you sir is, please tell me what steps youre taking to address concerns of these policies disproportionately impacted communities, certain communities, and have done so for 20 years. Mister chairman, thank you very much, for raising the issue in for a conversation last week. This is something i do want to address completely and fully, i think its very important for an agency that has secure responsibilities that directly impacts to Million People every day in the United States to have the trust of the traveling population to know that the procedures we have in the process as we use our fair, equitable, consider civil rights liberties an