WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today introduced the Transportation Security Administration 20th Anniversary Review Act of 2021. This legislation would require a comprehensive review of the missions, capabilities, and performance of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

“Since the TSA was established after 9/11, the agency has worked hard to keep Americans safe throughout the transportation system, especially in airports and on aircraft,” said Wicker. “However, many TSA programs have received significant criticism from the Government Accountability Office, Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and transportation stakeholders for being inefficient and ineffective. This legislation would require an independent and comprehensive review to evaluate the agency, which has not been done since its creation 20 years ago.”

Summary of the Transportation Security Administration 20th Anniversary Review Act:

The legislation would require the review to assess the following issues at the TSA:

• Effectiveness in executing its statutory missions and whether it should retain or divest those missions;  
• Organizational structure and recommendations for improving it;
• Whether the TSA is maximizing the use of flexibilities with respect to personnel (e.g., recruitment, hiring, and workforce management);
• Efforts used by the TSA to retain officers and how it could improve;
• The Screening Partnership Program and recommendations to expand the program;
• The user-pay model for TSA funding and recommendations; 
• Effectiveness of the Registered Traveler Program and recommendations to modernize the program; 
• Capabilities to respond to homeland security intelligence and recommendations for improving those capabilities;
• Threats to transportation identified by the intelligence community;
• Overall performance measured against identified metrics;
• Recommendations on how to diversify the transportation security industrial base; 
• Expanding adoption of common transportation security policies with international partners to eliminate redundant screening; 
• The role of TSA as a regulator and recommendations with respect to how the agency could reduce regulatory burdens without sacrificing security; and
• Acquisition practices utilized by the TSA and the effectiveness of these practices in achieving rapid capability delivery.

Click here to read the bill.