Nomination of Cummins for Transportation Security Administration Administrator

Good morning. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will come to order. Today we consider the nomination of David Cummings to be the next Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration. Mister Cummings' nomination comes at a crucial time for the TSA. In the past year, TSA employees had to work for nearly three months without a paycheck. Due to two pointless, unnecessary, and damaging Democrat-imposed shutdowns. Due to the second, roughly seventy-five day shutdown. The TSA has now lost more than one thousand one hundred employees because the Democrats thought it was a good idea to shut down the government and to stop paying people whose job it is to help keep air travel safe. The efficient and secure operation of our nation's airports is vital to the smooth flow of commerce and travel for Americans. The TSA is central to that mission. It is my hope that under the leadership of David Cummins, the TSA will focus on its mission, continuously innovate to stay ahead of emerging threats, adapt to new traveler trends, and improve employee morale. Mister Cummins has spent more than two decades of private sector experience leading transportation technology mobility and government services operations. In his recent role as Senior Vice President of Citizen Services at Serco Inc. he managed a five thousand employee division with over six hundred million dollars in revenue. He's also held senior roles at Xerox's transportation and government services business. and led operations planning for the two thousand and two Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. With nearly sixty five thousand employees today, the TSA functions much like a complex large corporation. As a private sector business executive, Mister Cummins has the acumen that is needed to keep an organization like the TSA lean, focused, and operating smoothly. He has already identified screening technology modernization. workforce morale, and improving the traveler experience as priorities for his tenure as Administrator. Mister Cummins will also take the helm at a time when TSA is focused on modernizing the agency. After nine eleven, the US endeavored to create the most secure transportation system in the world. In recent years, however, the TSA has struggled to roll out new technology at airports, including top-of-the-line baggage and identity verification technologies. Some estimates suggest the TSA will not fully deploy these new technologies until the twenty forties. This time line is simply unacceptable. Innovative thinking will be needed to change the TSA's current trajectory. This fall marks twenty-five years since the September eleventh terror attacks. The administration should be thoughtfully evaluating the success of the TSA. Congress should similarly evaluate whether the TSA functions as an agile security agency and why its modernization has been so often mired in bureaucracy. Between TSA's management of modernization efforts, technology procurement, delayed cyber security rules, and reliance on security directives, and the commercialization of drone operations, the TSA needs an administrator who is prepared to tackle significant challenges. Mister Cummings will bring practical management background and has the expertise to lead the TSA as it seeks to improve operational performance, technology modernization, and service delivery headed into twenty thirty. I look forward to hearing from Mister Cummings about his vision for the TSA and how he will further the mission of ensuring safe and efficient transportation for all Americans. And with that, I recognize ranking member Kim for his opening.

Thank you, Chairman. Uh, Mister Cummings, congratulations on your nomination and thank you for being here. We are approaching the solemn milestone of twenty-five years since the attack of September eleventh two thousand one. In the aftermath of that devastating day, we've realized that a fragmented, privatized, and inconsistent aviation security framework was a vulnerability we can no longer afford. Congress established the Transportation Security Agency to ensure that securing our transportation systems was treated as a unified and deliberate federal national security mission. We must rededicate ourselves to ensuring the highest levels of transportation security for the traveling public. TSA needs an effective leader that can ensure the agency proactively predicts acts and prevents transportation security risks. The nine eleven commission report specifically warned we need a multi-layered security system that depends on a highly trained federally accountable workforce. It's crucial that the next TSA administrator sports a strong TSA workforce and listens to front-line personnel to achieve this mission. However, the president's proposed fiscal year twenty twenty seven budget request seeks to cut more than nine thousand four hundred TSA personnel through expanding privatized screening and other initiatives in short that administration wants to reduce personnel in favor of automated technology deployment. this includes a proposed expansion of the screening partnership program the s. p. p. with new aims currently only twenty one out of the roughly four hundred forty commercial airports nationwide participate in s. p. p. the vast majority rely on federal transportation security officers despite already having option of choosing private contractors instead of keeping this program voluntary for airports to opt into smaller category three and four airports would be required to apply and the administration is seeking additional authorities with the goal of fully privatizing these airports if implemented this expansion would result in fifty two million dollars in net savings by slashing thousands of federal tsa positions from the budget rolls and stripping public servants of their rights under the existing collective bargaining agreements in addition we risk compromising security oversight of vital screening technologies The Trump administration's new TSA Gold Plus program would not only outsource personnel, but would also allow private contractors to manage, procure, and upgrade sensitive screening technologies and equipment. The GAO found that TSA repeatedly struggles to ensure its deployment screening technologies maintain strict detection requirements over their life cycle. If the federal government already struggles with with oversight, delegating these critical acquisition and maintenance roles, to private vendors under the new tsa gold plus program makes no sense this would only serve to further weaken tsa s operational controls over some of the most sensitive technology in aviation security mister cummings these proposals would hurt the very workforce dedicated to the security of the traveling public each day private contractors answer to the bottom line incentivizing them to cut labor costs and the tsa s privatization push is built on offloading its highest expenditure personnel compensation and benefits. And let's remember, TSA's critical transportation security mandate extends far beyond our airports. Our pipelines, freight, and passenger rail systems are under constant threat from cyber adversaries. Following the colonial pipeline attack in twenty twenty one, TSA utilized its statutory authority to issue urgent mandatory security directives to secure our service transportation systems. However, the agency has still not finalized in its November twenty twenty four proposed rulemaking to permanently codify these performance-based risk cyber-risk requirements. Swiftly issuing the rule has a bipartisan mandate in the Senate-passed Pipeline Safety Act we must be clear-eyed about what we could lose under the administration's budget cuts and anti-worker initiatives. tso's have stood on the front line of our transportation system keeping the flying public safe and the economy moving and they are sounding the alarm representing over forty five thousand tso's at more than four hundred airports nationwide the president of the american federation of government employees recently testified to congress technology alone cannot replace experienced personnel at checkpoints that i that de-escalation you need an experience tso to do that job and they do it well i ask unanimous unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter from afge asking the committee to obtain clear testimony from mister cummings to commit to uphold tso collective bargaining rights and honoring related court orders to not expand privatization of airport security screening and to explain how his qualifications prepare him for this transportation security role

without objection it'll be entered into the record

Lastly, there have been reports that your former contracting firm, Serco, has trained ICE enforcement officers and been criticized by human rights groups for their immigration detention centers overseas. I hope you can help the committee shed some light on those issues. And with that, thank you and I yield back.

Thank you, Mister Cummins, you're recognized for your opening statement. Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Kim, and distinguished members of this committee. I'm deeply honored to be considered as President Trump's nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration. I want to begin by thanking my wife Kristen and our four children, whose patience and unwavering support have made it possible for me to be here today. I also wanna thank President Trump and Secretary Mullen. I am deeply honored by the trust they have placed in me and the encouragement they have provided. A few weeks ago I met a TSA officer, or TSO, from Dallas-Fort Worth Airport named Lucy. If Lucy were standing here today, she would remind us that twenty-five years ago our nation changed forever, when hijacked airlines were used as weapons. She would tell you that she still carries that weight every morning as she walks past the " not on our watch" sign to her post. Lucy told me that during this last government shutdown, she and her fellow officers weren't just struggling for months to pay rent, gas, and child care. They were struggling to even feed their families. I also visited Los Angeles and Indianapolis where I learned that TSOs relied on local food banks, just to keep their households fed. TSOs like Lucy have a zero fail national security mission. There is too much at stake to have them distracted by months without pay. If confirmed, We will explore various ways to protect our people, including the sp expansion of the Screening Partnership Program, or SPP. Some will suggest that the SPP is all about privatization, and that it is anti-worker. I hold that it is in fact pro-worker to pay your employees, as the SPP airports did during the last shutdowns. The opt-in expansion of the SPP will leverage the resources of the private sector to make our nation security more resilient to political theater. Over the last twenty-five years as the horrors of nine eleven have naturally grown less vivid our front-line TSOs and federal air marshals have increasingly felt undervalued by a nation that has sometimes lost sight of their critical role. We owe them a debt of gratitude. If confirmed, my very first responsibility will be to go out to our airports, look Lucy and her colleagues in the eyes, and show them how deeply they are appreciated. I want them to know how essential their mission is, and that I will do everything in my power to protect and support them in the future. These vanguards at our checkpoints also tell me that an upgrade of our technology is long overdue. They want us to rapidly deploy next generation baggage scanning and passenger screening systems to make their work more secure and efficient. I am committed to the modernization of our aviation security and to ensuring that TSA is positioned to stay ahead of of emerging threats. We do not have to choose between a secure checkpoint, an efficient checkpoint, or an elevated traveler experience. In fact, our mission demands that we achieve all three at once. That is President Trump's and Secretary Mullen's vision for the TSA, and it's what the American people rightfully expect of this agency. I come before you today not as a bureaucrat, but as a Transportation Executive and Technologist. My twenty-five year career spans the entire transportation system, including urban mobility, highway safety, port security, and air traffic control. I will bring this experience and innovation to help the TSA secure what this administration calls the golden age of travel. Lucy and her colleagues can and will achieve security, efficiency, and a courteous experience for the traveling public. Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Kim, and distinguished members of this committee, the challenges ahead are significant, but the opportunities to transform the TSC tsa on the eve of its twenty fifth anniversary or even greater thank you for your time your commitment and your vital oversight

thank you over the last year tens of thousands of tsa employees had to work without pay for approximately ninety days between two democrat caused shutdowns from february to may of this year Over one thousand one hundred TSA employees have left the agency. As we inch closer to yet another government funding fight. We are facing the very likely prospect of yet a third Democrat imposed shutdown. A government shutdown would be profoundly disruptive for the traveling public. How would another shutdown affect TSA's workforce?

Thank you, Chairman. I've talked to dozens of TSOs at a number of airports over the last three weeks, as a senior advisor, just trying to understand uh what they went through during the shutdown and what they're going through today. And I can confirm what you said, their morale is very, very low right now. They're feeling feeling very under appreciated by the American public and specifically by this government. They um fear the prospect, they watch the news, they hear about the prospect of another shutdown. And as you mentioned, we've had significant attrition because of the last two shutdowns, and not just entry-level workers, but folks that have been with the agency for twenty years or more. And so I am deeply concerned that in the face of a another shutdown, we're gonna start seeing attrition pick up. And so we need to be prepared as an agency and develop contingency plans on how we're gonna deal with that eventuality, if it happens. But please, I ask this committee to do whatever you can to keep that from happening and to ensure our workers are paid.

The American people should be fully aware that federal government funding expires on September thirtieth. I believe the odds are one hundred percent that the Democrats intend to force yet another shutdown starting on October first of this year. Minority Leader Schumer is not an individual known for his creativity or versatility. One year ago, in the month before election day, Democrats forced a shutdown. And they believe they benefited politically by shutting the government down. I think that tactic was profoundly cynical. It abused TSA agents and officers It damaged the agency profoundly. It increased the risks of a terror attack. And it imposed enormous pain on the flying public, resulting in millions of passengers having their flights delayed or canceled. I don't believe that should ever happen again. I understand our Democrat colleagues hope they win the election. in November. But imposing that kind of unnecessary suffering is not an appropriate step to try to win an election. I've introduced legislation called the Keep Keep America Flying Act, bipartisan legislation that says essential employees like TSA personnel, an air traffic controller, and those federal employees who are necessary to keep our planes flying in the air safely, will be paid regardless of the partisan games that either party p- plays. We should never again have TSA agents not getting their paycheck. We should never again have air traffic controllers not getting their paycheck. We should never again have the flying public put in danger for the partisan political objectives of the Democrats. Do you support the Keep America Flying Act?

Thank you, Chairman Cruz. Uh, we support anything Congress can do, and we champion your efforts, specifically, Mister Chairman, to keep our workers paid. Um, if I had Lucy sitting next to me today, she would look all of you in the eyes and say, " Please don't do it again. Please, don't do it again." And so, I would like to just lay out that I can't say what'll happen if there's an extended shutdown again. But what I can say what's likely to happen is we're gonna have significant attrition, we're gonna have mass call outs again, and we're gonna have a situation, particularly in the smaller airports, where handful of people don't show, we're gonna have to shut down the entire checkpoint, which basically means shutting down the entire airport. It's one of the reasons that we are aggressively pushing the expansion of the SPP program because these airports need resilience and having private contractors pay the TSOs during a shutdown provides resilience. And so thank you for your efforts, Chairman, and we will uh support you in any way we possibly can.

Thank you. Ranking member Kim.

Yeah, thank you. I mean, look, you know i was before i came into congress uh a career federal government worker i worked through multiple shutdowns did not get my paycheck and it was frustrating it was and i look uh you know what you said about lucy you want her to be able to do her job right and we'll find ways and i hope that we can make sure they ensure that because again they're working hard they should be able to get paid what i also wanna make sure is that they can do their job right lucy wants to go and be able to do the job that she signed up for is that right Well, I guess I'd ask you, if you were directed to pull TSA screeners from American airports, uh in cities deemed sanctuary cities, would you follow those orders?

So, we in TSA are one component of many components within DHS. And we are one DHS, we do not operate in silos. So, we will support the mission of the larger agency which which is to protect our homeland

what what would happen to our airports if you pulled tsa screeners away from their jobs

well i can't speak to the hypothetical of that happening but if

it's not a hypothetical

but it but but i would say that

my state was threatened specifically about this in new jersey

yeah i would

we ran lots of models about what would happen you know what would happen you know the airports would shutdown we would have a tremendous amount of damage to commerce and industry our economy the flying public would not be able to go about you know you just talked about wanting lucy to be able to do her job i'm in agreement on that you think it's ok for her to now be pulled from doing the tsa screening that she signed up for and have to do some other job uh with uh alongside ice or or some other aspect of dhs you think that's fair

well we have uh we have plenty of opportunities because we are hiring like mad because of the attrition that i said if this hypothetical were to happen, that certain airports were gonna be to- closed temporarily until um legal uh immigration can be enforced around those cities. I can't speak whether that would happen, but if that were um a direction that was provided by this administration, we would insure that those TSOs at those airports were uh positioned to other airports nearby. We do this constantly, we're constantly shifting um officers around to help supplement when we have shifts in demand

but you would agree that much like what we experienced during the shutdown that this would be disruptive to the flying public and cause economic harm to our country

what i would say is that we are in a in a very political politicized environment um we all need to recognize that um aviation security is impaired oftentimes by politics and we

i just wanna say you know the public will be furious about this if this happens the same way they were furious during the shutdown and this is something we should try to avoid i also just wanted to point out you know again talking about lucy wanting to be able to do her job well look there are lots of people like lucy that wanna do their jobs and there are lots of people that like lucy at tsa that wanna make sure that they can have uh collective bargaining rights i wanted to ask you do you agree about codifying and supporting collective bargaining rights for tsa workers

so the collective bargaining agreement that we have in place with tsa today which we are abiding by today cause we are are following the court order that's in place it actually has a an impact on our flexibility to scale with variable demand there is as we all know in every airport on any given day you can have a spike in the number of travelers, and it's incumbent upon us to um shift our supply to meet that variable demand. The CBA rules as they're currently written uh dramatically hinder that ability. You you have to bid on your shift months in advance, it's very difficult to trade shifts, it's seniority-based. I have worked in the private sector with two thousand employees under me that were under CBAs. uh of the five thousand that reported it in to me and you learn to work with it but it hinders your ability to deliver a mission and in this case our mission is national security and national security should never be hindered by work roles that limit our ability to flex and be agile and as agile as the threats we encounter

uh i think these workers you know they respect and they uh uh they want to do their jobs and i i think that any agreement should be made and so if there are ways in which we can ensure that mission success is the paramount goal of course these workers wanna do so but they wanna have a say in it you know and if you need more resources more personnel then come to congress cause that's what we're trying to do we don't actually want the trump administration budget to come through and cut thousands of workers from tsa but look if you're going to evoke lucy's name the names of these tso's Listen to them, respect them. Give them a say in their own work. Don't just think it's something that you from the top down can just order them to go leave their jobs, uh uh leave their posts in in sanctuary cities or elsewhere. So I just urge you, you know, if you're gonna stand up and say that you care about the workers, care about it in total. Uh, give them the rights, give them the respect they deserve. With that, I yield back.

Senator Moreno.

thank you mr. chairman uh mr. cummings uh you you uh were an executive at a company called circo is that correct

that's correct

and how long were you there

i was there nine years

nine years how many total employees did you have

uh under me five thousand

more or less five five thousand how many of your how many of those uh employees did you not pay who came to work

uh we never didn't pay them and in fact we we had

uh wait wait you paid every time they came to work you paid them

yeah it's it's funny how the private sector works and in fact i will say if

what what would have happened if you didn't pay them

um they would have laughed

well you worse you'd probably get into a wage and hour lawsuit

and that's correct

that would probably be filed by my democrat colleagues

that's correct

and yet they had no problem no problem they didn't even wince wince at the idea of not paying two hundred and sixty thousand members of the department of homeland security for forty three days it didn't even bother them in fact when senator kennedy and i went on the floor to put a bill uh uh that said that we should have our paychecks withheld while government employees uh weren't getting paid, they objected to that think about what would have happened in your case at circo if the executives were being paid and you paid none of your employees what would have happened let me so let me ask you a little bit of a different question when you talk to the people who work at tsa could you rank for me what they care about so let's say a really nice cafeteria where they can get a wonderful snack but that is one thing that you can give them including beautiful brand new microwaves new uniforms that are sparkling a collective bargaining agreement that brings tears to their eyes it's so good for them or a paycheck which one would be the top thing that they would want

well no one should ever work without a paycheck that's a terrible

so you think paycheck would paycheck trumps anything else

Yes.

OK. Do you do you think on a it's decently grotesque that politicians use employees as political pawns in political battles to get political power?

Yes.

Do you think that's grotesque?

Yes, and that's what I was told.

Do you think it do you think it's it's absolutely not only gross politically, it's actually immoral because I I went during the government shutdown to Cleveland airport, I talked to government employees who told me, this is a grown man my age, who told me with tears in his eyes that he had to tell his fourteen year old daughter he couldn't pay for her dance recital because he wasn't getting a paycheck and how demasculating that was and how he had to explain to his daughter he showed up for work followed the rules did what he was told worked there for twenty plus years and because of politicians here in washington d. c. he was not getting a paycheck what how does that make employees feel

i was told stories of twenty year veterans having to go to food banks to get food how demoralizing how humiliating is that right

and and yet senators here getting their paycheck going to fancy restaurants paid for by uh steak dinners paid for by lobbyists uh yucking it up drinking expensive wine while your employees future employees at tsa had to go to food banks that's the state of politics in america today where where we with one breath hear this idea of let's stand up for workers, let's give them all these rights, and yet have no problem not giving them a paycheck. The Democrat party that once cared about workers is dead. That party no longer exists. It was proven not once, not twice, but soon to be a third time, because what you haven't heard from any of my Democratic colleagues and you won't hear from my Democrat colleagues, is that they absolutely will not allow the government to shut down. You will not hear from one Democrat member of this committee, or anywhere in the United States Senate, where they will out with their voice say, we will not, under any circumstance, shut down the United States government. You will not hear them say that. Because it is their political ploy where they think that a government shutdown helps them. Because they have CNN anchors that blame the shutdown on Republicans saying, well you guys are in charge, in fact in this committee we had a member of this committee say, you guys are in charge, the shutdown's not our fault. Of course they know that the process here requires sixty votes, which means they know that we need Democrat votes in order to keep the government open. They could today, right now, say we will support a continuing resolution so we keep the budget the same, through and past the election cycle to prevent a government shutdown. They won't say that because they know that they prefer the political tool. Godspeed to you as you become our nominee, uh our our uh uh TSA administrator, past this nomination process. But I worry about you and your fellow employees who are gonna go through this political torture inflicted upon you by Democrats because they care more about political power than they care about American citizens. They care more about illegals and protecting uh those cities that keep and harbor these illegals than the Americans, who wake up every day to protect us. So God bless you as you become our TSA administrator. I know you'll do an amazing job. And just know that here we will fight like heck to make certain that Democrats don't do again what they've done twice already this year.

Well said, Senator Moreno. And I will point out that that Senate Democrats are are more than welcome to cosponsor and to support the Keep America Flying Act. It is bipartisan right now. Two Democrats, Senator Gallego and Senator Warnock have cosponsored it already, but I would invite Senator Kim and every member of this committee to cosponsor it as well. I'd like to see the Senate pass it so we can tell our TSA agents, never again, regardless of which party is in the majority, never again will you have your paychecks held because of a shutdown and and I would invite every Democrat and every Republican uh to cosponsor that. Uh, Senator Blackburn.

Thank you, Mister Chairman, and uh adding to those comments. My concern is that the Democrat side of the dais is completely empty because they don't want to have to admit they did the shutdown, they used TSA employees as pawns through this process, and they are not willing to take that off the table, which I think is absolutely horrific. They continue to use TSA as pawns because they feel like this inflicts pain, and that the public can see it, and it is absolutely so disgusting. I um, congratulations to you on your nomination, and I do wanna talk with you a little bit about some of the TS TSA reforms that are taking place. I know that uh the President and Secretary Duffy are pushing to move us toward a golden age of travel where it's frictionless. The check-in is easy, the movement to the gate, the scheduling of the planes, um, we're looking forward to that. So touch on what you look forward to doing as we look at these reforms.

Thank you, Senator, and I want to uh affirm what you said about our workers and keeping them paid. I wanna be clear that the fifty-five thousand TSOs are the lifeblood of the agency, and there's talk about CBAs, there's talk about privatization. They are the center of gravity and we're always going to protect them.

Right.

As it relates to technology, thank you for that question. Um, we have only just begun the modernization of the security checkpoints. Um, but I'm really excited about the opportunity to roll out um, some of these new three D baggage scanners, and roll out these new uh, body scanners that don't require the lift your arms in the air,

Yeah.

mmm that are in both cases much much more secure and efficient than the legacy technology. Uh, we're exploring other technologies around E gates. We're exploring technologies that might uh allow us to uh bring water bottles again through checkpoints. And so I'm encouraged, I've been able to go to the technology center over by national airport and and see um the process that we're going through to certify this technology to make sure it is indeed secure.

Mm-hmm.

One thing I wanna point out, as you talked about the friction of travel, um we believe that the pain point isn't necessarily the fact that you have to wait in line at security. We all have to wait in line for various things. When we go to the grocery store, we expect that we're gonna have to wait in line. The the the pain point is you don't know how long the wait's gonna be. And so, we would like to roll out technology that'll be able to predict what the wait times will be when you arrive at the airport in two hours, and be able to push that information out to you,

Yeah.

maybe maybe via your boarding pass. Um, or a uh a Google Maps or Apple Maps or your or or via Uber. Um, and so, we would like to kind of take the surprise out of travel. We all hate when we're rounding the check-in line and we see, oh my goodness, look how long the standard line is, or how long the pre-checked line is. Uh, that surprise is painful, cuz you're not sure if you can still make your flight. There's all that anxiety.

I wanna ask you about that because McGee-Tyson Airport in Tennessee has grown eighteen point six percent uh that was the growth in twenty twenty four. uh, flight service, the growth in Tennessee. All of our airports are growing. They're trying to extend runways. As they're extending runways, what you're seeing is an extension of these wait times

Yep.

at the airport. And we secured a grant for McGee-Tyson to expand their TSA security checkpoint. But we're getting calls regularly that at the Knoxville airport the wait times to get through TSA are two hours.

Mm-hmm.

And we've increased some flights with Allegiant and Southwest there. And there has been well, part we've got two of the lines that are down because the scanners are broken, things of that nature. And we need your attention on this issue in order to make certain. First of all, we've got technicians doing the repairs. But secondly, we're looking at these travel loads and we are going to be properly staffed in order to meet that load. Will you commit to working with us on that?

Yes, uh, if confirmed, I absolutely, uh, will commit to working with you and I'd love to visit those airports and look firsthand at the challenges.

Come on down, greatest state in the USA. We'd love to have you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mister Chairman.

Thank you. Senator Fischer.

Thank you, Mister Chairman. Mister Cummins, thank you for your willingness to serve in this position. Um, it's a it's a difficult one and it has so much public attention to it. So I have uh hopes that you are going to be able to solve some of these issues that we've been faced with. One of our many airports in Nebraska, the North Platte Regional Airport, is set to open a new terminal building later this summer. And though they have run into some challenges, They have stated that the local TSA office in Omaha has been really great to work with, and they appreciate their continued cooperation. As they make this transition to the new terminal, I would like to see that continued cooperation between North Platte and TSA. So if you are confirmed, will you commit to working with me to ensure that there is a successful transition? of tsa s operation to that new terminal

yes i will

thank you as you know tsa is tasked with not only addressing security in our airports but surface transportation threats as well historically tsa has spent approximately two to three percent of its budget on surface transportation programs for example tsa has issued security directives on pipeline cyber security. Following the twenty twenty one ransomware attack on colonial pipeline. Including a directive that requires performance based cyber security measures for pipeline operators. How do you believe that the agency can better use its resources to address ongoing threats to our surface transportation systems?

Thank you, Senator Fischer. Um, as you know, I've spent many years uh working on highway safety. Um, and whether it's commercial trucking safety, uh whether it's motorist assist for uh passengers, uh vehicles rather that um that break down, helping uh, helping the passengers and maybe filling up fuel, changing tires, all of that it's, I've been working with for many years now. And you're right to point out that the tsa s mission has probably been too focused just on aviation maybe at the expense of other modes of transportation as well as pipelines

mmm

and so i wanna work closely with this committee as we think about how we can work with industry and this committee to better put a in place a regulatory environment that makes our highways for example more safe and secure There are new emerging threats, we're seeing what drones for example can do on highways in in in Ukraine, and so we need to always be vigilant, staying ahead of these emerging threats.

Do you support the continued use of that performance-based approach to cyber security oversight uh going forward? Are you um

I do.

aware of of how that works?

Yeah, and I and I'm aware that um we've been a bit negligent in um in um putting in place the uh regulatory environment around cyber security, particularly for the pipelines, since the uh, since it was first issued uh after the colonial um uh cyber attack. And so I do commit to this committee that I wanna see that through to resolution very quickly.

You um had mentioned drones, and we saw a few weeks ago that JetBlue Airways pilot, he reported striking his own while the aircraft was on approach to the JFK air Thankfully, the plane landed safely and uh the incident is still under investigation. Uh according to the FAA, it receives more than one hundred reports each month of drone sightings near airports. So while the DTSA is working with the FAA to undertake new efforts to address these concerns, what additional steps do you think the agency can undertake to ensure um, the safety of the flying public.

I was surprised to learn these last three weeks that the uh federal air marshals of the TSA have been working for years on counter-UAS, or counter drone uh interception. Uh, in fact, they have been working the FIFA World Cup events, uh, and helped intercept so far six hundred drones, uh, in collaboration with the FBI and Secret Service and local law enforcement. So we already have this capability. But to your point, it needs to be invested in, and it needs to um, cover the totality of all of our airports. And so we have been in uh, active discussions, D uh, DHS has been with, with OMB and the White House, to see about how we can utilize some of the funding, um, to uh, to increase our CUAS efforts. And we really think now it's become a core part of our mission at TSA. It's not just about screening and making sure people don't get on planes uh with bad intentions. But also we have to be careful not just about bad actors with drones, but also hobbyists that um are are are negligent and um do something to do what I think happened with this JetBlue incident in Newark.

In your comments you mentioned um your excitement in looking at the next generation uh screening equipment and the possibilities. uh that exists there and and better detection moving the public through this faster. Uh how would you attempt to not only accelerate that screening modernization, but positions TSA to better equip um be better equipped to deploy those new technologies?

Well, we're thankful to um to this congress for um funding uh our fiscal year twenty-six capital budget um which give gives us a big boost that we haven't had for many years um and we're looking forward to the prospect of that continuing in fiscal year twenty seven as well we really do have the opportunity to put in this technology and to be clear this is mostly about improved security and the good thing is with this new technology you also get improved throughput uh the bags go through quicker the people go through quicker and um and our checkpoints become more secure and the travelers of course are are delighted by that prospect as well so i look forward to working with this committee to um demonstrate some of this new technology to you all and so you can see with your own eyes uh the benefits from it

i recently had a a tour of the construction that's going on at the omaha airport they're doing a major uh uh build and remodel and got behind the scenes with new baggage uh system there. Uh, it is um really something. Hopefully we can get you to an airport in Nebraska and be able to see some of this.

I look forward to it.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator.

Thank you, and Senator Peters has agreed to let Senator Hickenlooper go ahead of him. So, Senator Hickenlooper.

Thank you, Senator Peters. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Appreciate that. Um, thank you, Mr. Cummins, for being here and taking on this challenge. I wanted to go back over as i was didn't quite to hear everything um and ask you uh little question about the the issues on um sanctuary cities before that how many how many um drones did you say you intercepted during fifa

it was a a collaborative effort but six hundred drones have been intercepted so far

that's remarkable and how how many of those were like news gathering how many were amateur screwing around and how many potentially malevolent.

Um, I can't speak to the percentage that might be potentially malevolent. Um, I do know there were arrests that were made. Um, but I would say the vast majority were maybe Instagrammers and folks that wanted to, uh, get a view of what was happening in the stadiums.

Right, but still dangerous, obviously.

Absolutely dangerous.

As as you clearly point out. Um, and you've all you I'm not sure I quite understood your answer, that uh you know when secretary mullin um told sean hannity that the department of homeland security was uh uh i think the phrase he used was drawing up plans uh to stop processing international travelers and cargo at at airports and remove customs officers from international airports in in so called sanctuary cities um have you discussed these plans with secretary mullin have you talked to the to commissioner scott about this

i have not

um and i'm sure you're aware that there's no accepted definition of what a sanctuary city is it's hotly debated by those cities and various cities about what it which definition there is um would argue that you know our our air traffic system uh both in terms of you know tourism and and and casual travelers but also the business the cargo um that is a network that's very interdependent and i think uh diminishing in any way the services that one city gets compared to another city uh would actually effect the whole you understand what i'm saying

i do

and you would you agree to that

well i i would say that if we do um uh reach the point where we're going to um um partially or incompletely um reduced services at sanctuary city airports i look forward to coming and meeting with this committee and explain the ramifications of that i understand it can be significant um but as far as i know there are no near-term plans to do that i have not been informed or read in on any plans to do that by secretary mullin