good afternoon the subcommittee will come to order the subcommittees meeting today to receive testimony on securing america's transportation systems the target of terrorists and t s a new direction i witnessed today will testify about his plans and objectives for positioning t s a to meet the challenge of securing the nation's transportation systems against terrorist attacks this hearing will also provide members of the subcommittee with an opportunity to communicate their priorities and concerns about the t s a programs  policies to the administrator i now recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement we're here today to discuss critical programs and policies designed to protect our nation transportation systems from terrorist attacks and to welcome to the subcommittee the new transportation security administration john pistol is a pistol we welcome you for many reasons because this is an important assignment and secondarily we want to applaud you for committing your life to the service of the american people for the years that you have served in the federal bureau of investigation and the years of commitment to the security of this nation with responsibility for ensuring the security of the nation's airports railways roadways transit systems and pipelines t s a is mission is critical any minute administrative pistol comes to a in the wake of several events that have demonstrated to the american public and to congress that the terrorist threat to transportation system is persistent and evolving and particularly so because terrorism has franchised and unfortunately terrorists seem to be lacking in creative creativity and seek to utilize the same targets to create the greatest havoc marching through this decade since the nine eleven attacks in two thousand and one we have seen attacks on rail systems in madrid london bomb by moscow the plot to destroy several commercial aircraft simultaneously over the atlan the plot to attack the new york city subway system and the attempted attack to destroy northwest airlines flight two fifty three in the skies over detroit on christmas day of last year the scare of last year that occurred at the newark airport where the airport was shut down because of a belief that someone in entered incorrectly and certainly the unfortunate circumstances that occurred at newark airport again in the last couple of days initiative and now sits in the united states senate we recognize the crisis which we are involved in you need not be a security expert to understand that our transportation systems are indeed the targets of attack how do we remain vigilant how do we continue to meet the very real and significant challenges of protecting our transportation systems which are critical to our economy and essential to allow way of life today the administrator will share with us and vision for complicating the mission and let me start the discussion by laying this framework we are a nation of people who thrive on independence and deeply value personal liberty and personal privacy justice and equality we're also a nation that has been attacked and plotted against by terrorists wishing to in the american way of life this appears so while we were waiting for the confirmation of a t s a administrator doing most of this congress this subcommittee has not been idle in its oversight of transportation security issues the subcommittee has conducted rigorous oversight hearings on security programs for air cargo aviation repair stations general aviation passenger checkpoints surface transportation inspectors and the reds to travel program the full committee held an important hearing on the flight to fifty three christmas day attempted bombing and of course the committee reported and the house passed h r twenty two hundred the t s a authorization act we look closely at the air marshals and determine that additional scrutiny and support is very much needed h r twenty two hundred congress in h r two hundred congress gave direction to t s a on important security matters including general security grants quote occasionally a v a security advisory committee improvements to the federal air marshal service and the federal flight deck officers program and a realignment of surface transportation programs which a bit underfunded and have lacked priority positioning within the t s a while the senate did not act on this important legislation will certainly seek your input in crafting a new authorization bill in the next congress let me just add that we have seen over the years since nine eleven the enhancement of the sensitivity of the traveling public particularly as relates to aviation and one maybe a less publicize incident occurred that was told to me by a bystander on the street how they wrestled to the ground and individual on an airplane headed to las vegas who was banging on the pilot's door and seeking to escape that may have not been a terrorist intention but certainly it would have been a frightening and devastating act if that individual had been able to open the door as they were attempting to do which speaks to the importance of aviation issues as well as the importance of air marshals in addition to security programs the new administrator also has to address workforce issues questions have been raised about t s a is training programs for transportation security officers and morale among the t s a workforce is among the lowest in the federal government with new deployed technology and screening procedures training and workforce morale issues are more important than ever and form the crux of implementing an effective security program transportation systems on the international front the administration and the secretary of homeland security are all negotiated in developing stronger security measures at airports throughout the world aviation in particular is a global interconnected system securing the weakest link wherever it may be will help to make the whole system more secure i understand administration secretary will be in montreal next week working on these international aviation security efforts and we strongly support the effort it's a ministry that your charge is significant but this subcommittee stands ready to work with you to improve security throughout every mode of transportation in closing i do not want you to do want you to know that we thank you again for your forward to your testimony and our discussion at this time without objection i would like to enter into the record a statement from the national treasury employees union hearing no objection is so order it without objection upon his arrival and he has arrived the gentleman from texas mr green a member of the full committee is authorized to sit for the purpose of questioning witnesses during the hearing today hearing no objection great deal of work that the has yet to be addressed and i sincerely appreciate this opportunity to have just a secretary pistol pistol justifying the force of to me today this is a secretary or his assistant secretary pistils first visit before this during the open testimony however this is not his first visit before the committee we should note for the record in his previous role as deputy director of the f b i he was occasionally he would occasionally brief the committee regarding ongoing terrorist threats to the a spent twenty seven years with the f b i rising from this position a special agent that became the f b i s deputy director and furthermore the firsthand experience in the operation management of of a large agency with thousands of them employees responsible for a complex set of missions that continually required outreach to state and local officials as well as private sector as ranking member of the subcommittee i welcome your testimony here today we have a plethora of issues to address but i believe that we can only be successful as t s a in this committee continue to work in a close partnership that relies upon regular and strong communication as the senior republican on the subcommittee i can assure you that we will work with the a constructive and positive manner will provide strong oversight of your activities but i commit to you that will always be fair open and honest in the field of aviation security t s a has accomplished a i have been and continue to be a strong supporter of the advanced imaging technology systems the systems as you know gives screeners the opportunity to identify nonmetallic threats concealed on a person the terrorists are finding new and interesting ways to get around our security infrastructure and we need to adapt our technology and our prophecies accordingly however regardless of what technology we use or what processes we mandate much of our security solutions still require a dedicated workforce a strong public private partnerships all of these individuals must be just as committed as our t s a checkpoint personnel and protecting our traveling public with surface transportation it seems that the work is really just beginning securing surface transportation systems will provide a daunting task given the enormity of the freely accessible infrastructure for those systems additionally there are a significant number of overdue regulations that training programs as well as public transportation and over the over the road security training programs some of these regulations are more than three years overdue so we'd like to work with you to see what t s a needs to finish them in a the next red cycle it's my hope that we can strengthen cooperation between the committee and t s a and avoid many the pitfalls to which we fall and pray in past years so matter share we have a lot to cover today and will continue to have a full agenda going forward an hundred twelfth congress so cooperation is the key and the more we act in partnership with t s a and are made aware of the problem attic issues the more we can do to make t s a successful again manager thanks for holding us this important hearing and i'll yield back although t s a has only been in existence for less than ten years its impact on the world traveling public but securely here in the u s cannot be understated t s a is mission makes it one of the most critically challenging agencies to lead i'm confident that you can lead agency effectively and i look forward to working to improve it in any way one of the  things i want to talk about is since the start of this congress as you know this subcommittee of hail several hearings addressing transportation security issues we've encouraged t s a to devote more attention and resources to surface transportation security the implementation of cargo meaning programs and efficient development and deployment of checkpoint technology as a result we learn valuable information from and stakeholders regarding successful programs and the need to improve others we've also had many conversations about t s a need to work elaborately with other agencies and stakeholders i hope you will continue to strengthen the agency's relationships with stakeholders one of my chief concerns would t s a has been the need to update security checkpoints with adequate technology and enhanced processes that afford greater security and efficient passenger throughput the deployment of technology must be done thorough conference consultation last march this committe machine now that might not be a risk base but they have a space and we don't think it should be like that i will say we'll look at the plan assistant secretary and a plan might not the system of pay that comment to me most of the time is why can we get paid on the g s system like every other filled employee and then they say and you pay but they need to know what to expect as men and women who are doing a good job i'm eager to work with you to find a solution that will employ our t s a workforce and provide them with the best  training and workforce development but i'd be remiss if i only mention the problems at t s a and not the successes first observe it a good program the motor carriers and others who are involved in it  think the world of it so you to be congratulated as an agency for putting that together this office has played a critical role also the office of global strategists particularly after the attack of december twenty fifth we all as good as foreign neighbors are you know that and they don't a good job so all in all we want to welcome y i thank the chairman for his constructive remarks and it's now time to welcome the witness for what administrator pistole will probably frequent visits because it is key that  we interact and perform our obligations and responsibility of oversight before i introduce you to other members of the subcommittee are reminded that under committee rules opening statements may be submitted for the record a administrator john is to still oversees management of a sixty thousand person workforce to security operations of more than four hundred fifty federalized airports throughout the u s federal air marshals service and security for highways railroads ports mass transit systems and pipelines administrate a pistol came to t s a as a twenty six year veteran of the f b i extensive national security and counterterrorism experience after the tragic events of september eleventh two thousand and one is put in charge of the f b i has greatly expanded counterterrorism program eventually becoming the f b i has executive assistant director for counterterrorism and counterintelligence two thousand and four as a pistol was named deputy director for the f b i and as noted by the ranking member his pistol has been before this committee on a number of occasions explaining unfortunately incidences that have occurred since two thousand and one that evidence that out this alliance in securing the homeland should be without comparison without objection and the witnesses bold statement will be inserted in the wreck we welcome you administrate a pistol and please summarize your statement for five minutes well good afternoon and thank you madam chairwoman jackson lee and chairman thompson ranking member denton distinguished members of the committee it is an honor to be here for the first time for this this hearing as administrator of t s a and i appreciate your kind words i look forward to deepening the relationship between the committee and t s a and pledge my cooperation doing that i would like to share development by using intelligence driven security solutions as we know we just really this month commemorated the ninth anniversary of the nine eleven terrorist attacks and it's really the constant reminder for the men and women  as to what their mission is all about a key lesson i took from that day and from my career at the f b i is that one of the best tools to combat terrorism is accurate and timely intelligence and so my day in that  the senior leadership team of t s a begins with an intelligence briefing we are continually honing our counterterrorism focus by working with our law enforcement and intelligence community partners to better operationalize that intelligence and we do that through of different ways including the watch listing and the secure flight program which i'll be glad to take questions about the best intelligence so is that which is shared with the rank and file the t s a those the federal air marshals explosive staffs specialists in behavior detection officers to help terrorist from harming the traveling public so a greater for of these employees front line employees will now have a secret security clearance in fact of just approved or will be going to ten thousand to the same ploys will have a secret security clearance to push that intelligence to as many people as possible we're also encouraging our citizens across the country to be vigilant the secretary and i recently announced the expansion of the if you see something say something campaign designed to raise public awareness of all types of illegal activity particularly focus on terrorism and we continue to reach out to our foreign partners as was mentioned to strengthen the globally a shoe aviation system and it was noted will build both be in montreal next war next week for the international civil aviation organization assembly in montreal where one hundred ninety member states will be participating in an effort to shore up our civil aviation defenses and efforts as we continue to use our intelligence we need to be informed by the latest technology i want to make sure that we're not using yesterday's technology or even today's technology to address yesterday's threats we need to be mindful of those threats but we also need to try to just update with the best intelligence what the next terrorist attack may look like and how we can use our intelligence in forming the technology in our tactics and training and techniques to do the best possible job we have now deployed two hundred twenty four team machines to fifty six airports around the country and our goal is to have nearly one thousand eight hundred genes deployed by the end of next year and we are working to enhance the efficiency of using the i t particular the train working to address all the concerns that have been raised whether that's privacy or safety and so any intelligence driven agency must use that best technology to accomplish its mission a number of a number of initiatives that i will be glad to talk about in more detail as it is engages as an engaged workforce i've done a number of town halls around the country to hear from the workforce and i've asked two questions what's working well to make vs a good place to work and what are the barriers to keep c s a from being a great place to work so with that i have done one of the things i will now this and that is a creation or the establishing an office of professional responsibility one of things i've chairman thank you very much pistol and i look forward to us engaging over a period of time at this time i will remind each member that he or she will have five minutes to question the witness and i will now recognize myself for five minutes of questioning as administrators before i begin my line of questioning could i get a response for the record that you will work with the committee in the next congress on a t s a authorization bill that will help give you the tools to move the agency forward on a number of issues yes thank you for both  great enthusiasm as well let me start by asking you about the state of the transportation security report i think you should be noted and complimented for the on the road that you have taken to  many many airports you might want to share with us how much progress has made prescience your visit to bush in a condo airport in houston texas when the top ten airports in the nation and for seeing the t s a officers there as you've been touring the assets in this short time noting that you will be in montreal in the next week give us the thirty thousand foot view of what you have and what your priorities are the and my time is short so if you could be thirty thousand view and get whatever you think is most instructive thank you madam chair on my three top priorities are to ensure that all the men and women of t s a look at their mission as a counterterrorism focused national security mission and able by the latest technology intelligence the second is supporting the work force and third is to engage external stakeholders especially the traveling public there are three things that i'm telling every t s a employee that i came up to me and indicated how two passengers are rasul down this individual on a flight into las vegas so it was not one of our air marshals because that was a plane that had one  air marshals provide a critical layer of security the federal air marshals service has come under fire personnel and misconduct issues most disturbing of which is the incident in the orlando office that involved a mock jeopardy board with racial and otherwise insensitive remarks i understand this incident is currently an investigation by the inspector general but what can you tell us today about what your plans are for reducing personnel problems at fam including is i'm watching the office of professional development you mention your testimony let me also add while there are some high profile incidents of fans i believe they provide a critical layer of security and frankly we should increase their presence on the flights i want to thank them for their service publicly i believe that the majority of the men and women of fans who are outstanding public servants i have introduced legislation that would double the presence of fans on inbound international flights which as we have seen it is a vector that terrorism tried to exploit most recently on christmas day please provide your comments on this legislation which would also provide criminal investigative training to fans and codify the fams but even so those two prong questions please and i apologize for my raspy voice they matter joe and i too applaud the work of the fans i've met with a number of them and it is a very difficult assignment to be a fly in federal air marshal not on the road but in the air the the time that they are i am very concerned about any serious allegations of misconduct whether by a family or any t s a employee and that is reason that i'm creating this office professional responsibility to ensure that the adjudication of the investigation allegations provides a firm fair process for that adjudication that being said there are a number of opportunities for engaging the workforce tomorrow have a lot in my first senior leadership team retreat to to focus on a number of things including what our leadership teams vision is for t s a of ten years from now i refer to that as a twenty twenty vision for t s a what do we want to look like as an agency how should we operate how do we engage the stakeholders so i've asked a number of employees for their vision for the next ten years critical in that an integral part is a fair disciplinary process and so any time as an allegation i want to make sure that there is a high level of confidence not only among t s a employees but you in the subcommittee the full committee and the american public that if somebody does engage in improper activity they are held  of the jeopardy board and the gracious comments yes and i the without going into personnel issues but i believe you're aware that that the the federal air  marshal special is in charge is no longer there has been removed and other personal actions are pending and i didn't hear you pacifically language in the legislation talks about doubling the presence on fa threat stream the intelligence that we know is out there about terrorists al qaeda to cleon and affiliates interest and still strike aviation as on twelve twenty five the fans may be the last line of defense when it comes to that and so as pre show your establish trust of passenger programs and use available technologies to expedite the security screening of passengers who participate in these programs the concept was allow for the focus on individuals who at no cost to the government  voluntarily provide biographic and biometric information for the purpose of background checks which would free up resources at checkpoints to focus on those passengers for whom it was known to meet the statutory provision t and somebody with no pedigree any derogatory information about him or her that would indicate that that person is a threat to aviation or anything else and as you know to the clean skin terrorists theory never really resonate with many members of the committee now because we've always believed in it respects approach to homeland security matters and you can you can never assure you know zero percent risk t s a is aviation security layers are rooted in the principle risk and i think it's a question of the business model the viability of that business model so i'm open to two businesses trying to develop that and and if that helps reduce risk i'm all in favor of that i do i have the concern that a person such as the times square bomber who would have had very limited if any derogatory information but for one or two very innocuous items in many respects could have become one of those trusted traveler so there's always that possibility but it does come down as you say to managing risk and how can we allocate our resources against that risk in the best possible fashion and the other question i had to that you know t is often taken the position that every individual entering a sterile sterile area of an airport must go through a thorough screening and that a background in that vest a geisha much like that conducted for security clearances is unnecessary however federal security directors and a personnel as well as airport personnel and maintenance workers receive background checks and are able to bypass security screening i understand you're examining the merits of the program when you expect to complete a review and we commit to keeping an open mind is this as a review the program yes i do have an open mind to it and i don't have a specific time frame of what i've looked at i am open to the business propositions and the opportunities that are there i know there are several airports that have a quibble and of a range for travel program and a number of other airports i believe it's fifty one have something for their elite travelers which is similar to he requested i asked this question on his behalf of what plan does t s a have in place to reimburse airports for their cost of installing explosive detection systems i have conducted a review of that and found that there are a number of airports around the country that did work shortly after the nine eleven attacks as you described there is approximately four hundred million dollars of that work that was done and so the issue that i am dealing with is the traveling public in a better situation if i apply that money to airports does that do not have the improved security equipment in theirs or do i take that money and apply it to those which are ready to do so again to get back to risk management as you in my final comments and questions are as you're aware there is a there was an expos conducted by the new york t v station earlier this week showing what appears to be sloppy security at newark liberty international airport that we know that children jackson lee and i were there earlier this year when there was a security checkpoint the breach that resulted in the into dump of the entire terminal which we remember very well have you seen the video footage and can you tell me if you have any concerns of what you saw and also while i understand t s a may conduct review of the newark incident can you commit the t s a to continue cooperation in our congressional review yes to the last question yes to the video that was on the fox news and it is quite disturbing to see what could is hearing is called to order and now recognize the gentleman from texas for five minutes of questioning thank you madam chair and i especially thank you and the members of the committee for the unanimous consent for my participation with this a gust body and also madam chair if i may like to think that thank the staff i have had an opportunity to peruse the memo and i want the staff to be well aware that i consider your day a very fine piece of intelligence to this end i'd like to confine my comments to the last sixteen words in the last paragraph on the last page but this sentence reads due to numerous delays the tweek reader pilot programs conclusion has been postponed until spring two thousand and eleven let me welcome you to the committee and i am honored that you have chosen to help your country in this time of need and i thank you m administrator for your service that you have rendered and i'm especially grateful that you will be working with us the twit card as it's called has been a concern that has been raised by a number of my constituents and the concern that has been raised by persons on the committee has been that of deployment of the reader but hart was deployed before the reader was deployed and as i understand it we have a pilot program that is currently underway the question i suppose is will we make this deadline and  have to ask in this fashion this is not to demean you in any way but we've been given deadlines previously that have not been met and my hope is that we can get a a final deadline if i may say so so i'd like your response and then i have a couple of other questions so if you can be as terse as possible it would be greatly appreciated thank god has been i do not have a specific deadline that i would give you because i do want to manage expectations as i review the twit program and the card readers as you've indicated and i understand there have been a number of both the technological issues and  funding issues as relates to the deployment of both the readers in a number of areas so i am reviewing that whole process and i pledge to work with you in the committee to do to come back with a better date rather than the spring of eleven thank you another concern is one that relates to replacement cards as you know these are difficult times and many of the workers that find themselves having to get a new card for various and sundry reasons have to pay for the new card out of pocket is there a means by which you plan to have a process that will allow a worker to contest the requirement that it be replaced at the workers expense so that workers can have a belief that if the card malfunctions then the worker shouldn't have to pay for the replacement but i'm not sure that the process exists now if it does exist then i'd like to know what it is if it does it can we develop a process that will give us some reasonable assurance that th fundamental fairness dictates that if a card is not working through no fault of the person themselves that there should be some mechanism for for that person having a replacement card without additional costs that being said i don't have the facts here with me today to be more defensive about that but i will look into that also and get back with you thank you and if you would i would welcome a written word on the they respon response that way i can them share it with my constituents and let them know that indeed you and i are trying to resolve this issue i'm sure there are many other things that are pressing but if you happen to be one of the persons who has had to bear the cost of replacing the card for you it is your paramount importance and i thank you for the friendly way that you've approached it and my hope is that we'll be able to resolve this and finally in my last two seconds that the establishment of an office of professional responsibility i'd like to commend you for doing so i think that can be meaningfully and my hope is that it will work to the advantage of the people who find themselves having challenges thank you very much back i thank the gentleman for his thoughtful questioning and we will follow up with the gentleman as well as the subcommittee and i would ask the administrators to say in the letter to the committee for its records and we will work with the gentleman on i think the crucial issue for his constituents and other constituents thank you gentleman from misadministration if i can probe with some additional questions we recently had what i feel was a profound hearing in july on the surface transportation inspection program and dish and you've heard some recounting of h r twenty two hundred which is an overall comprehensive bill on transportation security among other issues and you've been making your rounds and have seen surface systems across the country including exposure to some to sylvia's in houston please tell me your vision for t s a surface security program including if you will address the committee's concern and the inspector general's concern with the current organizational structure of the surface transportation inspection program like about of joe and i believe the surface security program for t s a is an integral part of the layered security that we apply across the non aviation sector and to that in the night ports have been no or the in terms of the areas of proven for t s a as releases surface transportation so i've reviewed the reports and and looking at the best construct within t s a for how that surface transportation the inspector should report i know there are different opinions on that and i have not reached a final conclusion on that at this point i appreciate the the subcommittee's interest in the issue and as you indicated my visit to houston both for the  bus demonstration in terms of security measures implemented there and then on the light rail was lumen ating for me in terms of opportunities that we have in t s a to assist state and local providers of service transportation to assist them in their efforts to provide the best possible security so let me just determine where you are you are in a study mode yes  the the reporting in response to your question about the reporting there are at least two different cars trucks which i have seen the one being the assistant federal security director whether it's for law enforcement or for inspection and then the other is for out of the actual inspection office and so what i'm reviewing is what makes the best business sense both internally t s a but equally to the structure response inspector general i do not have a specific timeline on that but i'll be glad to get back with you in subcommittee in the near future as to that would you would you also what is the status of the t s a executive level do you have in place all of the positions that fall under your particular leadership there is so there is at least one and is this administrative position that is  open that we are trying to fill right now that the if that's what you're referring to i am yes and others that's a presidential appointment no that's not that's simply a civilian civil service civil service higher so how many of those civil service at that level do you have remaining vacant i would the estimating approximately six involving headquarters and field staffing and what about  around the country right so i'm including those as part of that so we have one system in a straight or intelligence and then there are trying to think of the number of either sam sacks especially in charges or f s d's and that's why  i'm giving a bunch of why don't you give us that information in writing it's very important in fact when i brought the question just give us the structure of the t s a with all of the leadership you're progressing with it and one of the issues of course in security is man or woman power and i think that is enormous challenge as well and what we're doing let me continue we have been told that the t s a i was by has been lax the independence and authority to get personal issues resolved as a result employees often of avoid the arms of those men and withhold their complaints for fear of retaliation to give this office the independence and wait it needs to resolve personnel problems do you agree that the its own office in t s a they report directly to the administrator where's the fire wall and the comfort level for employees to be able to provide the necessary information to this particular  should be within t s a rather than just writ large because of the simply the size of t s a with sixty thousand employees i would not want that person's office to be diluted by being at a department level rather than agency level so my that mean that you'll physically have that office in a location that is secure and comfortable for individuals who need to utilize the services of the  again these questions that you're saying yes to if you can provide us with a timeline in writing as to when you expect that to be up and running i think that's part of professional development competition is critical to ensuring our security system is as cost of active and efficient as possible when will t s a provide airports and airlines the opportunity to select well qualified vendors in submitting biometric and biographic information for criminal history records checks and security threat assessments as directed in the t s a reauthorization act the committee is concerned because t s a has just extended a no bid fold so as a contract for two other aviation channeling programs even though there are qualified service providers without knowing the specifics of the issue that you're referring to madam chairwoman my commitment to you and the subcommittee and to the full committee is to ensure that in each and every opportunity that there are opportunities for all  small businesses minority owned businesses everybody who is qualified to equally compete for contracts with t s a so i'd be glad severally to get the details that you're referring to and look into those and get back with you in the contract in a no sole source contract for the site of channeling and you still may not have all the facts but i think you should dwell on sole source and you should dwell on  e challenges that we have that is brought to our attention of the ability of small minority women own businesses to even get an opportunity to respond and frankly i think this is going to be something that is required in writing i simply want to know why why does this have to be that approach when all of us to serve this committee probably have more small businesses offering various new technology and capabilities as we have these hearings and as they are able to reach our offices there seems to be an abundance of these individuals and small businesses and i think you know that it is a president's commitment that we  thinking what kind of leadership will you have one to answer the question i've just given and you may have to do that in writing that will give us a better approach and give us a better attitude that t serious because the essays business is around america about the opportunities for this same kind of technology the same kind of services to be rended by small medium minority and women owned businesses  businesses that can't compete i want to make sure that there's a even playing field for that recognizing the challenges that on major acquisitions such as a i t and some others small businesses simply would not be able to compete because of their  capacity development issues some contracts obviously require classified background in order to get into that and so that can pose a challenge to a small business oftentimes but for all those vendors that that we can do business with support that notion wholeheartedly i know the secretary does i just saw figures i believe last week on the percentage of contracts that the department in t s a went to small business minority o business women owned businesses and it is above the government average so i'm a strong supporter of that well let's throw this just a little bit more and i do understand that and that's why i'd like you to give some thinking to this and that is when you have that kind of require percentages of m w bees to suffer contract for a variety of the needs that the installation may call for or other aspects i'd ask you to let me just ask you to to m that to give your thoughts about that because i think we should ask very long and hard questions and how we can best serve the american american public how we can be secure and how we can answer this question of participation i agree wholeheartedly madam chair so it's something that  frankly to this point i have not been into the details on any acquisition and i don't necessarily plan to be involved in any particular ones but i can set the tone from the top as to what i expect if there are  sub contract opportunities in the large acquisitions that i i appreciate again why don't we take all these questions in note for writing and submission back to the committee let me also add that t s a is one of the  more prolific users of technology and one of the hearings that this committee is held is the transition of approval from absentee science and technology out to the users of the technology what kind of efforts utilize to have a connection have a collaboration with science and technology to ensure that products that might be helpful in securing the nation move quickly i know you have meetings with the secretary you all have your own internal meetings but that is something that we need the users of the technology to be very vocal about on how that process works yes ma'am sure i agree in and that we are working collaboratively to come up with the best solutions to the gaps that we currently have so that's that's the perspective i bring to the job is very important let me let me go back to airports and  security of airports and focus on several issues i have a lot of friends and colleagues and so let me say to them all my friends in new jersey my colleagues in new jersey this is not a point in effort to highlight  the assets that are there but i think my ranking member indicated that we were personally in newark airport when the first incident occurred where there was a  questioning who went through the wrong direction that at that time the airport was literally shut down we have had now a nother incident  in newark airport regarding inspections over the last forty eight hours we've had certainly history concerns that may not have been directly terrorist related but there are inspection related in miami airport with drug running if you will so airports are still in the eye of the storm do you view it necessary within your area that have a focused task force may be small in size that raises the red flags as to what directions we can give to airports so that we're not looking at a tragedy because we overlooked mishaps or failures in security i'm concerned about that airports are cities people are there almost twenty four hours a day to their dismay they have their own mayor and personnel that come and go to work and then they have the guest that come of whom they have to determine their legitimacy for being there our passengers the traveling public but it seems that we are always looking beyond the airlines and incidents that take place in flight which we now have done and made major changes but the airports are appearing to be so vulnerable i don't see the sense of urgency in dealing with the security in the airports you've touched on a significant issue madam chair in terms of the layered security that we in the u s government applied to evasion security recognizing that we cannot be all places at all times all in all instances and and for all people and so many of the services that you describe  contracted out as in the case of newark with the access points and perimeter security the airport authority contracts out that being said we provide security directives and instructions to each of the four hundred fifty plus airports in terms of what their security perimeter and access points should look like and so we are reviewing that newark situation my question coming out of that review is is this is stemming case you going beyond newark airport  propriety of establishing this small task forces as you say suggest and if it appears there are systemic issues then we have to roll up our sleeves and have quite a bit more work to do in working with those airports that may have those vulnerabilities it's a very difficult divide that you have to work with because there are airport authorities are state authorities their city governments and the question becomes whether or not some of these  contracts that are directly related to the security of the traveling public and or personnel on the on the grounds of the airport have to be scrutinized even more in new york is a very la area and it's located in very unique area as some airports are and we certainly appreciate i've just spoken about small businesses but i think we have to ask the question whether that's where they should be and we made a decision on ts so certainly that's a financial burden on this on this government but i think by and large members have agreed and the traveling public has agreed as we have developed the professionalism of t s a officers and their pursue the incident more thorough and with the jeopardy board that is noted and you have that under investigation but that deals with racial issues and i think it's important for you to add to your report what efforts you are utilizing in a very diverse workforce to go ahead on into discriminatory practices i'd like to  get a again and report to this committee on the demographics of ts so officers and the percentages supervisors and managers which is one of the concerns we hear as part of the traveling public that there is not enough promotion opportunity and growth opportunity for women and minorities and and others if you will that only in the traditional diversity sense where there are about forty percent of all ploys are women i believe it's forty five percent are are minorities including women blacks a much higher percentage in most areas of the federal government and in many businesses of course so i am looking at that and again pleasantly surprised by by those numbers and perspectives the other part of the diversity those because t s a is a new agency in the last nine years i've been very impressed with the diversity of experiences and backgrounds that people ts those in leadership positions bring to t s a so there is a richness and wealth of experience from many different agencies and outside the u s government from aviation from surface all these different areas are security officers who perform the screening function right have you made accommodations for those individuals who have to wear a certain headdress and have some religious practices that they need to advance i am not aware of that and i have to get back with you on that i'll be more specific and it's religious headdress that they have to have to wear and religious prayer practices i need to know whether you're addressing that question as well so let me just be very very clear i do want to have a good strong review as really discriminatory practices and some record of strong messages that will go out from you as a leader of the agency that this is unacceptable intolerable be a view and because sometimes individuals can be reprimanded and they take it lightly but i think it's important because we're dealing with security issues that  consolidated rule for rail transit and enter city bus employees as well as a consolidated rule that govern security assessments and plans for the same three mo what is the status of those rules and when will nine eleven recommendations that many have been completed but many have not for various reasons and i have appointed an accountable executive within my leadership team to focus on those  recommendations that have not been completed and the reasons why on a weekly basis so if i have to look at specifics i mean i have a chart of what has been done i know the room making  even begun and you need to let us know if that's the case there are over two years due so they may not have even begun so i just want to make sure that we get that i want to pursue in the comments that were made in the airport personnel and many airports we go to it is a smooth smooth relationship but i'd like to question whether there are directives coming from headquarters as to how that relationship should be formed how often should they be meeting and the issues that they should be discussing give you an example and point out mention it at this committee i think in a just the very clear equipment  this is a no reflection of the excellent team they are but i'm speaking because they might be a team in nashville they might be a team in denver there might be a team in philadelphia who are having the same local issues that are even beyond the boundaries of the airport because permitting is done way downtown away from most airports let me pause and ask are you developing some  of ensuring that the team is working together that if they have these kinds of concerns what is the not concerned issues what reach do they have who do they have to call you're not going to find  b trying to reach to the local permitting office the local building permits office and so they are at a disadvantage how are you working through those issues so the process madam chair is as the to acquire the permits to do the process so it's not incumbent upon the f s d two to do that they have other responsibilities and this is really a technology deployment issue so there infrastructure team in place to do that i learned of the situation in houston after our visit there and was disappointed here that that had not been  pressure but just reason brought to bear to get that permitting process done on time so as the equipment is available then that can be deployed immediately my concern with all process which i know you share is that that is a potential vulnerability or a gap that we have every day that that equipment is in our possession and could be deployed it is not is a potential vulnerability the gap we have so vast that a review be done what happened there and are there lessons learned that we can apply to other situations i'm not aware of others other airports where that is currently ongoing as that's what i hope that you would do and i would appreciate it greatly the president has indicated his support for affording collective bargaining rights to t s a employees secretary neapolitan owen said last december before the senate commerce committee that she thought it should be done without sacrificing or thought it could be done without sacrificing security and during your confirmation you said you would conduct your own review of the issue t s a employees have been very patient and waiting for this decision to be made what is the status of your review on this issue other is an outside group that has come in and done a number of interviews of leaders in other agencies rarely in the government but also those in the private sector to assess whether collective bargaining would would or could have a negative impact on the security operations and that report is nearly complete i will review that report and then make a decision  it with the secretary but the bottom line is whether collective bargaining to have an adverse impact on security if that is not the case then the decision tree becomes one is it in the best interest of the t you know a number of them are already union members without collective bargaining rights what i've heard in my town halls is that frustration on several levels levels as defined by the chairman in terms of pay and supervision and performance evaluations and things that may or may not be addressed by collective bargain so that's part of what i'm looking at and i should have my want to get this review my review will be in the in the near future i don't have a specific date for completion can you give us some rounded time frame weeks two weeks next week it would endeavor not next week because i'll be in montreal for the a o i would say weeks rather than months of that's what you're talking about yes and well and part of that is we discussed it with the secretary and whether she makes a decision or i make the decision i'm not sure on that well let me  indicate to you that we can argue with thoughtful constructive review what i will say to you for those of us who came before you we've actually been discussing this issue since nine eleven since been somewhat delayed we now have an administration as we understand it that both the president and the secretary have gone on official reckitt for their support i cannot imagine that there would be much delay i'm not going to get into the discussion of which elian and you had some direct conversation with t s a officers we are not privy to that but i think the overall issue is the right for an opportunity to engage and to be able to raise issues of your work conditions you've already made the point as the chairman made and that is that there is an unhappiness with the pay scale it is not equal to as i understand it of the civil service and equally the part time structure is a very challenging structure and fust rating certainly we're glad people working but if it doesn't create a pathway of growth professionalism and i really think you need to look at it and i think you need to seriously look at this question of not engaging i didn't hear you say that you did you say that you had opposition while you were out on your tour to this idea well i've asked for the pros and cons of from again the the t s o s in the managers of supervisors executives so i've received both  pros and cons from different people that i've talked to if i could say that i'm sure i greatly appreciate your personal interest and committee subcommittee is interested in the well being and benefits of the t s o s because i know you appreciate the work that they do every day often without any acclaim or recognition often with complaints so that is important maybe to know that you and the subcommittee and all committee are as interested in and support the men and women of t s a as you do appreciate that well we look forward to working with you and i know that the reporters will probably pause on this analysis i thought that you had mentioned  and you just say that you got the pros and cons and i was going to use this example and i think i will go ahead and do so knowing that i'm probably way beyond the jurisdiction of this committee but we have been debating don't ask don't tell and there's been a lot of representation as to what the troops would want and not want and i only raised the question you don't know until the process is implemented you won't know about the opportunities for engagement on work issues until it is implemented we have seen it implemented in the police and fire particularly where we have something call me to confirm i'm not suggesting that what i'm saying is and jurisdictions have survived when public employees have had the ability to have a discussion i would imagine that as you review this you look at it and be engaging in the unions and find the best commonality that you can to protect america and also to provide for these very very important workers we're on the front lines my simple message is we won't know until we try it and i just think it's important and i  to have a review that is as expeditious and thorough so that we can try it and have an opportunity for workers to be able to feel both appreciated  and as well able to communicate their concerns to their management so let me thank you very much i think we have given you a litany of of questions and reports all of which will not be due next week and we recognize the work that has to be done but i will say to you that i can't think of a more serious responsibility within the d h s s which most people now recognize has really become the armor against terrorists who may come from anywhere and you are very keenly engage in the transportation area where so many view it as a target that is yet tracked if the terrorists that was the title of this hearing and so we thank you for contributing to it there being no further questions for our witness i think it means trade a pistol for appearing before the subcommittee today and for your patience the members of the subcommittee may have additional questions for you and we