WASHINGTON -- Screening at U.S. airports is no better now than before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives who was briefed Friday about an investigation conducted by the Government Accountability Office and one by the Homeland Security Department.
"A lot of people will be shocked at the billions of dollars we've spent and the results they're going to see," said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House aviation subcommittee.
Improving the ability to find dangerous materials has been a top goal of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration since it took over the security task at about 450 airports in early 2002. More than 45,000 people were hired.
Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio, the ranking Democrat on the aviation subcommittee, also was briefed on the two reports, which are to be released within a month.
"The common finding is that no set of screeners, private nor public, is performing anywhere near the level I think we need," said DeFazio, who is critical of the X-ray machines used on baggage in most airports. State-of-the-art equipment is used on Capitol Hill and in the White House, and should be used nationwide, he said.
Earlier investigations also found security problems.
On Jan. 26, the Homeland Security Department's acting inspector general, Richard Skinner, told a Senate committee that "the ability of TSA screeners to stop prohibited items from being carried through the sterile areas of the airports fared no better than the performance of screeners prior to Sept. 11, 2001."
Skinner said the reasons screeners failed undercover audits had to do with training, equipment, management and policy.
A year ago, Clark Kent Ervin, then-inspector general of Homeland Security, told lawmakers the TSA screeners and privately contracted airport workers "performed about the same, which is to say, equally poorly."
When Congress created the TSA it stipulated that privately employed screeners be used at five airports to serve as a measuring stick for the federal screeners.
Screeners are tested by undercover agents, who try to smuggle fake weapons and bombs past security checkpoints. In addition, the screeners are evaluated based on their ability to identify threats as they inspect X-ray screens.
Barbara Hogan, deputy director of public affairs for the Wayne County Airport Authority, said Friday she wasn't familiar with the reports but that security at Metro Airport has increased dramatically since the Sept. 11 attacks.
"There are a lot of procedures that are required now that were not then," Hogan said. Those include allowing only passengers and employees with badges past security areas, forbidding several items on planes and scanning bags thoroughly.
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