Susan Collins: “I think those votes were extremely unfortunate because everyone in this Chamber knows that the President is going to…”

“I think those votes were extremely unfortunate because everyone in this Chamber knows that the President is going to veto this important bill if the provisions remain in the bill as the Senate just voted. If that happens, it means the TSA employees will not receive the additional protections and rights that I advocated for in the amendment that I presented to the Senate. They will be back to a situation where they cannot appeal adverse employment actions to an independent agency, the Merit Systems Protection Board. They will be back in the situation where they cannot be protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act. It is unfortunate that the votes we have just taken will actually set back the cause of providing employee protections that the TSA screeners should have.”