McCaskill Puts Napolitano on the Record About Lax Security at Foreign Repair Stations

Press Release

In a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill continued to advocate for tighter security at foreign repair stations that perform maintenance on domestic aircraft. During her time in the Senate, McCaskill has been a strong proponent of increased security and oversight at foreign repair stations, especially as it relates to the process of certifying stations. Today, she raised the issue with Secretary Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and asked that DHS look into the issue.

"We have increasingly in this country turned to foreign repair stations for not just kicking the tires, but significant maintenance and repair work for our domestic airline industry," McCaskill said. She continued: "We have significant repair work being done in places around the globe where I don't think the American people would be comfortable with the level of security and oversight that we are providing them."

Numerous reports from the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Inspector General (IG) have detailed that airlines are outsourcing heavy and critical maintenance -- far beyond simple oil changes or tire-pressure checks --on domestically flown aircraft to both certified and uncertified foreign repair stations with increasing frequency. Further reports have noted that security measures such as background checks or drug tests for employees or perimeter security are frequently lacking.

Today, Napolitano agreed that the issue falls under the umbrella of homeland security and noted that DHS has recently issued a notice of proposed rule-making on foreign repair stations and intends to strengthen the certification requirements that the Federal Aviation Administration uses and require additional security measures for foreign repair stations.

"The foreign repair station issue really reveals something that I say often, which is that homeland security does not begin at the borders of the United States," Napolitano said. "You really have to think about it in a global context and then bring it home so to speak."

McCaskill has introduced legislation that would have address many of the safety and security problems associated with outsourcing to foreign repair stations.

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