On the recordFebruary 7, 2011
I am pleased to cosponsor Senator Wicker's modified amendment, which provides additional workforce protections for transportation security officers while ensuring the management flexibility that is absolutely vital to the operational efficiency of the TSA and to the security of the American people. Our amendment would provide additional employment protections to TSA employees while preserving the agency's ability to respond quickly and effectively to security and operational challenges. Through our committee's work on homeland security, I have become convinced that the ability for TSA to respond quickly and effectively to changing conditions, to emerging threats, to new intelligence, to impending crises, even to dramatic weather such as blizzards and hurricanes, is essential. From the intelligence community to our first responders, the key to an effective response is flexibility--the ability to put assets and personnel where they are needed, when they are needed, with a minimum of bureaucracy.
