Frank Lautenberg: “I wish to talk about the current hiring limit on TSA screeners at our Nation's airports. That is what this amendment…”

“I wish to talk about the current hiring limit on TSA screeners at our Nation's airports. That is what this amendment deals with--to eliminate the current hiring. One can ask: Why can't we just add more funding to TSA's budget and let them hire the personnel they need? Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Each year, in the Homeland Security appropriations bill, the House Republican leaders tie the hands of TSA officials by setting an arbitrary limit on the number of screeners they can hire. This cap has no basis in security. It is not what the security experts at TSA want. This cap only undermines our security, while forcing Americans to wait in longer security lines at airports. This arbitrary cap currently restricts the TSA screener population to 45,000. Now, 45,000 is a large number, until you consider that 2 million people fly within the United States every day. In our discussions with TSA officials, it is clear that we need more than 45,000 screeners. Mr. President, we are at a point in time, I am told by the managers of airports, particularly at Newark Liberty Airport, that we are likely to be exceeding the gross travel numbers in aviation that were achieved in the year 2000. So here we are with more people traveling, more concern about terrorist invasions of our country and particularly in aviation. So why do we have this cap? Well, it is not for security, it is not for efficiency. Believe it or not, it is based on ideology.…”