page_title: Transportation Security Administration
section_title: History and mission
hierarchical_section_title: Transportation Security Administration / History and mission
caption_attribution_description: English: TSA insignia
context_page_description: The Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that has authority over the security of the traveling public in the United States. It was created as a response to the September 11 attacks.
  Chiefly concerned with air travel, the TSA employs screening officers in airports, armed Federal Air Marshals on planes, mobile teams of dog handlers and explosives specialists.
context_section_description: The TSA was created largely in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which revealed weaknesses in existing airport security procedures. At the time, a myriad of private security companies managed air travel security under contract to individual airlines or groups of airlines that used a given airport or terminal facility. Proponents of placing the government in charge of airport security, including Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, argued that only a single federal agency could best protect passenger aviation.
  Congress agreed, and authorized the creation of the TSA in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001. Bush nominated John Magaw on December 10, and he was confirmed by the Senate the following January. The agency was initially placed under the United States Department of Transportation, but was moved to the Department of Homeland Security when that department was formed on March 9, 2003.
  The new agency's effort to hire screeners to begin operating security checkpoints at airports represents a case of a large-scale staffing project completed over a short period. The only effort in U.S. history that came close to it was the testing of recruits for the armed forces in World War II. During the period from February to December 2002, 1.7 million applicants were assessed for 55,000 screening jobs.
  The TSA develops broad policies to protect the U.S. transportation system, including highways, railroads, buses, mass transit systems, ports, and pipelines. It fulfills this mission in conjunction with other federal agencies and state partners. However, the TSA's primary focus is on airport security and the prevention of aircraft hijacking. It is responsible for screening passengers and baggage at more than 450 U.S. airports.
caption: Historical TSA design used on TSO uniform patch, coin, and Year of Service pins.
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