Lawmaker: TSA should supply screening technology to foreign countries

Transportation Security Administration experts have traveled the globe to train foreign aviation officials in countries that lack resources, but TSA is not allowed to offer surplus security technology to those nations, say some lawmakers who see the limitation as a threat to the U.S. supply chain and public safety.

"One critical gap that I intend to pursue through legislation is TSA's lack of authority to donate screening equipment to countries that cannot afford to purchase their own," said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security. The remark came during a hearing he convened on Thursday on the need to strengthen international cooperation on aviation inspections.

"Weak security standards in one link of the global aviation chain could have catastrophic consequences," Rogers added. "TSA deserves the authority to assist countries where they have identified vulnerabilities, or where there simply is a need."

John W. Halinski, TSA assistant administrator for global strategies, testified the agency educates foreign countries, such as Liberia and Georgia, through courses in such topics as screener supervisor skills, crisis management and cargo security. The agency recently deployed training specialists to Yemen, after the U.S. government foiled a Yemen-originated plot to bomb cargo planes headed for the United States. TSA is slated to hold 51 such training sessions in 35 countries during fiscal 2011, he added.

But nations also need access to machinery -- perhaps TSA's surplus, older baggage-screening equipment -- and passenger data to prevent terrorists from striking the aviation system, Rogers said.

Because of privacy concerns, Europe does not have a traveler data system similar to the one used in the United States, which contains information fliers provide travel agencies and airlines to book trips. Some Europeans want to discontinue an agreement between the European Commission and the United States that allows the U.S. government to obtain information on passengers bound for the States from Europe.

"We just find it to be such a valuable tool that we want to make sure it's something that stays available to us," Rogers told a witness from the commission, Filip Cornelis, head of aviation security at the EC directorate-general for mobility and transport. Cornelis said the passenger information sharing accord falls outside his jurisdiction, but he will report back to Rogers on the status of negotiations.