TSA Office of Inspection Accountability Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Committee on Homeland
Security, I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of H.R. 719, the TSA
Office of Inspection Accountability Act of 2015, sponsored by the
gentleman from New York, Mr. Katko.

This bill would increase accountability at TSA and save precious
taxpayer dollars by requiring the agency to correctly designate
criminal investigators within the TSA Office of Inspection who are
charged with conducting covert tests, inspections, and investigating
misconduct among fellow TSA employees.

This bill stems from a 2013 DHS Inspector General (IG) report that
found TSA's Office of Inspection does not operate efficiently and does
not ensure that its criminal investigators are spending the majority of
their time conducting criminal investigations, even though they are
receiving premium law enforcement pay and related benefits. The bill
addresses the IG's findings by requiring a thorough review of the type
of work carried out by TSA criminal investigators, which could save
millions of taxpayer dollars over the next several years in law
enforcement pay, vehicles, training, and other benefits.

I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this common sense,
bipartisan bill, and would like to thank the chairman of the
subcommittee, Mr. Katko, as well as the Congressman from South
Carolina, Mr. Sanford, for their leadership on this issue. I would also
like to thank the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Thompson,
and the ranking member of the subcommittee, Miss Rice, for their
support of this legislation.

H.R. 719 is substantively identical to H.R. 4803, legislation
approved by the Committee on Homeland Security last Congress that
subsequently passed the House by voice vote.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 719.

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