Raising criticism of the Transportation Security
Administration’s “picture of airport security,” Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee ranking Democrat, Sen.
Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., and House Select Committee on
Homeland Security ranking Democrat Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas,
cited a report from the General Accounting Office stating
that thousands of airport workers were found to have
falsified immigration, Social Security or criminal history
information to gain access to restricted areas of
airports, and that TSA still does not require workers
to be physically screened, according to a statement
issued by the committee.
The GAO report focuses on TSA’s responsibility to secure
airport areas and demonstrates air travel is not as safe
as it could or should be, according to the statement.
“Since September 11, the TSA has done much to screen
passengers and their baggage but has neglected other less
visible areas of an airport’s operation,” said Lieberman,
who had requested the report. “The bottom line is that
airports remain too vulnerable to terrorist attack, and
yet TSA has no overall picture of perimeter, entry/exit,
or worker security at the nation’s 440 commercial airports.”
GAO’s investigation found that TSA has only begun to
meet its obligations to protect secure areas, access
control to secure areas, and worker screening, as required
by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001,
or has not met them at all.
According to the statement, GAO said it was understandable
that TSA has not met all of the requirements of the
Transportation and Security Act of 2001 due to the enormity
of the task.
The GAO report said 4,200 workers falsified documents and
gained access to secured areas and that some of them had
also been cleared through TSA’s one-time fingerprint check,
a physical screening process TSA apparently believes is
sufficient to verify identity.
The report also said TSA has not yet assessed, recommended
or deployed technology, such as biometrics, to prevent
unauthorized access to secure areas at some of the largest
airports, according to the committee statement.
