Congresswoman Waters Addresses Security Concerns at LAX

Today on Capitol Hill, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), addressed safety and security concerns at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in the wake of the shooting incident that occurred on Nov. 1, 2013. She addressed the remarks to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator John Pistole, who testified during a hearing held by the Subcommittee on Transportation Security of the House Committee on Homeland Security, entitled "TSA's SPOT Program and Initial Lessons from the LAX Shooting."

Remarks as prepared for delivery:

"I would like to thank Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, Ranking Member Bennie Thompson, Transportation Security Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, and Ranking Member Cedric Richmond for allowing me to participate in this hearing, which will consider the initial lessons learned from the tragic LAX shooting incident, which occurred on November 1st at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in my congressional district, as well as the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program, which involves Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers observing the behavior of passengers.

"I want to begin by joining with my colleagues to honor the life and service of Gerardo Hernandez, the TSA officer who was killed in the line of duty during this tragic incident. I offer my deepest condolences to his family and friends. I also honor all of the TSA officers, LAX police officers, and other first responders who risked their lives to stabilize the situation and protect the public.

"LAX is the sixth busiest airport in the world and third in the United States. LAX offers 680 daily flights to 96 American cities and additional flights to 30 foreign countries. In 2012, LAX served more than 63 million passengers, processed more than 1.9 million tons of air cargo, and handled more than 600,000 landings and takeoffs. The safety and security of all of the people who work in and pass through LAX is of paramount importance.

"The LAX shooting incident raises two specific security concerns that I will highlight today. The first is the need for law enforcement officers to be stationed at passenger screening checkpoints. The second is the need for airport police to have access to airport security cameras.

"Both of these issues were raised in a letter from the American Alliance of Airport Police Officers to TSA Administrator John Pistole on September 28, 2012, more than thirteen months before this tragic incident occurred. The letter was signed jointly by Marshall McClain, the President of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association, and Paul Nunziato, the President of the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association.

"In a response dated October 12, 2012, Administrator Pistole agreed that both of these issues merited further discussion. I hereby request that the committee include both the Airport Police Officers' letter and Administrator Pistole's response in the record for today's hearing.

"There are two methods by which police may provide law enforcement support for TSA's passenger screening checkpoints. The "fixed post" method requires a police officer to be stationed at the passenger screening checkpoint. The "flexible response" method allows police to roam the surrounding area but requires that they be able to respond to a problem at the checkpoint within a specified time period.

"The Airport Police Officers' letter explained that it is virtually impossible for an individual police officer to respond quickly to a problem at a screening checkpoint if the officer is responsible for patrolling an entire terminal area and performing other police functions. The letter recommends a uniform standard for all major airports, which would require a law enforcement officer within 300 feet of the passenger screening area.

"It is my understanding that LAX police officers did indeed provide both fixed post and roaming police officers at LAX at the time this letter was written. Then, last April, six months after Administrator Pistole agreed to discuss the issue, a decision was made to waive the requirement for fixed post officers at LAX. In any event, there was apparently no fixed post officer stationed at the affected LAX checkpoint when the shooting began.

"The Airport Police Officers' letter also raised the issue of real-time airport police access to airport security cameras. As the letter explained, most airports do not have a coordinated airport-wide security camera system. Instead, TSA, airport management, airlines, and vendors own and operate their own security camera systems, and there is no requirement that they provide airport police with a camera feed should an incident occur. This is certainly the case at LAX.

"It is my understanding that the absence of airport police access to airport security cameras at LAX complicated the efforts of LAX police to apprehend the shooter after he shot Officer Hernandez, passed through the checkpoint, and began to roam through the terminal where he shot additional victims. Fortunately, these victims all survived.

"I hope that Administrator Pistole will address both of these two issues during his testimony.

"Finally, I did not focus my remarks today on the SPOT program. However, I will say that I do believe it is racial profiling. It is also ineffective, and so I chose to focus my remarks on more effective security methods.

"I thank the Chairman and the Ranking Member for the time."

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