Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), the Republican leader of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, today released a government report which highlights failures at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to improve the security of the nation�s transportation systems.

Mica, from Florida�s 7th House district, said, �This is another example of our critical security agency, TSA, being lost and rudderless.�...

...Mica continued, �TSA has learned nothing from their problem-plagued aviation security programs. In fact, it seems quite clear that TSA is repeating many of the mistakes made in the aviation sector, including mediocre risk assessments, inadequate workforce planning, weak training for workers, poor coordination with stakeholders, and scant follow-up assessments of its intermodal security programs and technology deployments.�...

...�This report is further proof that this is an agency in need of complete reform. If the President�s latest nominee to lead the TSA is confirmed, I will urge him to immediately reevaluate and reorganize this enormous, costly, and unwieldy bureaucracy of over 60,000 employees. In this top-heavy agency, 30 percent of its Washington headquarters workforce is comprised of supervisors and the average headquarters salary is over $105,000.�...

We found that in response to the attack, TSA had revised the AIT procurement and deployment strategy, increasing the planned deployment of AITs from 878 to 1,800 units and using AITs as a primary�instead of a secondary�screening measure where feasible. While officials said AITs performed as well as physical pat downs in operational tests, it remains unclear whether the AIT would have detected the weapon used in the December 2009 incident based on the preliminary information we have received. We are currently assessing TSA�s operational
testing of the AIT.