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May 07, 2013

TSA Must Stop Wasteful Spending on Equipment Storage

(WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, released the below statement in response to a Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) report on the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) warehousing of Government equipment used at airports to screen passengers and baggage. The report, titled "Transportation Security Administration Logistics Center – Inventory Management" (OIG-13-82) reveals that the agency stored unusable or obsolete equipment, maintained inappropriate safety stock levels, and did not develop an inventory management process to systematically deploy screening equipment. Additionally, the report highlights that TSA did not use all storage space it leased. The OIG found that this inventory control failure resulted in an annual waste of approximately $800,000 to fund unneeded warehouse space.

Congressman Thompson released the following statement on the report:

"This report highlights serious deficiencies in TSA's method for managing the storage of screening equipment. TSA must take immediate steps to stop spending $800,000 dollars per year to lease space for obsolete and unusable technology. Every dollar wasted is a dollar that is not spent on protecting this nation and fixing known security vulnerabilities. I look forward to working with TSA Administrator Pistole resolve this situation. When the agency appears before our Transportation Security Subcommittee this Wednesday, I look forward to hearing how Congress can help them resolve this issue."


* * * MEDIA ADVISORY * * *

The Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Transportation Security is holding a hearing on "TSA Procurement Reform: Saving Taxpayer Dollars Through Smarter Spending Practices"
Wednesday, May 8th at 1:30pm in 311 Cannon House Office Building.
Representatives from both TSA's Office of Acquisition and the DHS IG will be testifying.


Link to Report

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Media Contact: Adam Comis at (202) 225-9978