Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I rise in support of this bill, the Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act, which was developed and introduced by the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina, the chairman of the Transportation Security Subcommittee, Mr. Hudson.

Over the course of several years, the Committee on Homeland Security has conducted extensive oversight of TSA technology acquisition programs. During this session, the Subcommittee on Transportation Security has continued this critical oversight function, and has taken it to the next level under Chairman HUDSON's leadership.

Poor planning, excessive costs, a clumsy test and evaluation process, and other flaws have had a crippling effect on passenger travel and our security effectiveness. H.R. 2719 is common sense, bipartisan, and is an important step toward addressing the very deficiencies that have left travelers without adequate privacy protections--for instance, $200 million worth of screening equipment sitting in warehouses and hundreds of machines abruptly pulled out of airports before the end of their life cycles.

H.R. 2719 requires TSA to develop a multiyear technology investment plan to serve as a roadmap for industry and to shed new light on TSA's spending decisions. It gives Congress early warning when technology programs exceed their intended costs, are unduly delayed, or do not provide the security results initially promised. It also requires TSA to get a handle on its broken inventory management process. Mr. Speaker, recommendations from across government and industry were incorporated into this crucial piece of legislation, and numerous industry stakeholders have expressed their support for this bill.

I appreciate the hard work of my colleagues on the committee, especially Mr. Hudson's from North Carolina and Mr. Richmond's from Louisiana. I appreciate the bipartisan approach they took in crafting this important piece of legislation and the collaborative, deliberative process that they followed to bring this bill to the floor in their first years as chair and ranking member of this subcommittee.

I urge my colleagues to join us in passing this vital piece of legislation that will further protect our transportation systems and the American taxpayer. Let's send this bill to the Senate and on to the President for his signature.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to associate myself with the gentleman from Louisiana's remarks.

I do think this is a very important bill that will ultimately save taxpayer dollars and that will make the system more efficient while, at the same time, better protecting the traveling public, which, I think, is what it is all about. So I urge the adoption of this bill in order to provide these necessary reforms to TSA acquisition.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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