Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act examined by committee one year after passage

The House Transportation Security Subcommittee last week re-examined the Transportation Security Acquisition Act (TSARA) one year after the legislation became law.

The meeting provided committee members with a snapshot of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) adherence to the TSARA requirements from a governmental and industrial standpoint.

Among the provisions in the law are the development and biennially updating of a five-year technology investment plan, which may include a classified addendum to report sensitive transportation security risks, technology vulnerabilities or other sensitive security information. Additionally, the agency must publish the plan in an unclassified form in the public domain.

The law also directs the administrator to analyze if any technological acquisition is justified to prevent unnecessary spending. All responsibilities set forth in the act must be executed by the administrator, including reporting annually to Congress on the TSA’s performance record in meeting goals for contracting small businesses and directing the comptroller general to assess the TSA’s implementation of the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) recommendations regarding the acquisition of security-related technology made before the enactment of TSARA.

The act also requires the GAO to evaluate the TSA’s testing and evaluation processes relating to security technology and declares that no additional appropriations be authorized to carry our the act.