Today we will consider the nomination of admiral david pacoski to become the next administrator of the National Transportation administration. Having spent 32 years in the coast guard, the admiral is an exceptionally wellqualified nominee to become the next tsa administrator. His extensive leadership experience ranges from serving as commander of the coast guard pacific area and Coast Guard Defense sources west where he was in charge of all coast guard operations in the western hemisphere to becoming the 26th vice commandant of the u. S. Coast guard in 2009 where he served as second in command, chief operating officer and component Acquisition Executive of the coast guard. The admirals nomination to become tsa administrator comes at an important time. Security threats remain a persistent challenge and the tsa is not only tax canned with protecting them from attack but ensuring the movement of people and commerce in an efficient manner. Since creation of this committee in response to the 9 11 attacks, ts harks has been subject to extensive scrutiny. Ease with which covert testers from the department of Homeland SecurityInspector General and Government Accountability office have been able to smuggle contra band through check points as well as existing problems. In spite of these challenges, the previous administrator made significant positive changes to the agency some of which include shortening wait times during last summers travel season, improving technology at check points and creation of Training Academy for workers. I hope the admiral can build on these improvements, provide continuity for tsas workforce and apply his extensive leadership skills to solving the challenges that remain should he be confirmed. The Commerce Committee has been active on Aviation Security. Last congress the committee passed the most comprehensive reforms to tsa in a decade and the faa extension safety and security act of 2016 which addressed the challenges posed by unauthorized access to secure areas of airports, expanded access to tsa precheck and attempted to optimize check point operations. Erm yer this year however the Commerce Committee held an oversight hearing in which dhs attorney general testified challenges still remain with regard to many of the issues. Inspector general ross indicated these challenges include vulnerabilities relating to vetting of employees, eninsuring only cleared employees have access to secured areas and the troubling of issue of lost or stolen badges. I hope the admiral will make progress in addressing these issues. Always the committee continues to work with tsa to improve Aviation Security it is important to incorporate the perspective of stakeholders. Commerce Committee Held a hearing to highlight stakeholder perspective. One of the major themes that emerged was a need for a riskbased approach to security as well as better collaboration between tsa and industry to promote innovation. Currently the agency is drawing considerable attention for exploring the possible expansion of the ban on personal Electronic Devices such as Laptop Computers on flights to the United States from certain last point departure airports. While secretary of Homeland Security recently signalled such a move may be unnecessary, this is a good example of where stakeholder collaboration will be critical to the accept answer and implementation of security protocols. My hope is that the admiral will work to promote relationships with private and create in the Service Transportation sector a long standing challenge for tsa has been akomting a cross cutting risk based across ald modes. On the surface and Maritime Transportation security act which i introduced with Ranking Member nelson. Our bill would direct tsa to conduct analysis across all modes of transportation for asset deployment, require tsa employ budget on this base and establish an Advisory Committee similar to the aviation stakeholder Advisory Committee. Bill was reported favorably with bipartisan support and we continue to work on it. I was able to meet with the admiral last week in advance of this hearing and believe if confirmed he will provide important strategic and cultural continuity to tsa in much of the same manager as his distinguished predecessor. I strongly support his nomination and i hope we can move quickly to confirm him. With that i will turn to Ranking Member sen toll nelson for any remarks he would like to make. Thanks, mr. Chairman. I join and by reference agree with your comments and, therefore, i will insert my comments in the record. I just want to thank the admiral for his 33 years with the coast guard which is a very professional team, and the members of this committee are very proud of the coast guard. And since he had the whole west coast it includes down to American Samoa to the berring sea and the arctic area where the coast guard basically takes care of all of that area. One thing we might look at in this ever changing scene of technology and the threats to the Transportation Safety is that wherever people bunch up, thats a soft target. We found, unfortunately, with russ else russells in london, thats outside the secured areas. Someplace i was the other day, i think it was at Grand Central station as people were getting ready to form the line to go through the gates to get on the train when the train arrived, and they dont let you go in until the train has arrived so that you dont clutter up the platform there by the tracks. I was thinking at the time i mean this is a bunch of americans all massed up together, and this is stuff that youve got to worry about. And because it is all part of our Transportation Safety. Surface transportation, the security of that surface transportation has been underfunded and unfocused, and the bill that were looking at aims to fix that by enhancing riskbased security, requiring training to address the threats on our highways, closing gaps in Port Security and providing funding to improve security at our rail stations and our seaports. Now, the bill does something very, very important, and that is it adds 200 canine teams, and that is not only a powerful technological thing because nobody has been able to reproduce the sensitive sniffing of a dog, but it also provides a very psychological deterrence as well. And on the faa extension, which passed a year ago, it includes bipartisan provisions to better guard against terrorism threats and improve security screening. I will just say in conclusion that i think the people that had advised the president were not giving the best advice when they recommended cutting the dog teams in the president s proposed budget. Once you are in the position, admiral, you need to make what you know to be true, wellknown at oemb and the white house. And what we are trying to do in the bill is increase the number of canine teams, called viepper teams. I thank you, mr. Chairman. Lets hear from the witness. Thank you, senator nelson. We are delighted to welcome admiral david pekoske, here as nominee to be administrator of nation transportation security. Thank you. It is a privilege to appear before you today as the president s nominee to lead the transportation security administration. I am honored to have been nominated by President Trump for this very Important National security position, and if confirmed i look forward to the opportunity to work with secretary kelly, deputy secretary duke and the entire team with the department of Homeland Security. My first comments today are in strong support of the men and women of the transportation security administration. Each and every one contributes to the security of our nations Transportation System and works tirelessly to earn the trust and respect of the American People. Their work is critical to the security of our aviation and surface Transportation Systems, and they have in my opinion done an outstanding job in protecting us from an everpresent and very dynamic threat. It would be my privilege to join them as their administrator and bring my leadership skills and experience directly to the effort of securing our homeland. Tsa could not accomplish its mission were it not for the strong partnerships it has with other federal partners, state and local Public Safety and Law Enforcement agencies, the airline industry, the Government Services industry, airport owners and operators and international partners. Throughout my professional career i have seen firsthand the importance and enormous value of strong partnerships and professional relationships. This is the extended tsa team and it would be my privilege to join them as well in our collective goal of ensuring transportation security in the United States. I had the high honor of serving our country in the United States coast guard for most of my adult life. I am forever grateful to my coast guard colleagues for their investment in my leadership and professional development. I have extensive experience in counterterrorism and Security Operations and in leading a large operating federal agency that used riskbased management. I was at the coast guard com man daunlts side on 9 11 as executive assistant when the attacks on our homeland occurred. Like all of you, i will never fehr get that day and the days that followed. I was privileged to remain as his assistant when the department of Homeland Security and tsa were established. I served at first two National Political conventions since 9 11, the Democratic National convention in boston and republican National Convention in new york city. Both were National Special security events and our Security Operations across all federal, state and local agencies were very successful. Strong partnerships among Law Enforcement and Public Safety agencies are absolutely critical and are a high priority for me. I served as assistant commandant, establishing service wide policy for Security Operations and regularly participated in discussions with National SecurityCouncil Staff and operations deputies of the other military services. As commander of the pacific area i was responsible for all coast guard operations on the west coast of the United States, alaska and hawaii. Given the vast expanse of the pacific and our National Strategy of ib creasing emphasis on operations in the Pacific Theater i worked closely with coast guards of russia, china, south korea, japan and korea. I was a strong supporter of international engagement. Both can contribute to the security of the United States. As vice commandant of the coast guard i served as vice service chief and Acquisition Executive, responsible to train, equip and organize a Coast Guard Force of over 50,000 people. In addition, i was the executive champion for the coast guard innovation program, one of the most wellestablished innovation programs in government. Should i be confirmed as tsa administrator, noefs will be one of my key focus areas. I think it is critical to improve if effectiveness and efficiency of tsa operations. Following my Coast Guard Services i joined a mid market company. My service in the private sector was valuable. My experience in the coast guard and in the private sector is directly relevant the position of tsa administrator. Today we face a multitude of threats that are persistent and everevolving. We know certain terrorist organizations remain focused on commercial aviation and disrupting the freedom also we enjoy as an open society. Staying ahead of these threats and ensuring appropriate measures are in place will continue to be tsas most significant challenge. If confirmed it would be my honor to serve in what i consider to be one of the most challenging jobs in government, my over arching goal would be to lead tsa in an ever stronging position as effective and efficient provider of security for Transportation Systems, especially aviation with a strong and growing level of growing Public Confidence in the agencys mission performance. I will articulate a clear vision for tsa to ensure our efforts contribute to its achievement. My full intention is to serve for as long as the president and secretary wish me to remain in this position if confirmed. I think leadership continuity is very important. If confirmed i would be the 13th administrator in 16 years when you include those in an acting capacity. I am reminded of a quote of Alexander Hamilton when he as our first secretary of the treasury issued instructions to the Commanding Officers of the revenue cutters, which were pred setters to the coast guard. He issued these instructions in 1791. He in part they will always keep in mind their countrymen are free men and as such are impatient of everything that bears the least mark of a domineering spirit. They will therefore refrain with the most guarded circ uhm speck shon from whatever has a sim blanls of haughtiness or rudeness or insult. I think that sage advice applies to all of those involved in Law Enforcement or Security Operations today. It is something that will guide me if im so fortunate as to have the opportunity to lead the tsa. The tsa is the face of the federal government to million also of air travelers every day. They rightfully expect efficient screening with minimum of delay by government officials that treat them with respect. I will work diligently with the tsa workforce to continue tsa continues to meet the standards. We must balance security with liberty guaranteed in our constitution. I thank chairman thune, distinguished members of this committee i thank you for your courtesies during this process and the opportunity to appear before you today. I look forward to answering your questions. Thank you, sir. Thank you, admiral. We appreciate very much your willingness to serve in what is a critically important position. We look forward to working with you to meet the challenges that we have ahead of us. Let me start by asking a question about the Precheck Program at tsa which in which i and i assume a number of the panels participate, but it is a valuable riskbased security measure that provides expedited check point screening at airports for low risk trusted travelers. Last year we included a provision in the faa extension to strengthen tsas faltering efforts to expand the Precheck Application Program and enroll more vetted travelers. Since enactment tsa has not implemented key elements required under the law such as soliciting multiple private sector enrollment options or identifying a specific time frame and longterm strategy for approving private Sector Marketing and precheck. The question, admiral, is do you believe it is important to expand precheck enrollment opportunities for the traveling public so that more trusted travelers are flying our skies and the tsa can therefore focus on screening highrisk travelers . Mr. Chairman, yes, i dochlt i am also a precheck participant. I think it is a terrific program. About five million of our travelers are enrolled in precheck, and when you add in some of the other programs you get up to about eight million people, but it only accounts for maybe 18 or 20 of the traveling public which is way too low in my opinion. I would if confirmed, i would want to take a close look at the recommendations the committee made, was passed in law, and do everything we can to maeken rollment easier for people, encourage enrollment and ensure it is available for travelers as they go through the queue. Thats why i want to make sure we fulfill the directives from congress in a timely manner and update our committee on how tsa will expand precheck under your leadership. Yes, sir, i commit to doing that. Tsas primary focus has been Aviation Security, however threats have continued to evolve and soft targets in open environments such as train stations have become an area of increasing concern. If confirmed how would you seek to address these security challenges without impeding the flow of passengers and commerce . Sir, we are reminded nearly every day now of the risk in the surface transportation mode and also the risk in aviation moeld. From my perspective if confirmed i would bring that riskbase approach to weighing how resources are allocated amongst different modes of transportation. When i look at the risk in any particular transportation mode i look at three things. I look at the threat, the vulnerability and the consequence should an incident occur. I can see the vulnerability and consequence on the surface transportation side. I dont have the Intelligence Briefings that would help me evaluate the threat, but i intend to do it quickly if confirmed and take a close look at that. That is a key priority of mine. Im a user of mass transit, and, you know, think we need to reassure ourselves of a very dynamic, a very moving threat picture and make sure we are applying resources in the right locations. Historically tsa has experienced difficulties in retaining fulltime security officers. Stafrg levels fell by more than 4,600 from 2013 to 2016 while passenger volumes in the same time period rose by 15 . If confirmed what would you do to increase retention rates at tsa . If confirmed, looking at resengs rates and overall Job Satisfaction among tsa workforce is one of my top priorities. The tsa workforce, particularly at the front lines, are the front line of our organization. They interact with the American People day in and day out in the number of million also of interactions. I think that continuing the efforts in that regard would be very appropriate, providing training, providing some sense of what a career path in tsa would look like for our front line officials, or a career path in other elements of the department of Homeland Security as well would be very important. At the bottom line though, from my perspective having worked with a widely disbursed workforce in the coast guard of similar size, it is very important for top leadership to be present with that workforce, to understand what challenges they have in accomplishing their job, and to support them in good procedures, seek their input, provide appropriate technology out there, but prereally undersd the challenges that front line workforce is facing. Finally, i would say an attrition rate that approaches 12 for the fulltime workforce costs a lot of money and reduces the effectiveness of the agency because you lose an experience base going forward. So increased Job Satisfaction and retention rates are top focuses of mine. Result in a ban in certain on carryon Electronic Devices traveling from select airports to the United States. As i noted in my opening remarks this ban and debate on whether to expand it demonstrate the need to work with aviation partners and to deploy the latest technology to combat the latest threats. Unfortunately, it takes tsa many years to test, evaluate, procure and deploy technologies. How will you deploy the latest technology quickly and effectively and will you work with congress to bring ideas to the table from your private sector experience regarding ways tsa could improve its efforts . Yes, sir, i would absolutely work with congress and bring my private sector experience to the table. I had a different perspective in the private sector and have a number of ways i think that Government Agencies can be much more responsive and get better value for their investment in private sector work. The tsa as i understand it has stood up an Innovation Task force that has looked at various technologies to put in place at the screening locations. This is showing real promise from what i understand. My experience in the coast guard innovation is significant, and i would bring that experience to tsa in in accelerating the work of the Innovation Task force, throwing my full support behind it if confirmed, but also looking for input from the tsa workforce and stakeholders of tsa as to how we can improve our processes. We in the coast guard receive an awful lot of good recommendations and basically use a crowd sourcing methodology to beta test them, if you will. And i would look to bring some similar system like that in place in tsa if confirmed, to get input from the workforce and from stakeholders in how we can Better Process people through screening points. Thank you, admiral. Senator nelson. Mr. Chairman, i think senator booker has an appointment that he needs to make. So let me defer to him for the question. Senator booker. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Thank you to my Ranking Member. I have been really concerned about within the 9 11 report they talked very specifically about the urgency around Rail Security in our country. But i havent seen a coordinated plan coming out of tsa about allocating assets to rail safety and Rail Security. As you know, in september of 2016, you know, there were a series of attacks carried out in new york and new jersey, including an incident involving pipe bombs found near amtrak, a new Jersey Transit train station in elizabeth, new jersey. There were incredible Law Enforcement leaders at that time who worked diligently. They located the pipe bombs, they were able to remove them billy ray th harm passengers. It was a tribute to the Law Enforcement in the new jersey community, but the incidents underscored how vulnerable many of our surface Transportation Systems are though these threats. I dont believe we are even complying with some of the directives that came out of the 9 11 report and it seems often we are fighting the last terrorist attack or the last incident as opposed to looking about forward. We see what is happening in europe where a number of attacks are focused on rail transportation, and the incident in brussels obviously continues to highlight the need to address surface transportation security. So can you describe to me some of the ways that tsa under your leadership can address these security threats of surface transportation, specifically with my concerns around the safety of rail transportation in our country . Yes, sir. If confirmed i would put a lot of effort in tsa into looking at the intelligence around the rail threat in particular. Tsa has a an exceptional intelligence and analysis operation. It is very well coordinated with the Intelligence Community overall, and from my perspective the Intelligence Community has done a very good job of keeping americans safe. Really, as youve said, looking at the threat that is next, not the threat we just dealt with. So i would place a lot of emphasis if confirmed on looking at the threat for rail, and then in addition to that great communication with the rail operators and the local Law Enforcement around those key rail transportation nodes so you can understand from their perspective what they see. They have their own sources of information, certainly valuable experience we could all benefit from. This is very much a collaborative effort, but i would place a lot of emphasis on really focusing intelligence to make sure that weve taken a good, hard look at this and understand the risk. Okay. And then just specifically, because the 9 11 report it was actually way back in 2007, i wasnt here then, but Congress Passed legislation requiring the tsa and other agencies to implement the recommendations of the 9 11 commission. What has been frustrating is some of them have language wished since 2007, line the training for front line transit and freight employees. This was an area of significant frustration to me when i came to the United States senate to see specific requirements from congress not being fulfilled. So can you commit to implementing the 9 11 requirements in order to ensure that we have more front line employees protecting our surface Transportation System, even just the allocation of tsa resources is so dramatically weighted towards air travel, which is critical and important, but even the 9 11 commission indicated the concerns with surface transportation. It seems to me but, again, there were requirements for reporting of a plan but it seems to me we should have a a better investment in resources. So i guess what im looking for is just a commitment on implementing the specific 9 11 requirements and the congressional legislation passed in 2007. Yes, sir, you have my commitment to do that, and i would be happy to report back to you if confirmed on the status shortly after i get into office. So im grateful. Just really quickly, Port Security is obviously something thats very important to the state of new jersey and is part of tsas mission. Would you also commit to assuring me major sea ports like the port of new york and new jersey would have the resources to ensure secure movement of freight . Yes, sir, tsa works very closely with the coast guard, with which im very familiar. When i was First District commander i had oversight of Port Operations in the port of new york and new jersey. I will commit to taking a close and hard look at that to make sure that the tsa and coast guard coordination is what we would expect it to be. Right. And no need to respond, but im just hoping that aspects like the viper team bomb sniffing canine, something we had bipartisan support are really critical. I want to thank you for your willingness to continue to serve your country. It is an extraordinary commitment Many Americans make. They dont get the gratitude they deserve but i want you to know im grateful that youre willing to put yourself up to questions like this. Thank you. I appreciate. Thank you, senator booker. Senator inhoff. Thank you. Admiral, i appreciate the time you spent with me and other members of this Committee Prior to this hearing. You know, everyone knows how significant this is. I shared with you some personal experiences i have had with the coast guard, with what they have done, their expertise in the area that you are going to be involved in. Even commenting that when i was had an occasion to fly a little airplane around the world i found myself going from coast guard station to coast guard station because i knew what their missions were. It is so much more than just search and rescue. I think it would be worth while to run over a few things that the coast guard has been doing, because before it was popular they were involved in this field. So what the coast guard has been doing in terms of its mission and how you you personally were involved in in that, and then following that up on specifically what you were doing on 9 11 and so forth. Lets start with the coast guard in general. As a Training Ground for this job. Thanks for the question. I think the coast guard is almost a perfect Training Ground for this job. To look at the similarities between what the coast guard does and what tsa does, it is striking how similar the organizations are. Both rely on a riskbased approach to providing the right resources at the right place at the right time. Both are Law Enforcement agencies. Both are regulatory agencies. Both are of scale, coast guard 50,000 plus individuals all throughout the country, as you mentioned, at smaller stations. Tsos and the federal Security Director staffs all throughout the nation at 440 some odd locations. Certainly both in the department of transportation the department of Homeland Security, rather, originated in the department of transportation, i think too that both organizations rely heavily on intelligence information to kind of get ahead, as senator booker was mentioning, to get ahead of the next threat so were there and ready to meet it should it occur. So i think really from those aspects, similar as with the organization, it is a really good fit. Additionally, i would say that to go to the chairmans question earlier, when you look at the tsa workforce, how can you really invest more heavily in that workforce . These folks are on the front line of our operations. In my view, my experience traveling over all of the years since tsa has been established is ive never had a bad experience at a Security Check point. I really respect very much the work that our individuals, should i be confirmed in tsa, perform day in and day out. What i think is needed though is more investment in them as individuals, in their training, and also in leadership overall within the organization. Tsa is 16 years old. The coast guard is 226 years old. What i bring from the coast guard is a perspective of what a culture looks like that can be Rapid Response to a changing dynamic threat, that can empower people at the lowest levels of the organization that are facing the American Public and really are the ones that that make the decisions that mean successor failure for your missionover all. So im looking forward to joining the tsa workforce if confirmed as much as i enjoyed working with the coast guard workforce, which i enjoyed tremendously. With respect to the the public sir. Okay. With respect to the public Area Security, tsa as i understand it has an initiative to look at public Area Security overall, has a framework in place to be able to do that, and is putting the resources and time to ensure better ko better coordination and to ensure some standardization across the country at a basic level of performance. I think theres been good work done in that regard as well. Yeah, i was going to ask you to elaborate a little bit on 9 11, what you were doing at that time. Yes, sir. I was admiral malloys executive assistant on 9 11. As we all remember, it was a Beautiful Day here in washington d. C. We had several meetings in the morning. Literally in the middle of one of the meetings we got first reports that flash across the tv monitor, and then from there on it was a fullup response, trying to assess the impact of what was going on. A couple of hours after first attacks, of course we heard and saw the impact on the pentagon building. I can remember driving home that night i lived in Northern Virginia at the time, driving by the pentagon, and to see the pentagon with smoke coming out of the structure was incredibly impactful for me because you really got the see and feel exactly what had happened. I learned a lot by watching admiral l admiral loy and secretary manetta respond to the incident. I think they demonstrated what i would be hoping to demonstrate, is in a crisis when you are called on to respond and you have to be at the top of your profession when doing it, both of those gentlemen were. The reason i bring is up is because i have had personal experience in the southern tip of texas. Down there theres one of your stations in south padre island, texas. Every time weve had some type of an incident come up or a threat of terrorist attack, or the very thing you will be doing in your job, they were the first ones to respond. I have been down there and actually seen them. My time has expired, but just one word of caution. There will be a lot of people out there that would like to use an incident that may be isolated where some little old lady is being frisked you know what is going to happen, and so youre going to get ready for media thats not your best friend. They may be now but they wont be later on as this progress else. Look forward to working with you. Thank you. Thank you, senator. Senator mastell. Thank you. Admiral, good to see you again. Thank you for taking the time. Thank you. Let me just say this. Like you, i was here during 9 11. I was actually working in the u. S. Attorneys office, and that has shaped my interactions as a prosecutor not only here locally but for the state of nevada and how we should be responding and our concerns with terrorist activity, not just in our states but around the world. So i appreciate your comments. I wanted to jump back to the budget because we talked a little bit about that. You are going to be having to work in an environment where theres budget cuts that are happening, and i will tell you i am concerned about the impact that those budget cuts are going to have on your the mission of the tsa if you are confirmed. So i want to talk a little bit about that. As a matter of policy, can you talk a little bit about your perspective on canine units and how valuable those are to the mission of the tsa . I know we are including some funding some increase the kay night units. Can you talk a little bit about that . Yes, senator, i can. I am a strong supporter of canine teams. Think theyre incredibly effective at detecting what theyre trained to detect. Also, equally important in some ways is theyre very effective in deterring activity wherever the canines are present. It is very easy to see, and i think it deters behavior. It might signal a behavior detection officer to notice some response on the part of an individual in a public area where a canine is operating. In the coast guard we had canine teams, a very small number, but we had canine teams. We found them to be very effective for the work that we did. I will place high emphasis on canine capability. I think it is a very good investment for tsa. It is a very good investment for the country. The challenge with canine teams is it takes a long time trien them. It takes about a year to train the handler and the dog, but once theyre trained theyre a team for many years. I am a huge fan and will place continued emphasis on this. I appreciate you saying that, because i do have concerns with respect to the budget cuts. We are cutting tsa agents for the exit lane staffing. Can you address that . How will you if those cuts go through, is that going to impact your mission and how will you fill that gap . Senator, thank you. I was not involved, as you know, in those decisions. I saw the budget as the budget was release willd by the administration back in may. If confirmed, i will get together with the tsa budget operation and really under the rationale behind some of those budget actions. I also commit to you and this committee that as you do your work in the appropriations process and the review process as the senate and house do, we will be very responsive to information you may need to make judgments with respect to the budget in fy 18. Thank you. I hope you would commit to be an advocate for your staff for the resources that you need against any illadvised spending cuts, particularly those that are going to be unfortunately used to build potentially a border wall or reinforce and take away from the mission of the tsa. I hope you can commit to add least being an advocate for that. Yes, senator, thats the key aspect of my job, is to advocate for the agency to make sure we have the capability to perform the mission we are tasked with performing, knowing full well there will be tradeoffs, affordable issues always, but my job is to advocate for what i think is best for tsa. Thank you. Admiral, can you talk fis soskalsos philosophically how you see the relationships at the federal and local levels and how you envision it moving forward. How do you plan to develop the relationship and what dow think it should look like . Thank you for the question. I plan to invest an awful lot of time in developing relationships within tsa, with the tsa workforce, understanding what they deal with day in and day out, and how tsa can best support them in accomplishing the mission they need to perform. If confirmed, i will also spend a great deal of time with all of the stakeholders for transportation security at large, aviation and surface. So i want to know the partners. I know what issues they have and can consider that will. I think it is important to have really Good Relationships in advance. If theres an incident or something happens or people tend to get at odds, having a relationship in advance is critically important. So i would invest significant time in the early part of my tenure at tsa if confirmed in getting to know all of the stakeholders across the Transportation Systems and having a Good Relationship with them. Thank you and then finally, we had this discussion as well. Your tsa officers, they have discretion. Right. And i would hope that you would be committed to adopting written policies and procedures and help guiding that discretion for the tsa officers and recognizing the importance of guiding that discretion. Yes, senator. I think it is really important to have guidance out there, and i also think it is equally important that our officers on the front lines have a degree of discretion. When i was in their position as a much younger officer in the coast guard, i appreciated the discretion the organization gave me, but i had guidelines i needed to follow oech. Because when you have a response to something, you need to make instant decisions, and i want the workforce to know if confirmed that they have the discretion wb tho discretion within those guidelines to make the decisions they need to make. Thank you, admiral. Thank you, senator. Thank you, admiral pekoske for being here today. When Congress Pass last congress, faa extension bill that included legislation i authored known as the screen fast act. The bill established a pilot category at category x airports for the purpose of implementing innovative screening check points to improve. Last month tsa announced it was moving forward with these with a new check point at Denver International airport with Innovative Screening Technology using biometric tech nonthat had potential to automate travel document pro sells. Obviously these are exciting possibilities and could mean a significant make a significant difference in terms of the throughput of our airports. I was hoping to get your commitment for your work to continue implement the pilot programs outlined at Denver International airport and other airports across the country. Yes, sir. You have that commitment. In fact im excited about the pilot programs. I would want to look at what does the check point of the future look like, and i think it would imbed some of the ideas. It would be to me a north star if you will for the future of the organization. You could alie your personal strategies, your acquisition strategies, your Innovation Strategies to get to that goal. I agree with you 100 , sir, the more we can imbed technology and just try some things out. Think we should be willing to try some things out. If they dont work as envision, then we look at something else, but trying them out is important. There are other airports around the country that have great facilities that would allow those testing projects, pilot programs to occur, they have a lot of space and opportunity to see how they can work and how they can be combined with tsa and airport initiatives. Speaking of Denver International airport and the work theyre doing, obviously if you travel there you will see in the great hall where they do the screening youve got upper level here where you can kind of sit, stand, take pictures looking down on everybody going through the check points, you can take a look at who is doing what when it comes to security screening. You can take pictures of the monitors as the xray machines do their work. Dia recognizes, particularly in light of other issues around the globe, the need to make changes at the airport. They are working on advanced security and technologies, talking about restructuring the main terminal building to move security locations. I would like your commitment to work with dia and other airports to ensure tsa check points are adequately funded, transition process at dia is smooth and with minimal disruption . Yes, sir. You have that commitment. I applaud their initiative. In the tsa request it eliminates funding for Law Enforcement office program, which reimburses airports for the Law Enforcement efforts to complement tsa. Colorado springs airport has expressed that the cuts could hurt their ability to have Law Enforcement partnerships with the federal government to keep these places safe and secure. If confirmed, would you examine the leo office. I will examine the proposal, if confirmed, to eliminate funding. Secretary kelly testified on this recently and i recommend his comments when the grants were first established they were never intended to be grants forever. It was intended to provide a boost when the program was first starting up. So i understand the rationale for whats in fwijthe budget, b will take a close look at it. Thank you, admiral pekoske. Thank you, senator gardner. Senator nelson. Just a couple of questions so we can get on with our members to ask. Tell me, i mention in my opening remarks that the administrations proposed budget cuts the viper teams. Since you are appointed by the administration, how are you going to get around this other than us increasing the viper teams in the legislation . Sir, the Budget Proposal as i understand it reduces the viper teams from 31 to 8. Theres still some viper teams present. I have worked with viper teams in the past. I understand the value that they provide not just to Aviation Transportation security but also to surface transportation security. I will work very hard to understand if those cuts are implemented how tsa would best implement those and coordinate very closely with our stakeholders. But at the end of the day i support the president s budget, but i want to make sure that as the appropriations process proceeds that members of congress have the information they need to make their own assessment of what is in the budget. Well, then basically i hate to put it this way but were going to have to save you from yourself. You know, last year we doubled the number of viper teams on the appropriate legislation, and everybody agreed with that. That was not a controversial issue. Now the president is taking the current set before theyve ever been doubled and is cutting that. Thats just not going to stand. So i guess it is going to have to be us rescuing you to not only double it always to what was provided last year, but even increase it further. Because theres nothing like a dog as a deterrent, particularly in these areas where people are queueing up outside of security. Yes, sir. I agree with the risk of large congregations of people in any public space and what that represents. I would say my experience with the viper teams is very positive. I do think they have a very good effect on security. I just feel i cringe for you, that you have to support the president s budget because you have to when, in fact, everybody in this room knows that it ought to go the other way. Let me ask you about the dhs Inspector General conducted covert testing of tsas passenger screening technologies. The results are classified, but the ig described the results as troubling and disappointing. According to media reports tsa airport screeners failed to detect explosives and weapons nearly 95 of the time. So the dsh ig has announced that he is now engaged in another round of covert testing. So what would you when you get to be administrator do to correct the deficiencies that are noted in the ig report . Yes, sir. If confirmed, one of the first things i will do is read the ig report. I havent been able to read the classified section of the report. I know the report exists and have seen media reports that you mentioned, sir. And i would just say as well that i appreciate the work the ig is doing. I think thats a very valuable input into tsa operations, and i take to heart the ig recommendation goes but will look very closely at the classified section of that report. Okay. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I want to give the opportunity to the member. Thank you, senator nelson. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Admiral, thank you for your willingness to serve. I think you have a great background. I think youre very well qualified. I look forward to supporting your confirmation. I also appreciate your quote from Alexander Hamilton in your written statement. I think that that not just applies to you but should apply to all of us. It is a very useful quote when we are thinking about Public Service and the privilege that we all have in serving our fellow americans. I also appreciate just the focus in this hearing on the issues that you talked about in terms of personnel and retention and morale of the workforce. Like a lot of my colleagues i travel a lot. You know, i live in anchorage and i see the tsa officials literally a couple of times a week. I think overall we have outstanding men and women, at least in my state, in anchorage and fairbanks, throughout the entire state. So i think addressing morale issues, as you say, youre a young agency, will be really important. Any sense on that . I know you have to get on the ground and get on that, but any sense right now on how you want to do that . Yes, sir, i think it is critically important. My sense right now and based on my experience in the coast guard is i think it is critically important that the top leadership of an organization interact with, understand, walk in the shoes of their front line employees. It is important that those front line employees know you have their back. Youre providing them guidance. You want to seek their input as to how you do you know, what kind of guidance should we provide you to do your job. When they perform their job according to guidance you provided, you stand behind those individuals. Always you know, sir, going through the check lines, everything is captured on video. Yes. Oftentimes, i assume that the tsa officers have followed the guidance that has been provided. I think they need to be properly backed up by their leadership throughout. So for me it would be showing keen interest in what theyre doing because it is very genuine on my part. When i was in the coast guard i spent the majority of my time in the field, trying to understand how the mission was performing and what i could do as one of the leaders of the organization to make the folks that we charge with actually performing the mission more effective at performing it. Great. I think thats going to be an important focus. Let me talk about you know, we talked about a number of areas in terms of security. I want to highlight three and then get a sense from you how you would prioritize these. We have obviously talked about air travel and, you know, senator nelson just mentioned the whole issue of soft targets outside the security perimeter, which i think is a big issue. Senator booker talked a lot and the chairman talked about mass transit, and i also share their concerns. Obviously alaska doesnt have the kind of mass transit that new jersey does, but it certainly looks like it is a potential for a soft target that terrorists could take advantage of. One that does impact my state that i would like your views on is Critical Infrastructure. Youve spent time in alaska. We have the 800mile trans Alaska Pipeline thats one of the most important pieces of Energy Infrastructure in the country. So how do you prioritize those three different areas, air travel, mass trans et on tit on ground and Critical Infrastructure when looking at your Job Responsibilities . Yes, sir, thats a significant challenge. If confirmed i would apply the same principles we applied in the coast guard, which is what i understand tsa is doing right now, and thats taking a riskbased approach to how resources are allocate willed. You think tsa is giving enough attention to Critical Infrastructure, not just the traveling elements, the transportation elements of the responsibilities of tsa . Yes, sir. I dont know the answer to that, but thats one of the answers i want to get if confirmed, to make sure that we are. It is looking across the entire Transportation System, and you have to have an effort to focus on all of that so you can make those riskbased judgments going forward. Well, i would like your views on that once you get confirmed. Yes, sir. Again, i look forward to supporting your confirmation. Let me finish with, you know, dhs is moving forward with the implementation implementation of the real id standards in 2018, and as states are working their way through compliance how do you foresee getting ahead of, trying to mitigate what are bound to be, and in some circumstances are already happening, passenger confusion and frustration at airport screening check points that are going to result from that law . Yes, sir. If confirmed, i think communications is critical to make sure that folks understand before i think the worst thing that can happen is somebody shows up at the airport, they tried to find the information and couldnt find it somewhere. So good communication is absolutely critical. Or that they know they got to come to the airport with certain ids. Yes, sir, thats what im talking about, that they know what ids are acceptable at the airport. I think having a focus on that will be important. Yes, sir. So we can mitigate, you know, a bottle neck across the country once that implementation happens. Yes, sir, absolutely. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator sullivan. Sent tore cantwell. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, admiral pekoske, for your willingness to serve. Sea tack airport has been one of the Fastest Growing hubs in the United States in the last three years. It was designated to handle about 25 million passengers but last year it handled 45 million passengers and it is going to continue to grow. So these issues of how we plan for security and efficiency are very critical to us. We have had many conversations in tsa, have been to sea tack, tours and all of this, and has committed to adding additional staffing as the season demantds. I hope you would continue to do the same thing. Yes, senator, i would. Thank you. We definitely will be following up with you on details. My kol lee from nevada brought up the canine units and their effectiveness. To me post you know, what has happened in International Airports and our own facility, you mentioned deterrence, which i love the fact that these canine units can be deterrents out in the outer perimeters of the airport which is just just a great added layer of security. Also, they can help make for a more expedient line, which is one of the ways that we handle sea tack. Because if you are bit for 25 million and you are handling 45 million, you need some tools. So theyve been a very viable tool there. One of the ideas that weve been looking at because i think nationally we need we need about 300 to 500 more canine units, and the training does take a long time and the certification takes a long time. Right. What about looking at, would you be willing to look at information and material about doing some of this training in facilities outside of lachland. Yes. If it met lachlands standards . Absolutely. As long as it meets the standards, i think how it is sourced is something we ought to take a look at. As you mention, senator, the supply is limited. So, you know, if you have a desire to increase your capacity, you need to look at alternate sources of supply at the same time. Thank you for that. Thaems thats a great commitment. Thats where i am. Just for the record, i know some airports are anxious. Our airport is willing to pay for this. Sea tack has seen the cost effectiveness in the security aspect of it. Just as they pay for other airport improvements theyre willing to pay for this one. It is not letting the federal government off of any hook, theyre just willing to sure. Help deal with the capacity issue. I hope some of our colleagues would look at that as well and discuss with tsa this ability to give us more. There is no better security than these dogs, no better security that we can get. So their ability to detect explosives, people talk about what happen in brussels, you know, that a canine unit would have been able to target that activity well in advance. So i cant emphasize enough how much i think we need to make this investment. Thank you for your willingness to do the same. Thank you. Thank you, senator cantwell. Senator blumenthal. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for your service and appreciate your being here this morning. One troubling area of threat around the world and certainly at our transportation facilities is the use of every day implements, vehicles in causing the kinds of mass attacks that weve come to associate with other forms of weapons. Use of vans, for example, most recently in britain and brussels. I wonder if you could share with us your insights as to how those kinds of attacks can be prevented, if they can be, what tsa is doing to research this area of threat and how youre working with other agencies . Sir, senator, i dont know specifically how tsa is dealing with this kind of threat right now, but if confirmed i would certainly take a very close look at that. Im going to make an assumption though based on what i know about intelligence operations in my coast guard experience, is that they are looking at threats at large across the board and closely coordinated with federal, state and local agencies to gather information, and also through social media to see what is on social media so they can get ahead of what might be chatted about in on the world wide web. So, sir, i commit to you i will take a very close look at that to ensure the intelligence is properly focus if confirmed. Well, i hope you will. It is obviously an area of great urgency and we tend to focus on the tsa screeners at the airport. By the way, i want to join in thanking them for their service as i do the coast guard. I try to thank the tsa screeners at the airports where i go. I have a feeling im in the minority of people they see in expressing my appreciation, but certainly theyre very dedicated. They have tough work to do and they perform an enormous service. Yes, sir. You will be providing them with leadership. I want to say that two years ago i asked your predecessor at his nomination hearing about the task that senator booker raised, the dtask of our rail and transt network, its vulnerability and the recommendations of the 9 11 commission. He committed to completing the task of requiring railroads to properly vet and train employees and have plans in place to avert terrorist attack at our rail and other transit facilities. Now we have a new administration and now the rules, unfortunately, are still languishing. But making matters worse, the new administration has pursued a regulatory freeze and a hiring freeze, which may have impacts on the ongoing effort to implement these programs. So my question to you is are you committed to completing these congressional mandates . Yes, sir, im committed to going back and reexamining what the congressional mandate is so i understand it completely and getting a very thorough assessment as to where tsa is in respect to committing those commitments. This is in law so it is something tsa is bound to comply with. I will take a close look at that if confirmed, and i would like to get back on my schedule to talk about it. I apologize my schedule prevented us from getting together to talk before now. Yes, sir. I would welcome and be very glad to sit down with you. Let me ask finally in the short remaining time i have, last month Homeland Security secretary kelly said in a Television Interview on fox and im paraphrasing that passengers are trying to avoid check bag fees, cramming their belongings into carryon bags, and that makes it harder for the tsa to screen bags. The full quote is people trying to avoid the 25 or 50 or whatever it is to check a bag are now stuffing your carryon bags to the point of, well, they cant get anymore in there. So the more you stuff in there the less tsa professionals that are looking at whats in those bags through the monitors, they cant tell whats in the bags anymore. Would you agree with that assessment . I would say guilty as charged. I do the same thing