Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act

Floor Speech

Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support a critical piece of legislation, the Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act, which I introduced in July and have been working on for many months.

I thank Chairman McCaul for helping move this bill through our committee, and I commend all of the members on the committee for a swift and unanimous vote to bring this bill to the floor. Again, this was a unanimous vote both in the subcommittee and in the full committee. This bill has the bipartisan support of our chairman and ranking member on the full committee as well as having mine and the ranking member's on the Transportation Security Subcommittee. Let me also say that this bill would not be possible if Mr. Thompson and Mr. Richmond were not willing to work with me on this. Frankly, their collaboration made this better legislation. As I have said before, the American people expect us to come here and work together for solutions, and this is a prime example of that.

This bill has withstood the careful scrutiny of our committee's oversight, and it has also been endorsed by numerous stakeholders outside the Capitol, and I submit for the Record their letters of support.

Mr. Speaker, in today's partisan culture of a divided Congress, I am very proud to report that we can come together from across the aisle in order to address very real issues that we have in the Transportation Security Administration, those being acquisition and procurement. For over 10 years, we have all witnessed hundreds of millions of dollars being wasted on failed technologies and have witnessed machines sitting idly in warehouses. Poor planning, inventory management, and limited communication with stakeholders have decreased security, limited innovation, and squandered taxpayer dollars.

I recognize that TSA is constantly trying to respond to new threats--they have a difficult job--but in some cases, the pressures to perform and deploy new technologies can lead to a reactive approach without sufficient planning. They still have a long way to go. Having a long-term plan that leverages experts within government and within industry can help to prevent these capability gaps. Our bill provides that roadmap to success.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot continue to let TSA drag its feet on establishing greater transparency and accountability for technologies that protect our Nation's traveling public. It is incumbent upon us to make sure that taxpayer dollars are being used effectively and efficiently. We must take action. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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