To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. Passengers wait to pass through a security checkpoint at DFW Airport in Fort Worth,Texas in November 2007. for TSA following the departure of Bush appointee Kip Hawley in January. Immediate issues facing TSA include a congressional battle over whether the department’s 48,000 transportation security officers (TSOs), otherwise known as screeners, should be given collective bargaining rights. The agency is also embarking on the first stages of Secure Flight, the often-controversial program in which the federal government would take over passenger identity checks from the airlines. And as of this year, airlines are mandated to screen 50 percent of all cargo on passenger flights, reaching for a TSA goal of 100 percent by 2010. “It should be a pretty exciting time for TSA,” predicted Jeff Sural, who worked in TSA legislative affairs under Hawley, and for former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff. He said Napolitano has the opportunity to address many of the lingering leadership issues at DHS headquarters and TSA. The former Arizona governor not only has the practical threat assessment and response experience—she was the first governor to order National Guard to the troublesome border with Mexico in 2006— but she has the executive tools and, perhaps, the ability to set a more unified tone for the department’s 22 components. “Hopefully, her influence will show in who she selects to run TSA and that person will … focus TSA headquarters on better management. That’ll help with folks in the field and improve morale all the way around,” said Sural. Upon taking office, Napolitano announced a “side-by-side comparison of the threat environment, resources and personnel devoted to each transportation sector.” In testimony before Congress, she Register online today for exclusive online content and eNewsletters AIRPORT SECURITY REPRESENTS THE FACE OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO MOST AMERICANS. NOW THAT FACE IS CHANGING. indicated support for new, full-body scanner technology emerging at the airport checkpoints and the need to improve upon existing airport security measures in general. These goals will be assisted by the $1 billion provided in the federal stimulus bill signed by President Barack Obama in February. DHS announced in March that it would be using $700 million for enhanced checked baggage explosive detection systems (EDS) and $300 million for advanced screening technology at the checkpoints—including the latest in X-ray systems for carry-on bags and full-body scanners. “This is a great opportunity for us to accelerate our strategic plan for checked baggage security screening, improving security and convenience at some of our nation’s busiest airports, as well as supporting President Obama’s plan to stimulate the economy,” Napolitano said at the time, predicting that 3,000 jobs would be created through the increased spending. Still,without a permanent head,the agency’s managers were unwilling to talk about philosophy or big changes in airport security, preferring to emphasize programs and policies making headlines in 2009. ‘A very serious situation right now’ John Sammon, assistant administrator for Transportation Sector Network Management, told me in March that “the plans we have in place”—whether in new technology, expanding the behavioral detection teams or improving the efficacy of the front line TSOs—“are continuing on schedule through the transition. Whatever was on the menu before is still on the menu.” Homeland Security Today Magazine | May 2009 23