TSA’s Singular Focus on Aviation Security Faulted

A U.S. House Homeland Security subcommittee called DHS senior officials to testify July 28. Panel leaders said they were concerned that TSA has dedicated too much of its resources to the aviation sector at the expense of railways, buses and other surface transportation. While lawmakers noted that newly appointed agency head has pledged to work on surface transportation security, they also emphasized that the topic is one that should have been addressed long ago. A congressional member said 85 percent of the agency’s resources have gone toward aviation, while just one percent was dedicated to surface transportation. Although airlines are a proven terrorist target, she called the disparity unbalanced. Complaints about TSA’s work in the surface sector came from across the board. The assistant inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security, testified that in past reviews, his office has found that the agency’s surface transportation security inspectors labored under unclear and unduly complicated chains of command and poorly defined mission priorities. Instead of doing actual surface training work, many of the inspectors were stuck performing mundane, non-specialized tasks like handing out plastic bags to travelers at airports, he said.