goes to tsa. ultimately, the tsa screening issue was not created overnight and won't be solved overnight. however, we must work together to offer ideas and resources to tsa while administrator neffenger and his team review current screening protocols, funding priorities and management practices. >>> thank you for the opportunity to testify today and i would be happy to answer any questions you might have. >> thank you ms. philipovich, appreciate your testimony and we'll have several follow-up questions for all of you, of course. i recognize david cox, national president of the american federation of government employees for his testimony. mr. cox? >> thank you, mr. chairman, representative payne, members of the committee. i am proud to testify today on behalf of the 42,000 transportation security officers, tsos that afge represents that stand on the side of the safety of the flying american public tsos point to four issues have conspired to produce the acute situation at airport wes see today. one

would it be tsa? >> we'd have to find the money someplace. >> so $85 is in fact the cost, and you want to enroll ten more people, that means $850 million you would have to find somewhere else in your budget, is that right? >> that's right. yes, sir. >> it's kind of insane, isn't it? >> i like self-funded programs. the bottom line, the bill that's sitting over at senate, i want to make sure i understand it directs tsa to work with the private sector to have competition in the precheck program. that would help drive cost downs, that's the goal. with that being said do you believe that bill would help you achieve higher numbers with precheck? >> it codifies what we're trying to do right now, which is to increase competition in the private sector with the hope of that competition driving the cost down. >> okay. good enough. now with respect to -- i want to talk about the bonuses that were given out. is there a system at tsa that subordinates can nominate superiors for bonuses. >> there was a system that a

goes to tsa. ultimately, the tsa screening issue was not created overnight and won't be solved overnight. however, we must work together to offer ideas and resources to tsa while administrator neffenger and his team review current screening protocols, funding priorities and management practices. >> thank you for the opportunity to testify today and i would be happy to answer any questions you might have. >> thank you ms. philipovich, appreciate your testimony and we'll have several follow-up questions for all of you, of course. i recognize david cox, national president of the american federation of government employees for his testimony. mr. cox? >> thank you, mr. chairman, representative payne, members of the committee. i am proud to testify today on behalf of the 42,000 transportation security officers, tsos that afe represents that stand on the side of the safety of the flying american public tsos point to four issues have conspired to produce the acute situation at airport wes see today. one,

. >> off the top of my head i can't give you the pay of any tsa employees. >> do most tsa employees get a raise? >> the annual cost of living increases. >> would you say if he didn't would that be retaliation. >> i'll check to see -- >> no, yes or no. if he's getting paid the same he got paid in 2005, is it retaliation? >> i'd have to see the facts of the case. >> i'm giving you the facts of the case. is it retaliation or not? let me tell you, what really bothers me is i protect my whistle blowers. for you to get up here and talk about how wonderful the rank and file is, and how you're looking out for their best interests, and to see evidence that retaliation continues to go it has a chilling effect, wouldn't you think? >> if there is retaliation i will look into it. >> why is the office of special counsel having to open a full investigation? >> on mr. mcclain? >> yeah. why are they doing a full investigation? >> the one that was already done? >> i'm talking about the one they're about to embark on. >> if they're opening it again it's because of his allegation. i'm not familiar with the

six out of 17 were staffed by tsa. the situation reached crisis point on sunday or without adequate staffing american airlines reported 543 passengers. secure immediate resource for the city. tsa since ansinton optimization teams. the converted over 160 part-timers to a full-time duty, increased over time provided eight additional k-9 teams to o'hare from around the country. we greatly appreciate the responsiveness and that resources arrive so quickly. we are working to assure silicon prompt responses to the needs and concerns of midway airport. this response is possible because congress approved tsa's programming requests average and maximum wait times, staffing and resource levels provided by tsa. in the short term in order to manage the spring and summer travel season ahead here are a few critical resources and management steps that we need to ensure happening. the allocate passenger screening teams based on the aviation system priorities. provide federal security director's the ability to make local decisions about

at the time i testified that tsa's reluctance to correct that audits uncovered reflected tsa's failure to understand the gravity of the situation. six months ago i testified before the committee and stated that i believe that the new administrator had begun the process of critical self-evaluation and aided by the dedicated workforce of tsa was in a position to begin addressing some of these issues. i predicted that the new critical challenging task would be to create a culture of change by giving the workforce the ability to identify and address risks without fear of retribution. today i still believe that to be true, however, we should not minimize the significance and the challenge that is tsa faces and the great risks that failure brings. the task is difficult and will take time. in the meantime my office will continue to conduct audits, inspections and investigations and bring independent look and professional skepticism to our reviews as we are required to do. in light of part one of the committee's hearing, i would like to discuss our offices work in investigating misconduct with

tsa as the checkpoint operator but also tsa as the regulator of the airports. it's a monumental task that's going to take time to fix. >> okay. we appreciate you both. we have greatest confidence in the administrator. but also in the inspector general, plays a vital role. you each represent a lot of employees, and a lot of people who are good, hard working patriotic people who are trying to do the right thing. for that, we thank you. we have a mutual symbiotic relationship in trying to weed out the bad apples. and they're there. to the extent that we can make that better, smarter more fair i think will improve morale and make the airports and the population more safe and secure. and we share that mutual goal and so we look forward to continuing to work with you and thank you for your presence today. thanks again to the men and women who do the good hard work every day. with that the committee stands adjourned. [ no audio ] >>> on the agenda this week, the $610 billion pentagon policy and programs bill. also work on military construction and veterans spending. s

we all of us at tsa now believe that congress can and will fix tsa. thank you, sir. you have inspired all of us to renew our faith in the process of accountable leadership and i wish you continued success and i will leave the name out. the reason i read that is because there are people depending on us. and they just want to get it right; you know? a lot of times i hear negative things about employees, that is federal employees, and state government, but i tell people that a lot of these people, and most of them come out, they have a mission, and they want to serve the public, and they want to treat them right. they are stresses that come with the job. i mean any elected official will tell you they can be in the super market and maybe somebody comes up and says hello, and somebody says congressman, hello. by the seventh or eighth person they don't realize they are the eighth person that called him and doesn't realize he has to get home but that is part of the job. i realize that a lot of the things the employees do i am sure can get munotmous and the chairman was show

goes to tsa. ultimately, the tsa screening issue was not created overnight and won't be solved overnight. however, we must work together to offer ideas and resources to tsa while administrator neffenger and his team review current screening protocols, funding priorities and management practices. thank you for the opportunity to testify today and i would be happy to answer any questions you might have. >> thank you ms. philipovich, appreciate your testimony and we'll have several follow-up questions for all of you, of course. i recognize david cox, national president of the american federation of government employees for his testimony. mr. cox? >> thank you, mr. chairman, representative payne, members of the committee. i am proud to testify today on behalf of the 42,000 transportation security officers, tsos that afge represents that stand on the side of the safety of the flying american public tsos point to four issues have conspired to produce the acute situation at airport wes see today. one, th

what is not happening at the tsa. today we will have a second hearing examining the misconduct and management practices that we have heard about, seeing about, and investigated at the transportation security administration. this time of year traveling public picks up kids and families and people are traveling, sometimes at record levels. people get frustrated, they go to airports, there are long lines, there are frustrations and at the same time we have to have a balance to make sure that the airplanes are properly secured because the enemy and whatnot, they only need to give i once. and they deal with millions of passengers on a weekly basis with the tsa. we have a lot of good men and women who serve on the front line. who are trying to do the best job that they can, dealing with a frustrated public, sometimes they are hot and sweaty and late. there are a lot of issues to deal with. last summer the inspector, the department of homeland security inspector general, performed covert testing and found failures in the tec

we all -- all of us at tsa now believe that congress can and will fix tsa. thank you, sir. you have inspired all of us to renew our faith in the process of accountable leadership. i wish you continued success and great health. i'm going to leave the name out. the reason why i read that letter is because there are people depending on us. they just want to get it right, you know? a lot of times i hear negative things about employees. that is federal employees. and state government. but i tell people, that a lot of these people -- most of them they come out, they have a mission, and they want to serve the public. and they want to treat them right. there are stresses that come with the job. i mean, any elected official will tell you they can be at the supermarket and maybe somebody will come up and say hello and then somebody will say that congressman they're trying to get out of the supermarket. about the seventh or eighth person, the person doesn't realize that they're the seventh or eighth person that's called them and doesn't realize he's got to get home. but so there is --

our -- our tsa assessment program is very standardized. our -- we have a cadre of about 150 inspectors who work around the world and they follow a very clearly articulated job aid that assist them in conducting these assessments. it's a very regular process that we operate around the world. now, how regularly is the tsa going to be inspecting the six lpd airports in cuba? , -- >> we'll be there annually to look at the airports on a regular basis. if we're talking about any kind of start of service or changes, our tsa inspectors are there before service starts up, while service is starting to ensure that everything is going smoothly, and they'll be there afterwards after about a 30-day period to make sure that operations are running smoothly and normally and in accordance with icao standards. >> so now, in your opinion, how secure is flying to and from cuban airports compared to any other lpd airports in the world? >> i would be very comfortable flying from cuba myself. it's -- it's -- they meet international standards. >> so, you know, we

and this summer, the tsa needs you. will you get to see all the shapes, square shapes, circle shapes, dildo shapes. my god, the protecting your lives, lotions and half drunk waters, your heart desires. oh, yeah, room temperature. as a defender of the skies, you can chat with your coworkers whenever you want because at 15 dollars an hour, you don't have to give up [bleep] they are the many, the not so proud, the tsa. (laughter). >> trevor: now that's how you make an ad. we'll be right back 7 [ crowd cheering ] beer! ice cold beer! hey, can we get some beers? what beer? ummmm... redd's apple ale! i'll take one too. me too! hey! redd's apple ale! redd's apple ale. crisp like an apple. brewed like a beer. who don't have access thto basic banking,on people but that is changing. at temenos, with the microsoft cloud, we can enable a banker to travel to the most remote locations with nothing but a phone and a tablet. everywhere where there's a phone, you have a bank. now a person is able to start a business, and employ somebody

. >> are you [ bleep ] tsa. what the [ bleep ]. classify zerowater and brita are not equal especially when it comes to reducing lead in your water. zerowater's five-stage filter is the only one certified by the nsf to reduce lead lead that conventional, two- stage filters may leave behind. so, if you want the purest-tasting water and the water filter that's proven to reduce lead look for zerowater. get more out of your water. >>> live in america's election headquarters in washington, good morning to you. i'm leland vittert. thousands of mourners turning out to honer a falling navicele. charlie keating was killed in action again action. people began gathering on the streets hours before the services began in coronado california. he was awarded heart and silver star for his heroism. >> and vladimir putin says a new shield in romania is a threat to global security and vows that russia will take the necessary steps to respond. nato says the missile defense system is to protect europe from rogue states like iran. i'm

and this summer, the tsa needs you. will you get to see all the shapes, square shapes, circle shapes, dildo shapes. my god, the protecting your lives, lotions and half drunk waters, your heart desires. oh, yeah, room temperature. as a defender of the skies, you can chat with your coworkers whenever you want because at 15 dollars an hour, you don't have to give up [bleep] they are the many, the not so proud, the tsa. (laughter). >> trevor: now that's how you make an ad. we'll be right back 7 recently, a 1954 mercedes-benz grand prix race car made history when it sold for a record price of just under $30 million. and now, another mercedes-benz makes history selling at just over $30,000. ♪ and to think this one actually has a surround-sound stereo. the 2016 cla. lease the cla250 for $299 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. with booking.com's range rebel and key can wing it all the way to jordan and chelsea's wedding. rumble! road trip. there she is. uh oh, oh, oh, oh, what? so

and we have some hard-working tsa's. unfortunately, we had the incident last year. >> you did. >> where we had to use deadly force and it was done by the book. what about k-9 teams? that's another thing that they expressed. we had it for jazz fest. it worked tremendously well. so, the question becomes, can we get a permanent one and as you expand your 10 point plan, or implement it, where would we fall on the list? >> i'll get you the exact priorities on the list for the record. i would tell you i like to expand our k-9 program beyond what we currently have. right now, i pushed k-9's to the largest airports where we're experiencing some of the biggest problems. my plan is to backfill those as we can bring more k-9's on board. i will find out where new orleans is on the priority list. >> i have read and i know about your goal to increase pre-check passengers. one idea that i think that, you know, let me just say off hand, i am opposed to the baggage fees. i think it's abominable. the price of gas has gone down and has bee

as far as tsa is concerned? >> i've been very pleased with what the airlines have been aggressively doing lately. quite a few the airlines have thathiring contract staff frees up the tso to get back on the checkpoint. allowing people to run the bins from one area to the other. that can slow things down if you are not prepared by the time you get there. we human psychology is such that once your online you don't want to leave that line to go to another one because you might find yourself in a longer one. catching them before they get in line is important. also helping us to do a huge increase in enrollments a lot of people walk into a standard line not knowing that it would be an automatic pre-check lane. 15% walking into a mr.dard lane by mistake thank you for your testimony here today. in new york my understanding is that at jfk airport is 82% increase in the maximum time between 2015 in 2016. can you quantify what impact you expect from the additional offices you will be sending there. we're ready seeing a dra

chaos at tsa check points nationwide. and if you think those lines have people mad, wait until you see the bonus we just gave one tsa worker. sfx: road noise sfx: tires screeching sfx: horn honking daughter: daddy! we don't say words like that! ♪just let your love flow♪ ♪like a mountain stream♪ ♪and let your love grow♪ states like iran. i'm legalland vittert. back to bulls and bears. >> tlm there it is. are you [ bleep ] kidding me tsa? what the [ bleep ]? >> the nightmare continues. tsa lines testing travelers patience. also this week 3,000 bags missing their flights after the computer glitch in phoenix. and here is the cherry. news that one tsa official got a $90,000 bonus while the agency was failing before, private companyies. three would there be better customer service? of course. because you just write it into the guidelines aey don't hit the levels they don't get the contract renewed. and would it cost less than the current tsa bloat? yes of course it is a private company they want to keep costs low. s

and this summer, the tsa needs you. will you get to see all the shapes, square shapes, circle shapes, dildo shapes. my god, the protecting your lives, lotions and half drunk waters, your heart desires. oh, yeah, room temperature. as a defender of the skies, you can chat with your coworkers whenever you want because at 15 dollars an hour, you don't have to give up [bleep] they are the many, the not so proud, the tsa. (laughter). >> trevor: now that's how you make an ad. we'll be right back 7 can i get you guys some beers? redd's apple ale! ♪ [ "stay" by lisa loeb ] redd's apple ale. also for a limited time in blueberry. [ song continues ] pa, wiland how he savede story fried chicken forever? by making it the hard way? which means using fresh whole chickens from american farms. a milk and egg wash. hand breadin' in a slow fast food patented, pressure-frying process that takes no less than twenty-five minutes. and how cantankerous, fastidious, and handsome he was daddy? daddy? okay. see you when the rooster crows. colone

tsa had challenges in every area of operations. at the time i testified that the reluctance to securing vulnerabilities that the audits reflected had the failure to understand the gravity of the situation. six months ago i testified before this committee and stated they believe that the new administrator had begun the process of self evaluation and aided by the workforce of the tsa was in a position to address the issues. i predicted that the most challenging task would create a culture of change by giving them theability to identify and address risk without fear of retribution. today i still believe that to be true. however we should not minimize the significance and the challenge that is the tsa faces and the grave risks that failure brings. the task is difficult and will take time. in the meantime my office will conduct audits and investigations and bring an independent look and professional skepticism as we are required to do. in light of part one, i would like to discuss the offices work and misconduct within the workforce. we

to staffing shortages affecting tsa security. reports indicate that travelers are arriving at security check points where not all available queues are open for general screening. i can attest to that going through st. louis's airport. i'm part of the precheck program but more often than not it's closed. i'm told by officers that they don't have enough people to staff it. is there a long-term strategy to fix the morale issue and the employment issue? >> yes, sir. there is a plan. i know that the administrator has touted the fact that we're putting 200 extra tso officers through the academy each week. both of my counterparts can speak to the screening process. from the precheck standpoint i know that we're putting more advertising out to get more people enrolled. we're trying to get more people into the program, trying to show them the advantages of that. precheck is a high priority for the agency and we're trying to get more people into that. once we do that, the more people that are in precheck, we can sustain that much better. i

tsa informs us that they are inspecting and evaluating airports e

in atlanta today, a trial run for a new tsa checkpoint. fully automated with each bin full of passenger carry-ons, getting assigned an electronic tag, then recycled through the system once empty. what the tsa hopes could help speed checkpoints along. >> we're looking at a lot of lessons learned and operations overseas to incorporate some of the things that are happening here in the united states. >> reporter: american airlines representatives will testify before congress tomorrow that they believe so far this year, lester, 70,000 of their passengers alone have missed their flights. tens of thousands, in fact 40,000 bags missing their connections, all because of this tsa mess. back to you. >> as you remind us, the flying season is about to heat up. tom, thank you. >>> as is often the case, it is the most visible who get the blame. in this case the blue-shirted tsa screeners who man those checkpoints. it's by accounts a difficult and thankless job. tonight a veteran former screener opens up about the pressure of screening so many passengers

all because of the tsa mess. back to you. >> as you remind us, the flying season is about to heat up. tom, thank you. >>> as is often the case, it is the most visible who get the blame. in this case the blue-shirted tsa screeners who man those checkpoints. it's a difficult and thankless job. a former screener opens up about the pressure of screening so many passengers a day, and hope that you don't miss something. she spoke with nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer. >> reporter: a velt ran baggage screener at l.a.x. >> when i was there, morale was pretty low. >> reporter: cassandra worked for the tsa for ten years. >> it can be very stressful. there's a lot of pressure to keep the line moving. >> reporter: calloway, who said she resigned in 2013, after a personal dispute with a co-worker, took her job after 9/11. >> it was a way to give back. to our country after what happened. it was just a way to show our country love. >> so what's to blame for the problem we're seeing now? >> the blame goes everywhe

when are the tsa improvements going to kick in? training takes six to eight to ten weeks. >> what about the efforts by american, delta, united to spend up to $4 million on additional workers? will that help? >> it's triage for the airlines. they need get people on the line. they can't speed the line up. they're not insuspecting you. they're trying to figure out how many passengers are late for a flight to figure out which planes will release and which will hold based on how they connect. >> the numbers are staggering. there's a big difference as we saw between the chicago airport and what's happening in atlanta. the numbers are 70,000 missed flights for american airlines waiting in lines. what do you think needs to happen? >> first of all, people are applying in record numbers to become members of the tsa pre-check program. 15,000 per day. >> does it work? >> no, it doesn't. i was live frommi inming -- i w flying out of jfk earlier, i've hapre-check since the day started. i took a photograph. look at me, empty, closed. th the botto

>> my current title is tsa representative. i'm based in nassau, bahamas, and covers cuba, haiti and the a bahamas. >> have you been asked to review the airports in question in cuba? >> i don't necessarily review them. i'm not an inspector. my goal is to -- my job is to work with the foreign government, the government of cuba in this case, and ensure they meet all the security requirements that currently exist. i share with them best practices, lessons learned, and one very important aspect of my job is to ensure that once the inspectors have identified a deficiency, if any, i work closely with the government ensure that the deficiency is corrected. >> have you visited the ten lpd airports. >> there are only currently seven. >> how many have you adviced. >> all seven of them. with respect to the ones you visited, do you recall speaking with us prior to coming in here today and giving us general findings from the visited? do you remember telling us your general observations? >> yes, sir. >> now, tell me, in those seven airports

in atlanta today, a trial run for a new tsa checkpoint. fully automated with each bin full of passenger carry-ons, getting assigned an recycled through the system once empty. what the tsa hopes could help speed checkpoints along. >> we're looking at a lot of lessons learned and operations ovaserseo incorporate some of the things that are happening here in the united states. >> reporter: american airlines representatives will testify before congress tomorrow that they believe so far this year, lester, 70,000 of their passengers alone have missed their flights. tens of thousands, in fact 40,000 bags missing their connections, all because of this tsa mess. back to you. >> as you remind us, the flying season is about to heat up. tom, thank you. >>> as is often the case, it is the most visible who get the blame. in this case the blue-shirted tsa screeners who man those checkpoints. it's by accounts a difficult and thankless job. today a veteran former screener opens up about the pressure of screening so many passengers a day, and hoping you don

supervision, under tsa's rules. there's no way to get that in place before the summer season. and doing it wholesale across the system would be a little bit extreme. >> but do you have hope that that would be helpful? do it better even if they are being supervised by the government tsa? >> let's not forget that the tsa's primary job is to keep people in the skies safe, to keep our airplanes and airport systems safe. something that they are good at is not to be efficient and move people through quickly. that's secondary. and private companies that are operating under the same rule, with the same equipment, with the same resources are probably not going to do it more efficient than tsa. >> david, thank you very much. thanks, david. >> my pleasure. >>> coming up, there are more companies than ever selling access to television but there is one that may be worth watching. >>> here's a look at what to watch for tomorrow. dow component sysco is viewed as a barometer of the enterprise tech sector. the federal reserve releas

>> tsa has an enormous budget. $7.3 billion. compare that to the i.c.e. budget, the immigration agency. and they have a $6.2 billion budget. so i don't think it's a money problem. i think they've got to be better at implementing the technology that's out there. there's face recognition technology. we need to use what silicon valley can do to shorten these lines, not just throw money at the problem. >> and mercedes, the numbers bear out this way. over the last couple of years, i believe from 2013 to this year, air travel is up about 15%. that's quite a few travelers. i think 40 million passengers. in that same period, the budget has at least been stagnant, maybe even lowered a bit over that same period of time. so maybe it is time to give them more money, or should we threaten them with a private company coming in and doing their job? >> it would be interesting to bring up that option about privatization. the reason for that is, when you look at the house committee reports back in 2012, it was clear that what came out was the fact that the tsa was viewed a

the tsa is apologizing this morning for its treatment of an olympic gold medalist over the weekend. >> we're talking about olympic swimmer amy van dyken ruen who took her outrage to instagram over her humiliating experience at denver airport at the hands of agents. >> reporter: the tsa is now admitting to mistakes in its denver airport screening of six-time olympic gold medal swimmer amy van dyken ruen who was paralyzed from the waist down after a 2014 atv accident. >> when you're in a wheelchair what a lot of people don't know is they have to do a screening your breasts, they basically go under your butt. they touch things that are not appropriate. and it's really embarrassing. >> reporter: the former olympian says she has tsa precheck, which involves passing a background check to avoid having to endure that type of public humiliation. she explained to agents in denver that normally tsa checks her wheelchair, hands, and feet for explosives as she can't fit through the metal detector. a supervisor forcing her to undergo a full body pat-down. >> she said literally every

my experience with tsa, tsa often doesn't like me, and i've wondered if tsa has a secret profile for scruffy rednecks or maybe ornery rednecks or people that just kind of radiate like this is a bunch of crap. so anyhow. >> crofton, maryland. mike. independent caller. >> caller: yeah. thank you so much for being on the program. really refreshing to hear. i wanted to ask you how much of a factor is like rhetoric in all of this? like phrases such as war on terror, for example. >> mike, we'll take that. >> yeah, it's an excellent question. the whole phrase war on terror. well, what is terror? terror is bad things done by non-governments. but if it's government killing somebody then it's not terrorism, it's public service. and it's almost that absurd. but if you look at some of the governments the u.s. supports like uzbekistan, which i guess a decade ago used some u.s. aid to just slaughter hundreds of demonstrators, and which is known for taking dissidents and boiling them alive in vats of oil, but they still get u.s. foreign aid. if you look at haiti, utterly corrupt. the u.s. gives mon

question mark -- tsa? if you could provide whatever the current standard is. you said they you -- you said you that those daily -- if someone were to get arrested or had an assault charge or a murder charge, to pick something heinous, how would you know that once they have been hired? >> evening after they have been hired, we do a current criminal history background check. i believe it is on an annual basis, i will verify that and then we do daily recurrent, it is a continuous check against the terrorist screening database for our employees. host: all of that hearing available at www.c-span.org. next up in washington. caller: i am calling because i had these people calling and complaining about the tsa and they want more security -- they wanted more security protection, they got it, this is the consequence of it. i think the tsa is doing the best they can. if congress was not bickering they could have passed a bill to higher more tsa operators. secure, youto be have to do the things you have to do to prote

for example, my tsa pre-check bill would require tsa to expand and aggressively market the program thereby increasing the number of trusted travelers into the system. diverting them into pre-check checkpoints and acleaveleveleviateing stress on public checkpoints. however due to typical washington antics, this bill, amongst others, remains stalled. when i came to congress i made a commitment to my constituents to tackle problems head on and get things done. last week, the subcommittee convened representatives from airports and airlines from across the country to discuss the crisis and flare them about what they think needs to be done to help. it was a very productive meeting and gave me faith that the process in congress can and does work sometimes. the message was consistent. tsa needs to collaborate with airport authorities to coordinate sufficient staffing levels on a local basis. i have heard your message and today i will introduce the checkpoint optimization and efficiency act of 2016 which will require tsa to maximize their available resources and give airports and airlines a seat at

is still employed at tsa. why is it acceptable for tsa senior executives to lie, when tso's are removed for the same infraction? in conclusion, the american public and congress should care about what happens in tsa, because senior leaders are mismanaging the agencies and our effectiveness is compromised. our corporate culture is analogous to the movie animal house. while the relationship between our headquarters and the field is best replicated in the series, game of thrones. i cannot imagine any company being successful when it treats employees the way tsa does. if this was a private company, the entire leadership would have been removed, long ago. i thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before you and i thank the congresswoman for her support. i think until we fix these issues, that we will always fall short in the ban of excellence. we are an agency in dire need of oversight and the american public deserves an agency focused on defeating the threat. employees in tsa, tso's in particular, they de

that is what the tsa said. if you look at the last month, what they have been spending money on it was easy to find $2 million on stuff that is not related to security at all and largely spending to try to make their brand better. if you look at $1.7 million to the company communications which received funding from the tsa, responsible for the pre-check advertisement which tsa promised there would be 25 million americans only 9 million americans have been rolled in it so the advertising campaign didn't work and they are giving $1.7 million more. on top of that $50,000 to a digital media company that worked on the obama 2012 reelection campaign for pr. you see lots of spending trying to make the tsa image better and if they just fix the problems their image would be better. maria: martha: not like you get to pick your favorite tsa area. why market to consumers in the first place when they are providing a service? not like they are a retail operation? when you look at how the money was spent on the pre-check issu

of the 320 agencies, the tsa ranked 313th. this is an alarming trend throughout homeland security not just the tsa. there are a number of these agencies, including the secret service and others, that are near the very, very bottom of agencies that are ranked. it's something that has to be asession asse assessed, and there are probably within reasons for this and we have a duty and obligation to our federal employees. you worry that people in a security type of situation with low morale, you don't necessarily get the best security and the best product out of that. two weebs ago, one of our witnesses testified that he believed, quote, while the new administrator at the tsa has made security a much needed priority once again, we remain an agency in crisis, end quote. he attributed poor leadership and oversight of senior leadership appointments in the last several years as major contributing factors. testimony before this committee alleged a double standard within the tsa. we've heard senior leaders in the agency are treated with

chaos at tsa check points nationwide. and if you think those lines have people mad, wait until you see the bonus we just gave one see the bonus we just gave one tsa worker. at ally bank, no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like grandkids equals free tech support. oh, look at you, so great to see you! none of this works. come on in. ram trucks are reaching new heights when it comes to capability and efficiency. the ram heavy duty is the most capable full-sized pickup on the road today. and, the ram 1500 is the most fuel-efficient, full-sized pickup. ever. so what does that mean? it means ram trucks give you the best of both worlds. so go big. and go far. guts. glory. ram. freshly made in the tokyo-japanese tradition, each batch is small. special. unique... every bowl blurring the line between food...and art. when you cook with incredible ingredients... you make incredible meals. fresh ingredients. step-by-step-recipes. delivered to your door. get your first two meals free blueapron.com/cook. i asked my den

they are managed by tsa personnel. but if you allow them to move personnel around, if you allow them to deduce split shifts, if you allow them to do various kinds of things to deal with peak loads, privatization could help substantially. >> mike, i want to say that part of this is poor communication. within the past few weeks i was at a flight and told to show up at least two hours early. we waited for the tsa employees to show up. it's not an efficient process. >> no, it isn't. it's not even a good security process. if anybody thinks this is better than what we have before 9/11, you're dreaming. when you have a 95% failure rate, we have a system that needs to be completely rebuilt. the public is not safer than it was before. this is all for show and not a lot of go. >> do you think it's very helpful that we'll see things fixed any time quickly, mike? >> no way. the tsa is the victim of something that came along. we are the victims of really, really bad, sloppy management and that's why we're paying the price. >> on th

as the tsa cuts back on screeners and tightens the procedures. they are working to make the process to go more quickly. this was the scene in the phoenix international airport after the tsa

that includes more hiring at the tsa. more tsa agents. perhaps you see them in the background here in this live picture at midway. also, more overtime for those tsa agents. also, a promotion of the tsa pre-check program. maybe you see this sign there. that's where you go to the right, if you have checked in with the tsa in advance and paid the money. you get to go to the shorter line. today, not such a shorter line, though. kind of tough. the other thing, neil, i think to me the headline that will affect travelers, he says he's working with airlines now to reduce the number of carry-ons you can take. as you know, now you only get two carry-ons. if they reduce it, that could be one. maybe you're stuffing your purse and your suitcase, or, i don't know, maybe bringing a glad back. that's it from midway. >> jeff, you always forget the last option i've been pushing on americans. fly commando! but that's up to you, america. only a vision i want to leave you of me. all right. meanwhile, thousands of bags missing at phoenix sky harbor airport. it

they are managed by tsa personnel. but if you allow them to move personnel around, if you allow them to deduce split shifts, if you allow them to do various kinds of things to deal with peak loads, privatization could help substantially. >> mike, i want to say that part of this is poor communication. within the past few weeks i was at a flight and told to show up at least two hours early. we waited for the tsa employees to show up. it's not an efficient process. >> no, it isn't. it's not even a good security process. if anybody thinks this is better than what we have before 9/11, you're dreaming. when you have a 95% failure rate, we have a system that needs to be completely rebuilt. the public is not safer than it was before. this is all for show and not a lot of go. >> do you think it's very helpful that we'll see things fixed any time quickly, mike? >> no wa something that came along. we are the victims of really, really bad, sloppy management and that's why we're paying the price. >> on that note, thank you, guys, f

>> my current title is tsa representative. i'm based in nassau, bahamas, and it covers several different countries, most particularly being cuba, haiti and the bahamas. >> thank you. and in that capacity, have you been asked to review the lpd airports in question in cuba? >> i don't necessarily review them. i'm not an inspector. my goal and my job is to work with the foreign government, the government of cuba in this case, ensure that they meet all the security requirements that currently exist. i share with them best practices, lessons learned, and one very important aspect of my job is to ensure that once the inspectors have identified a deficiencies, if any, i work closely with the government to ensure that that deficiency is corrected. >> have you visited the ten lpd airports? >> i have not visited the ten lpds. >> how many have you visited? >> all seven of them. >> thank you. with respect to the ones you visited you recall speaking with us prior to coming in here today and giving us some general findings from those visits

it will be a major test for tsa. the agency is trying to avoid more scenes like this one, long screening lines have plagued the airports across the country leading to a sharp rise in frustration. >>> more than 2 1/2 million people are expected to fly over the holiday weekend. here is a look at flights currently in the air. look at that. we have correspondents keeping tabs on security lines at the busiest airports and we're going to begin with kris van cleave at reagan national. that's just outside washington. kris, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we're learning department of homeland security is going to ask congress for permission to use another $28 million to essentially make nearly 3,000 screeners full-time employees. they say that will help screen an additional 80,000 flyers a day. >> step on over. step on over. >> reporter: the first real test of the travel season is under way for the tsa. airports are bracing for record crowds as more than 231 million passengers fly from june through august. that's 95,

. >> now a discussion on tsa wait times. thengressman, a member of committee was a guest on washington journal. this is 40 minutes. table,ack at our congressman john mica to talk about airport security and long wait lines. breaking overnight, the tsa's head of security in the wake of the long lines. the agency's assistant administrator for security operations has been reassigned to a new position. what is your reaction? we have heard several hearings on the tsa performance. we are in the oversight is not in my subcommittee. it was revealed this particular individual had received $80,000 in a year and a subsequent month of 90,000 in bonuses, plus $180,000 salary. he was at home with the meltdown. know, it has been a disaster out there in particular the big airport here at one of the problems is what was created by a media revelation of a 95% last fall, failure then you have the new administrator come and ordering to crack down, we will bring in and no moreoroughly exceptions, that brought the lines. we had other tsa folks tes