TSA Appropriations Update – Budget Cut by 3%

Contact Leslie Adlam, Vice President, Goverment Affairs ladlam@gtscoalition.com with questions

Highlights: >>>DHS funded at $42 billion; 3% reduction from FY11; 7% less than President’s request >>>Chairman Mica introduces amendment to assure possibility of private screeners >>>Amendment cuts TSA budget by 10% and redirects to Screening Partnership Program (SPP) >>>Use of body scanners debated, upheld

June 2, 2011 the House considered the FY 2012 Appropriations bill (HR 2017) for the Department of Homeland Security. The bill provides about $42 billion in funding, three percent less than in FY11 and about seven percent less than requested in President Obama’s FY 12 budget. HR. 2017 was adopted by a vote of 231-188. Mica Introduces Pro-Private Screener Amendment John Mica, Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, offered an amendment, which passed on a vote of 219-214, cutting more than $270 million from TSA’s budget for airport security screeners. The approved language would mean a 10% cut in the TSA federal screening workforce, with a shift of the savings intended to be designated to the Screening Partnership Program (SPP). This will allow airport operators to continue to contract with private firms as an alternative to government screeners. If Chairman Mica’s provision were to become law, TSA would be required to hire private companies to perform airport screenings. The timing of the amendment coincided with a report released by Chairman Mica which found that private screeners operate more efficiently and could save the government at least $1 billion over five years. TSA’s Screening Partnership Program (SPP) was designed to meet the requirement for the “opt out” program established in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) of 2001. ATSA required TSA to establish pilots at up to five airports where screening would be performed by employees of private companies under federal contract oversight. The law requires those contract screeners to meet all the requirements applicable to federally employed screeners. All commercial airports with federal security screening are eligible to apply for SPP. As of November, 2010, 16 airports were operating under SPP, including seven airports in Montana that were granted federal status to begin receiving security screening in 2008. In January, 2011, TSA Administrator John Pistole, completed a full review of the SPP program and decided not to expand privatized screening operations beyond the 16 airports. In response to this decision, Chairman Mica offered his amendment as part of the FY 2012 Funding Bill to ensure that private screening at airports will remain a viable option for contractors. The body scanner used to screen passengers was also debated during consideration of HR. 2017. Two separate amendments were rejected by the House in an attempt to withhold funding for 275 additional Advanced Imaging Technology screening machines requested by the President in FY 2012. Privacy concerns among lawmakers and the public have made this technology controversial. TSA began ramping up the rollout of 1,000 whole-body imaging technology scanners after traditional metal detectors failed to identify chemical explosives concealed inside the underwear of an airline passenger headed for the United States on Christmas Day, 2009. TSA worked with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) and private industry to develop the software, and began testing it at the TSA Systems Integration Facility in the fall of 2010.

Currently, there are nearly 500 imaging technology units at 78 airports nationwide, with additional units planned for deployment this year. TSA continues to test ATR (Automatic target recognition) enabled units that are not capable of storing or printing images. THE ATR software eliminates the need for a screening officer to view passenger images in a separate room because no visual image is produced. The new software is being tested on millimeter wave AIT units currently in airports, with plans to test similar software on backscatter units in the future. TSA plans to continually update and test enhanced versions of the software developed by private industry in order to ensure that technology with the highest detection standards is deployed.