Members of the House Homeland Security Committee have chastised the Transportation Security Administration for squandering funds on unused scanners and other equipment.
The accusation came after the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general issued a report revealing that the TSA was spending $800,000 a year on warehouse space,
reports The Hill.
Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., led the attack, citing a 2009 report by the Government Accountability Office showing the TSA failed to analyze the costs and benefits of its Advanced Imaging Technology X-ray machines before purchasing them.
“That was nearly four years ago, and to my knowledge no such comprehensive cost-benefit analysis has been completed,” Hudson told the panel on Wednesday.
TSA Assistant Administrator of Acquisitions Karen Shelton Waters defended the agency’s purchases, said The Hill. She told lawmakers that “to fulfill its security responsibilities for deploying and operating state-of-the-art security technology at over 450 airports across the nation, TSA must be able to rapidly deploy technology to respond to changing threat information, or to have equipment ready to deploy when airport facilities are changed to accommodate the equipment.”
Hudson maintained that the TSA still needed to do more to cut spending. “Our purpose is to examine TSA procurement practices and identify ways this $7 billion agency can save taxpayer money and provide better security,” he said, adding, “Ultimately, these two goals are not mutually exclusive, but rather are dependent upon one another.
“Every dollar that can be saved from wasteful and duplicative programs, reforming broken processes, and increasing transparency can eventually be used to better protect passengers and confront emerging threats.”
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