Neffenger Confirmation

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, yesterday I missed Senate rollcall vote No. 217, the nomination of Peter V. Neffenger, of Ohio, to be an Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, because of flight delay issues due to weather. Had I been here, I would have voted in favor of this nomination.

I support the Senate's confirmation last night of Coast Guard VADM Peter V. Neffenger who was confirmed to be the next Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, TSA.

The TSA has been without Senate-confirmed leadership for too long. John Pistole, the previous TSA Administrator, announced on October 16, 2014, that he would be resigning in December. Since the end of 2014, the TSA Administrator position has been vacant. In January, I along with Ranking Member Nelson, and Senators Ayotte, Cantwell, and Fischer, called on President Obama to send us a qualified, experienced, and dedicated individual to serve as TSA Administrator. Unfortunately, President Obama did not nominate Admiral Neffenger until April 28, 2015, over 6 months after John Pistole informed the administration that he would be leaving. I was disappointed at the length of time it took for the President to send us a qualified nominee. Even the New York Times editorial page, normally quite deferential to the President, expressed the opinion that ``the Obama Administration has been disturbingly slow to give the TSA strong leadership at the top.''

By comparison, the Senate has very rapidly moved the Neffenger nomination, despite two separate committees being involved with his formal vetting. Since the TSA was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security, the Senate has abided by an understanding that TSA Administrator nominees would be vetted by the Commerce Committee, which has primary jurisdiction over TSA, and also by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees the Department of Homeland Security where TSA is organizationally housed. Some could say that this protocol could lend itself to unnecessary delay. However, Admiral Neffenger received three votes in less than 3 weeks, first by the Commerce Committee on June 4, 2015, the second one on June 15, 2015, by the Homeland Security Committee, and last night when he was confirmed by a vote of 81 to 1. So the Senate has moved swiftly to confirm this important nomination, in comparison to the time the Obama administration has taken to send the Senate a qualified nominee.

While I am disappointed at the length of time it took for the President to send the Senate a qualified nominee, I applaud the President's selection of Admiral Neffenger to be the next TSA Administrator. Admiral Neffenger has served ably and well for 34 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, rising through the ranks to become the Vice Commandant when the Senate confirmed him last year for that distinguished position.

During an assignment to Mobile, AL, he helped to lead the multi-agency response to the 1993 Amtrak Sunset Limited train derailment into a remote waterway in the Mobile River Delta, which killed 47 people. Admiral Neffenger also has substantial experience serving right here in the Senate, having been a Coast Guard fellow and detailee for 3 years at the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Admiral Neffenger also served as Deputy National Incident Commander for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. In that role, Admiral Neffenger coordinated and led over 50,000 people from Federal, State, and local agencies, tribal representatives, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector throughout five Gulf Coast States in the clean-up and response effort. Clearly, Admiral Neffenger has the requisite background and experience to lead reforms at the TSA.

Admiral Neffenger has proven himself as a leader, and the TSA is an agency in dire need of strong, capable leadership. In May, the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General testified in the House of Representatives that, ``[u]nfortunately, although nearly 14 years have passed since TSA's inception, we remain deeply concerned about its ability to execute its important mission.'' Then, earlier this month, news broke that undercover investigators from the Inspector General's office had penetrated TSA security checkpoints while carrying illegal weapons or simulated bombs on 67 of 70 attempts. In other words, TSA failed 95 percent of the time to prevent illegal weapons or simulated bombs from being smuggled through TSA security checkpoints. This is unacceptable, and it is clear that the Inspector General is right to be concerned about TSA's ability to execute its important mission in a rapidly changing threat environment.

TSA has also experienced a number of other troubling failures about which I have written to the agency. I have been concerned about the TSA's oversight of Secure Identification Display Area, SIDA, badges at the Nation's airports. In December 2014, it was revealed that a Delta ramp agent in Atlanta allegedly used his SIDA badge to bypass TSA security and facilitate an interstate gun smuggling operation via commercial aircraft. TSA's response to my letter of inquiry about its oversight of SIDA badges stated that TSA does not issue or manage SIDA badges and that this responsibility falls to airport operators--which raised even more concerns about TSA's awareness about lost SIDA badges at our Nation's airports.

Another issue I have raised with TSA relates to the potential security gaps in its PreCheck initiative raised in reports by the inspector general. On January 28, 2015, the inspector general released an unclassified summary of a classified report concluding that PreCheck is a positive step towards risk-based security screening as a concept, but that TSA needs to modify its PreCheck vetting and screening processes and improve its PreCheck communication and coordination. The Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General report also stated that, ``TSA did not concur with all recommendations and all recommendations remain open.''

In response to the conclusions and recommendations, I wrote to TSA along with Ranking Member Nelson on March 25, 2015, asking a series of questions about potential security gaps in TSA PreCheck. TSA responded to this letter on April 14, 2015, but the issue of potential security gaps in PreCheck and other expedited screening initiatives must still be addressed as TSA seeks to continue these initiatives, let alone expand them.

Admiral Neffenger's proven leadership throughout the course of his service in the U.S. Coast Guard will undoubtedly afford valuable perspective in his role as TSA Administrator. Admiral Neffenger understands the need for TSA to continuously evolve to meet the challenges presented by an ever-changing threat environment. Obviously, the TSA is an agency that needs a strong leader who will bring cultural change to the agency. I am hopeful that Admiral Neffenger can be a leader who can fundamentally reform the TSA. He has a heavy burden, but I believe he is capable of shouldering that burden and I pledge to work with him and my colleagues here in the Senate to see that those changes occur.

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