Inadequate screening technology internationally poses a threat to domestic security, suggested House Homeland Security transportation security subcommittee chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) during an April 7 hearing.

The Transportation Security Administration will conduct 51 screening and security training sessions in 35 countries this year, said John Halinski, Transportation Security Administration assistant administrator for global strategies. However, many nations benefiting from TSA's educational outreach lack sufficient screening technology. 

Rogers said he will pursue legislation that would grant TSA the authority to donate surplus or old screening equipment to foreign countries.

"TSA deserves the authority to assist countries where they have identified vulnerabilities, or where there simply is a need," said Rogers.

Halinski also said TSA intends to work more closely with the International Civil Aviation Organization to share releasable threat data through the organization's information sharing and threat detection framework.

Meanwhile, domestic information sharing has improved, according to a new Government Accountability Office report (.pdf) published April 6. TSA is now clearly instructing behavior detection officers on inputting information into the database used to track suspicious activities, remedying a problem outlined in a May 2010 GAO report, said GAO.

TSA has also expanded access to the database, as of March 2011, across all airports participating in its security pilot program called Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT, according to the report.

For more:
- see the opening statements and written testimony
- see the GAO report GAO-11-461T (.pdf)

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