Excerpt
SUMMARY: The U.S. Senate took a hard look at airport security after a damning report found that fake explosives, weapons and other banned items went unnoticed in 67 of 70 tests, while another report found that the TSA failed to identify 73 employees with unspecified links to terrorism. Judy Woodruff discusses the lapses with Jack Riley of RAND National Security Research Division.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): The U.S. Senate took a hard look at airport safety today and two new accounts questioning the effectiveness of the Transportation Security Administration.
MAN: This Senate hearing will come to order.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The Senate hearing came a week after the leak of a damning report on the TSA’s failures. The federal Department of Homeland Security, TSA’s parent agency, found fake explosives, weapons and other banned items went unnoticed in 67 of 70 tests.
Today, Nebraska Republican Senator Ben Sasse questioned John Roth, the inspector general who wrote the report.
SEN. BEN SASSE, R-Neb.: Do you think it’s possible that TSA really could really have not understood how grave their problem was before last week’s leaked report?
JOHN ROTH, Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security: You know, it’s something that we think about all the time. I mean, do they truly understand the nature of the risk that they face? Candidly, I worry about that.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Others said they’re worried that a push for reduced airport wait times has actually harmed security.
Rebecca Roering is assistant TSA director at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport.
REBECCA ROERING, Assistant Federal Security Director, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport: TSA is handing out pre-check status like Halloween candy in an effort to expedite passengers as quickly as possible, despite self-admitted security gaps that are being created by the process.
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