"Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) mission is to protect the nation's transportation network. Since its inception in 2001, TSA has developed and implemented a variety of programs and procedures to secure commercial aviation and surface modes of transportation. Other DHS components, federal agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector also play a role in transportation security. GAO has examined (1) the progress TSA and other DHS components have made in securing the nation's aviation and surface transportation systems, and the challenges that remain, and (2) crosscutting issues that have impeded TSA's efforts in strengthening security. This testimony is based on GAO reports and testimonies issued from February 2004 to February 2008 and ongoing work regarding the security of the nation's aviation and surface transportation systems, as well as selected updates to this work conducted in April 2008. To conduct this work, GAO reviewed documents related to TSA security efforts and interviewed TSA and transportation industry officials."--Highlights.

The Transport. Security Admin¿s. (TSA) mission is to protect the nation¿s transport. network. Since its inception in 2001, TSA has developed and implemented a variety of programs and procedures to secure commercial aviation and surface modes of transport. Other DHS components, fed. agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector also play a role in transport. security. Previous reports have examined: (1) the progress TSA and other DHS components have made in securing the nation¿s aviation and surface transport. systems, and the challenges that remain; and (2) crosscutting issues that have impeded TSA¿s efforts in strengthening security. This testimony concerns the security of the nation¿s aviation and surface transport. systems.

Transportation Security: Efforts to Strengthen Aviation and Surface Transportation Security Continue to Progress, but More Work Remains

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) mission is to protect the nation's transportation network. Since its inception in 2001, TSA has developed and implemented a variety of programs and procedures to secure commercial aviation and surface modes of transportation, including passenger and freight rail, mass transit, highways, commercial vehicles, and pipelines. Other DHS components, federal agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector also play a role in transportation security. GAO examined (1) the progress DHS and TSA have made in securing the nation's aviation and surface transportation systems, and (2) challenges that have impeded the department's efforts to implement its mission and management functions. This testimony is based on issued GAO reports and testimonies addressing the security of the nation's aviation and surface transportation systems, including a recently issued report (GAO-07-454) that highlights the progress DHS has made in implementing its mission and management functions.

Since its inception, the Transportation Security Admin. (TSA) has focused much of its efforts on aviation security, and has developed and implemented a variety of programs and procedures to secure commercial aviation. More recently, TSA has taken actions to secure the nation's surface transportation modes. TSA funding for aviation security has totaled about $26 billion since FY 2004, and for surface transportation security activities, about $175 million since FY 2005. This testimony focuses on TSA¿s efforts to secure the commercial aviation system -- through passenger screening, air cargo, and watch-list matching programs -- and the nation's surface transportation modes. It also addresses challenges remaining in these areas. Ill.