Prepared Statement of Administrator Kip Hawley
Assistant Secretary of the Transportation Security Administration
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Homeland Security
March 6, 2007
Good morning, Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member King, and Members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you to discuss the Transportation Security Administration’s work to secure our Nation’s surface-transportation assets and systems.
I am especially pleased to appear today with TSA's colleagues in the public and private sectors because our surface transportation security efforts are enhanced by the partnerships we have with them.
We return to these partnerships again and again because the measures they have already put into place form a very solid security foundation. Our job is built upon what has been accomplished, layering additional value onto our partners' security efforts. We do that with intelligence sharing, vulnerability analysis, technology sharing, grant programs, and, when appropriate, our VIPR teams through which TSA brings together federal air marshals, canine teams, and Transportation Security Officers at the invitation of local law enforcement to provide a visible and unpredictable security presence to a variety of surface transportation environments.
TSA centers its decision-making on the assessments of surface transportation. One of our fundamental principles is to take advantage of all the work that was done prior to 9/11, even if it wasn't originally done for security. With regard to mass transit and freight rail, we build upon the work done by the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and the industry, which has conducted numerous vulnerability and readiness self-assessments.
Consistent with Secretary Chertoff’s risk-based strategy for DHS, our assessments lead us to understand our vulnerabilities and direct our priorities. They lead us to focus on high consequence risk reduction and the security fundamentals. The high risk priorities for rail are:
- High-density passenger transit systems in urban areas with underwater or underground tunnels, and
- Highly toxic chemicals in rail cars that are standing unattended in high-risk urban areas.
Our mitigation measures include federal grant priority for the passenger transit systems and an innovative and immediate risk reduction approach to freight rail.
In addition to the two areas mentioned, our risk-assessment evaluation leads us to focus on creating visible, unpredictable, random deterrence and on raising the overall level of security – the fundamentals.
The three most important fundamentals are employee training, emergency preparedness, and public awareness.
Employee training is the backbone of good security, and training is a top priority. We have surveyed the industry and have focused our inspectors on determining how well trained are the front line operators. The results indicate there is much work to be done. We are moving aggressively to address this issue. Our plan is to take advantage of the training programs and the train-the-trainer programs that FTA, industry, and other agencies have developed.
Just last week, we reissued guidance for the '07 Transit Security Grant Program that will streamline the delivery of funding to transit agencies to get this training done.
Also, we are moving toward a requirement whereby grant applicants cannot receive funding through the Transit Security Grant Program unless they either demonstrate they already have the fundamentals well covered or they gear their grant application for funds to address their deficiencies.
Since 2003, and including the president's budget for fiscal year 2008, the Department of Homeland Security will make available almost $20 billion in funds that can be used to meet priority local security needs. At the same time, DHS will make available nearly $750 million specifically targeted at mass transit security. TSA is committed to making sure those funds translate into risk reduction and an improved security baseline.
Thank you and I will be happy to answer any questions you have.
I am pleased to reintroduce to the committee and panelists TSA Deputy Administrator, Robert Jamison. He provides an extensive surface background and has been involved in these issues since 9/11. Prior to coming to TSA served as the Deputy Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration and then as Acting Federal Railroad Administrator. He brings a wealth of surface knowledge to TSA and spearheads the Department's effort in grants funding in these areas.
I would also like to re-introduce John Sammon. He has 30 years of private sector experience in the rail industry. He serves in a key role at TSA as the head of our group that engages daily with our critical partners and is responsible for the outreach for all modes of transportation including these issues, transit and rail.
