The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) called upon Congress on Monday to pass emergency legislation funding the hiring of more than 6,000 new full-time screeners to alleviate long security lines at the nation’s airports.
“These additional TSOs will at least begin to address the shortage of TSOs needed to reduce the delays passengers are facing in airports across the country,” David Cox, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said. “Congress has starved TSA of the resources it needs to meet growing demands at our nation’s airports. Shamefully, it has even diverted some of the money passengers pay in security fees, shifting those funds from TSA to pay down the federal budget deficit.”
The TSA currently employs approximately 42,000 officers, down from 47,000 in 2013. During the same time period, total passenger air travel has risen 15 percent. Cox said that Congress has placed an arbitrary cap on the number of people the agency can employ as a cost-saving measure.
A proposal to shift $34 million in Homeland Security funding so that the TSA can hire approximately 800 employees has been floated through Congress, however, Cox said that the proposal doesn’t address the long-term critical funding issues the agency faces.