Blackburn Condemns TSA's Collective Bargaining Agreement

Statement

Congressman Marsha Blackburn (TN-7) today issued the following statement condemning the Transportation Security Administration's collective bargaining agreement.

"By agreeing to this deal, the TSA is putting the safety and security of American passengers at risk by allowing federal unions to claim a greater stake in dictating our national security. Instead of focusing on the traveling public the TSA is doubling down on fulfilling the demands of rank and file union members.

"Congress originally intended the TSA to be in the mold of the CIA and FBI. Their employees were supposed to remain vigilant 24/7 to thwart the next terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Unfortunately, the TSA is only perpetuating a charade as a premier federal agency as they continue to fail to perform background checks on their employees, provide inadequate levels of basic security training and are not seriously focused on reprimanding or retraining screeners who receive failing grades in detecting threats.

"The collective bargaining agreement will also double the annual uniform allowance and permit new uniform variations to account for weather. If our Transportation Security Officers, who have zero federal law enforcement training, would return to our nation's climate controlled airports and work within their Congressionally established roles of screeners and processors they wouldn't need to worry about the weather. Instead the TSA is continuing to let their employees take the appearance of federal law enforcement officers and is unleashing them onto our nation's highways, subways, trains and buses against the unsuspecting public."

Source