February 03, 2010
Subcommittee Discusses Need for Airport Screening to be Both Effective and Publicly Accepted
(Washington, DC) – Today the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation held a hearing to review airline passenger screening-related research, development, testing, and deployment activities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratories.
“The attempted bombing on Christmas Day revealed gaps in current airport security measures,” said Subcommittee Chairman David Wu (D-OR). “We are all thankful that this attempt was, like several other previous plots, unsuccessful. These attempts have shown that current passenger screening technologies cannot catch all threats, so we must make sure that Department of Homeland Security research is actively closing the gaps in our capabilities, yielding security methods that the public will accept, and increasing our ability to keep Americans safe.”
Today’s hearing was held principally in response to statements made by President Obama after the December 25 airplane bombing attempt.
“I'm directing that the Department of Homeland Security take additional steps, including: …working aggressively, in cooperation with the Department of Energy and our National Labs, to develop and deploy the next generation of screening technologies,” said President Obama.
In response to the president’s call to action, DHS announced the Aviation Security Enhancement Partnership with the DOE National Labs to advance technical solutions to our nation’s aviation security concerns.
Members and witnesses addressed public acceptance issues regarding privacy and the need for the travelers to be comfortable with the screening procedures. As technologies are developed, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and DHS S&T must work to understand how the screening process will affect the people being screened so that they can create devices that appropriately and proactively mitigate these concerns.
“I am troubled by the lack of attention DHS has paid in the past to public acceptance issues,” said Wu. “I am committed to ensuring that legitimate public concerns are adequately addressed in the development of any next-generation airport screening technologies.”
The hearing also focused on the advancement of new passenger screening technologies, testing methods used to evaluate screening machines, and issues encountered during deployment of new screening systems. Members examined the need for the DHS S&T and the DOE National Laboratories to coordinate a research agenda that maintains a proactive view of future passenger screening technologies. The Subcommittee also discussed the need for the Transportation Security Laboratory, TSA, and NIST to work together to ensure that testing metrics and methods reflect the minimum requirements for detection, safety, and usability.
Witnesses and members agreed on the need to have a multifaceted approach to security that uses on a network of screening options, rather than a reliance on any single technology. Members and witnesses agreed that an ideal network would include passenger and luggage screening technologies, trace explosives detection, canines, passenger identification, and other tools.
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