Report: TSA not doing enough to secure airports

The Transportation Security Administration is not doing enough to maintain control over the perimeters and secured areas at commercial airports, according to a General Accounting Office Report released Tuesday.

TSA has not yet determined how to identify security weaknesses at commercial airports, nor has it prioritized its funding to address critical needs, the report (GAO-04-728) said.

GAO also said although the agency has taken some steps to reduce security risks posed by airport workers who have access to secured areas, it has limited security checks to fingerprinting due to costs and complexity.

A joint investigation by the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration, among others, last November concluded that fingerprinting did not stop 4,200 airport workers from falsifying immigration, social security and criminal information in order to gain access to secured areas.

"Obviously, fingerprinting is not a fail safe," said Senate Governmental Affairs ranking member Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., who requested the GAO investigation a year ago.

Lieberman is requesting $50 million in fiscal 2005 funding for the physical screening of workers with access to secured areas, and may ask for additional funding for other airport security issues during this year's appropriations debate.

TSA suspended assessments of security along commercial airport perimeters and entry and exit points in January to focus on securing air traffic against shoulder-fired missiles. TSA "shouldn't have to choose" between making sure that secured areas at airports are truly secure or against missile attacks, Lieberman said.

Lieberman will bring up this issue at a Governmental Affairs confirmation hearing tentatively scheduled this summer for acting TSA administrator David Stone.

Lieberman said he would discuss the GAO's findings and his recommendation for increased TSA funding with Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., and Commerce Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Trent Lott, R-Miss.

GAO recommended that TSA provide a plan to Congress to meet all requirements under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001, including establishing schedules for completing assessments of airport security, evaluating airport security technology, providing guidance and prioritizing funding to airports for enhancing security of the entire commercial airport system.

TSA officials have "generally concurred" with GAO's findings and recommendations, and have started implementing many of the actions GAO has recommended, according to Tuesday's report.

A Democratic spokeswoman for the House Homeland Security Committee said committee Democrats would offer amendments to address the concerns raised in the GAO report during House debate on both the fiscal 2005 Homeland Security appropriations bill and the upcoming homeland security authorization measure. She said they would not offer details at this point.

A full House Appropriations Committee markup was scheduled for Wednesday on the Homeland Security funding bill, while Republicans have tentatively scheduled a June 22 markup on the not-yet-introduced authorization bill. No floor action on either bill has been scheduled yet.