Transportation agency may miss security deadlines

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said publicly for the first time Tuesday that the department may miss looming deadlines to bolster security at the nation's airports.

Speaking before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee, Mineta said that Congress' delay in approving emergency funding for the Transportation Security Administration is undermining the agency's ability to carry out its mission.

"I was prepared to renew our pledge to meet the ambitious deadlines established by Congress and explain how we are going to get there," Mineta told the panel, which he chaired during his days in the House of Representatives. "But the extraordinary delay in approving funding and new restrictions imposed on the TSA have dramatically undermined our ability to meet this goal."

The Bush administration and Congress have been sparring for weeks over a fiscal 2002 supplemental funding bill, which includes extra funds for TSA, among other things. Mineta expressed frustration that Congress lopped $1 billion off TSA's $4.4 billion request for emergency funding. That will require the agency to rethink its business plan, he said.

For instance, reduced funding may mean that the agency relies more on employees rather than large explosive-detection machines to screen baggage. Doing so could create delays and inconvenience at airports, Mineta said.

But not everyone at the hearing agreed with Mineta's assessment of the situation. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., said the Office of Management and Budget has not fully supported TSA's request. Further, he accused the secretary of being slow to raise his concerns.

During the past couple of weeks, Mineta has called on Congress to approve the funding quickly, but said the agency would meet its deadlines to federalize all passenger screeners by Nov. 19 and to screen all checked baggage by Dec. 31. On Friday, the House Select Homeland Security Committee voted to extend the current year-end baggage-screening deadline to Dec. 31, 2003.

Funding questions aside, TSA must deal with significant challenges if it is to meet its current deadlines, according to Alexis Stefani, assistant inspector general at the Transportation Department. TSA estimates that it needs 33,000 passenger screeners. As of July 13, the agency had hired just 2,475, with another 4,000 having accepted job offers. That means the agency has to hire 7,600 screeners each month between now and November.

"TSA is still having difficulties hiring enough screeners in major metropolitan areas such as New York, Boston and Chicago," Stefani told the committee. The delays come from a high percentage of no-shows at training sessions and applicants who fail qualification tests. Stefani reported that at New York's three airports-LaGuardia, JFK International and Newark International-61 percent of applicants failed the first phase of an assessment.

Mineta acknowledged the difficulties in hiring and training screeners, but said contractors hired to recruit and train screeners are expanding their operations and opening more assessment centers.

TSA will have a better sense of how many screeners it actually needs by the end of August, Stefani said. That's when assessments of security at individual airports will be completed.

Making his first official appearance as acting head of the agency, Adm. James Loy told the committee that he plans to improve communications with the aviation industry and local enforcement officials. Airport directors have complained that TSA is too heavy-handed and ignores concerns about customer service. Loy replaced John Magaw, who was forced to resign last week.

Loy, former commandant of the Coast Guard, is well respected on Capitol Hill. Just as important, said one House aide, he did a "great job heading an agency that was woefully underfunded."