{ "id": "RL33512", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL33512", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 458167, "date": "2017-01-05", "retrieved": "2017-01-13T15:45:01.754677", "title": "Transportation Security: Issues for the 115th Congress", "summary": "The nation\u2019s air, land, and marine transportation systems are designed for accessibility and efficiency, two characteristics that make them highly vulnerable to terrorist attack. While hardening the transportation sector from terrorist attack is difficult, measures can be taken to deter terrorists. The dilemma facing Congress is how best to construct and finance a system of deterrence, protection, and response that effectively reduces the possibility and consequences of another terrorist attack without unduly interfering with travel, commerce, and civil liberties.\nAviation security has been a major focus of transportation security policy since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In the aftermath of these attacks, the 107th Congress moved quickly to pass the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA; P.L. 107-71), creating the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and mandating a federalized workforce of security screeners to inspect airline passengers and their baggage. The FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-190) included a number of aviation security provisions designed to expand the PreCheck program to expedite screening for known travelers, enhance background checks of airport workers and strengthen airport access controls, and improve passenger checkpoint efficiency and operational performance.\nUntil recently, TSA applied relatively uniform methods to screen airline passengers, focusing primarily on advances in screening technology to improve security and efficiency. TSA has recently shifted away from this approach, which assumes a uniform level of risk among all airline travelers, to risk-based screening approaches that focus more intensely on passengers thought to pose elevated security risks. Despite the extensive focus on aviation security over the past decade, a number of challenges remain, including\neffectively screening passengers, baggage, and cargo for explosives threats;\ndeveloping effective risk-based methods for screening passengers and airport workers with access to aircraft and sensitive areas;\nexploiting available intelligence information and watchlists to identify individuals who pose potential threats to civil aviation; \neffectively responding to security threats at airports and screening checkpoints;\ndeveloping effective strategies for addressing aircraft vulnerabilities to shoulder-fired missiles and other standoff weapons; and \naddressing the potential security implications of unmanned aircraft operations.\nBombings of passenger trains in Europe and Asia in the past few years illustrate the vulnerability of passenger rail systems to terrorist attacks. Passenger rail systems\u2014primarily subway systems\u2014in the United States carry about five times as many passengers each day as do airlines, over many thousands of miles of track, serving stations that are designed primarily for easy access. Transit security issues of recent interest to Congress include the quality of TSA\u2019s surface transportation inspector program and the slow rate at which transit and rail security grants have been expended.\nExisting law mandates the scanning of all U.S.-bound maritime containers with non-intrusive inspection equipment at overseas ports of loading by July 2012. This deadline was not met, and DHS is opposed to that strategy in favor of a risk-based, layered approach to security screening. 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While hardening the transportation sector from terrorist attack is difficult, measures can be taken to deter terrorists. The dilemma facing Congress is how best to construct and finance a system of deterrence, protection, and response that effectively reduces the possibility and consequences of another terrorist attack without unduly interfering with travel, commerce, and civil liberties.\nAviation security has been a major focus of transportation security policy since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In the aftermath of these attacks, the 107th Congress moved quickly to pass the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA; P.L. 107-71) creating the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and mandating a federalized workforce of security screeners to inspect airline passengers and their baggage. Recent events, such as the destruction of a Russian passenger jet above the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015, apparently by a bomb aboard the aircraft, have renewed concerns about the adequacy of passenger and cargo screening. Similarly, bombings in Brussels, Belgium, on March 22, 2016, renewed concerns over the security vulnerabilities of airport terminals and mass transit stations.\nUntil recently, TSA applied relatively uniform methods to screen airline passengers, focusing primarily on advances in screening technology to improve security and efficiency. TSA has recently shifted away from this approach, which assumes a uniform level of risk among all airline travelers, to risk-based screening approaches that focus more intensely on passengers thought to pose elevated security risks. Despite the extensive focus on aviation security over the past decade, a number of challenges remain, including\neffectively screening passengers, baggage, and cargo for explosives threats;\ndeveloping effective risk-based methods for screening passengers and airport workers with access to aircraft and sensitive areas;\nexploiting available intelligence information and watchlists to identify individuals who pose potential threats to civil aviation; \neffectively responding to security threats at airports and screening checkpoints;\ndeveloping effective strategies for addressing aircraft vulnerabilities to shoulder-fired missiles and other standoff weapons; and \naddressing the potential security implications of unmanned aircraft operations.\nBombings of passenger trains in Europe and Asia in the past few years illustrate the vulnerability of passenger rail systems to terrorist attacks. Passenger rail systems\u2014primarily subway systems\u2014in the United States carry about five times as many passengers each day as do airlines, over many thousands of miles of track, serving stations that are designed primarily for easy access. Transit security issues of recent interest to Congress include the quality of TSA\u2019s surface transportation inspector program and the slow rate at which transit and rail security grants have been expended.\nExisting law mandates the scanning of all U.S.-bound maritime containers with non-intrusive inspection equipment at overseas ports of loading by July 2012. This deadline was not met, and DHS is opposed to that strategy in favor of a risk-based, layered approach to security screening. Implementation of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) for port and maritime workers also appears to be experiencing continuing difficulties.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL33512", "sha1": "fe0f5137c1563c42c919c64882a53f4df20217ee", "filename": "files/20160509_RL33512_fe0f5137c1563c42c919c64882a53f4df20217ee.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL33512", "sha1": "38a3da66362b181640afa5d3f21c3326887e4864", "filename": "files/20160509_RL33512_38a3da66362b181640afa5d3f21c3326887e4864.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 3281, "name": "Aviation Policy" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4585, "name": "Homeland Security" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc795871/", "id": "RL33512_2015Nov25", "date": "2015-12-25", "retrieved": "2016-01-13T14:26:20", "title": "Transportation Security: Issues for the 114th Congress", "summary": "This report examines aviation, transit and passenger rail security, as well as port and maritime security. 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While hardening the transportation sector from terrorist attack is difficult, measures can be taken to deter terrorists. The dilemma facing Congress is how best to construct and finance a system of deterrence, protection, and response that effectively reduces the possibility and consequences of another terrorist attack without unduly interfering with travel, commerce, and civil liberties.\nAviation security has been a major focus of transportation security policy since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In the aftermath of these attacks, the 107th Congress moved quickly to pass the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA; P.L. 107-71) creating the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and mandating a federalized workforce of security screeners to inspect airline passengers and their baggage. Recent events, such as the destruction of a Russian passenger jet above the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015, apparently by a bomb aboard the aircraft, have renewed concerns about the adequacy of passenger and cargo screening. \nUntil recently, TSA applied relatively uniform methods to screen airline passengers, focusing primarily on advances in screening technology to improve security and efficiency. TSA has recently shifted away from this approach, which assumes a uniform level of risk among all airline travelers, to risk-based screening approaches that focus more intensely on passengers thought to pose elevated security risks. Despite the extensive focus on aviation security over the past decade, a number of challenges remain, including\neffectively screening passengers, baggage, and cargo for explosives threats;\ndeveloping effective risk-based methods for screening passengers and airport workers with access to aircraft and sensitive areas;\nexploiting available intelligence information and watchlists to identify individuals who pose potential threats to civil aviation; \neffectively responding to security threats at airports and screening checkpoints;\ndeveloping effective strategies for addressing aircraft vulnerabilities to shoulder-fired missiles and other standoff weapons; and \naddressing the potential security implications of unmanned aircraft operations.\nBombings of passenger trains in Europe and Asia in the past few years illustrate the vulnerability of passenger rail systems to terrorist attacks. Passenger rail systems\u2014primarily subway systems\u2014in the United States carry about five times as many passengers each day as do airlines, over many thousands of miles of track, serving stations that are designed primarily for easy access. Transit security issues of recent interest to Congress include the quality of TSA\u2019s surface transportation inspector program and the slow rate at which transit and rail security grants have been expended.\nExisting law mandates the scanning of all U.S.-bound maritime containers with non-intrusive inspection equipment at overseas ports of loading by July 2012. This deadline was not met, and DHS is opposed to that strategy in favor of a risk-based, layered approach to security screening. Implementation of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) for port and maritime workers also appears to be experiencing continuing difficulties.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL33512", "sha1": "3655c68168f917ef55ef12d2ccc215c33cdcd90a", "filename": "files/20151125_RL33512_3655c68168f917ef55ef12d2ccc215c33cdcd90a.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL33512", "sha1": "aac2c981c0e6bda6da0f153c2b09d5da1f86513b", "filename": "files/20151125_RL33512_aac2c981c0e6bda6da0f153c2b09d5da1f86513b.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 3281, "name": "Aviation Policy" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4585, "name": "Homeland Security" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": 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