Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 2719, the Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act, a bill that I introduced in July of last year, which passed the House unanimously 1 year ago.

This commonsense, bipartisan legislation is the culmination of 2 years of collaborative efforts by my colleagues in the House and Senate and 4 years of strong oversight by the Transportation Security Subcommittee.

H.R. 2719 will save significant tax dollars by forcing TSA to make thoughtful, informed decisions about what kinds of technology to deploy in our Nation's airports. We simply cannot afford to see TSA repeat the mistakes of the past which have resulted in technologies such as ``puffer machines'' and body scanners being pulled out of airports prematurely and others sitting idle in warehouses, never to see the light of day.

H.R. 2719 requires TSA to develop and share with industry and the public a detailed 5-year technology investment plan. The bill gives Congress early warning about any cost overruns, delays, or technical failures encountered by TSA.

It ensures that TSA is implementing acquisition best practices as identified by the Government Accountability Office and other experts. It also mandates a better process for managing security equipment in TSA's inventory. Finally, the Senate strengthened the bill by, among other things, requiring more consultation with experts in the public and private sectors during the acquisition process.

I would like to thank the chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Mr. McCaul, for his assistance in moving this bill through the committee and the House, as well as the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Thompson, for his work alongside myself and our chairman. I really appreciate the work and cooperation of Mr. Thompson and the ranking member for our subcommittee, Mr. Richmond. Again, their work made this a better bill.

I would also like to thank Senator Ayotte for introducing a companion bill in the Senate and leading the effort to see it through the Senate Commerce Committee and the full Senate. I would also like to thank Senators ROCKEFELLER, THUNE, and TESTER and their staffs for their strong support and their important efforts to move this bill.

Finally, I would like to thank the 18 industry groups that have endorsed this bill, including the Security Manufacturers Coalition, Airlines for America, Airports Council International--North America, the American Association of Airport Executives, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the Security Industry Association, the U.S. Travel Association, and many others who provided valuable feedback and worked with us throughout this process.

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Mr. HUDSON. This no-cost, bipartisan legislation will go a long way toward improving transparency and accountability for TSA. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the former chairman for his
kind remarks and for the collaborative nature in which we have worked
throughout this Congress. I appreciate his leadership and advice. I
believe we have done good work, and we have done it because we have
listened to each other and we have worked well together. I appreciate
your leadership, as well as that of Cedric Richmond, the ranking member
on this committee.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge that this would not be
possible had they not worked so closely with us. I would also like to
thank the chairman for mentioning our staffs. Our staffs have worked
very hard, they have worked in a bipartisan manner, and I attach myself
to his compliments for our staff there and thank him for that kindness.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the accomplishments we have made on this
subcommittee. In particular I am proud of this piece of legislation,
H.R. 2719. It was developed with input from stakeholders in an
exhaustive process with subject matter experts across government and
industry to address different deficiencies we had identified throughout
the TSA's acquisition process.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on Senator Ayotte's amendment to
H.R. 2719, and let's send this bill to the President for his signature.

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

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