Congressman Gallego Leads 70 Democrats in Calling for Greater Resources to Address TSA Airport Delays

Statement

Today, Congressman Ruben Gallego, along with Rep. Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Patrick Murphy and Rep. John Lewis, sent a letter signed by 70 House Democrats urging the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee to provide additional resources and authorities to address the frustrating wait times at TSA security checkpoints that have frustrated passengers at airports across the nation. Congressman Gallego led the effort in response to unacceptably long lines at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and a recent baggage screening stoppage that resulted in more than 3,000 bags missing their flights.

The letter echoes the calls of key stakeholders--including major airports, industry groups and organized labor--for increased TSA staffing levels to cope with the growing number of commercial air travelers in the United States. It also urges the Subcommittee to exclude from the legislation any statutory cap on the size of the TSA workforce. In recent years, appropriations bills funding the Department of Homeland Security have arbitrarily limited the number of screeners that TSA may employ--a provision that appears to lack any credible rationale and, in the future, could constrain TSA's ability to reduce wait times at security checkpoints.

"Congress has a critical role to play in ensuring that the long lines and lost bags at Sky Harbor and other major airports don't continue," said Congressman Gallego. "With more Americans traveling today than ever before, we have a responsibility to ensure that TSA has a workforce that can cope with these rising passenger volumes. Given the importance of the travel industry to our city and our state, I call on the House Republican leadership to bring forward a homeland security spending bill that will fully address the TSA delays that have frustrated so many Arizonans in recent months."

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