TSA needs a little tech help

The Transportation Security Administration has a big problem. It is not moving fast enough toward meeting a deadline to make sure that all cargo transported on passenger jets is screened for weapons of mass destruction, according to government and members of Congress. The deadline of August 2010 is a congressional mandate, one of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

The mandate was signed into law by President Bush, and is supposed to cover both cargo coming into the United States on passenger jets, and cargo that leaves the U.S. But TSA said it is logistically impossible to screen 100 percent of the cargo entering the U.S.

"One of the challenges we face is the limitations of the currently available technology--specifically, the effectiveness of existing technology for detecting explosives in cargo, its operational feasibility, and its general availability for deployment to the industry to meet the mandate of the 9/11 Act," said Ed Kelly, TSA's manager for air cargo.

Kelly testified before the House Homeland Security Transportation Security Subcommittee, where chairwoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) signaled the issue is not being tabled. She said that TSA should work harder to meet the deadline. Kelly said, however, that airports were not big enough to deal with increased baggage screening. Still, shouldn't there be other ways to put these screening requirements in place without requiring a bigger operation?

This is an issue that's not going away anytime soon.

For more on TSA screening:
- check out this GovernmentExecutive.com article