James Oberstar: “so the answer is right-sizing, not necessarily down-sizing arbitrarily. This year we are seeing a rebound in air travel.…”

“so the answer is right-sizing, not necessarily down-sizing arbitrarily. This year we are seeing a rebound in air travel. There is going to be a 6.8 percent, 7-plus percent increase in air travelers. That will mean an increase in demand for screeners. To put an arbitrary cap on screeners at a time when air traffic is growing, when the airlines are beginning to rebound, I think is not responsible. I would hope that the gentleman's amendment would be supported and that we allow a process; and our committee, under the leadership of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica), has been vigorous in this pursuit of oversight on this agency and are keeping their noses to the grindstone through our oversight process. Insisting on right-sizing and decentralization of decisionmaking for allocation of personnel is a far better way to go than just say here is an arbitrary cap that will result in arbitrary results.”