Transportation Security Administration

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was "created in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001" as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (Public Law 107-71), which was signed into law November 19, 2001, by President George W. Bush. The TSA was originally in the U.S. Department of Transportation but was moved to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in March 2003. "In February 2002, TSA assumed responsibility for security at the nation’s airports and by the end of the year had deployed a federal work force to meet challenging Congressional deadlines for screening all passengers and baggage." 

80% of budget spent on airport screening
James Fallows wrote in the January/February 2005 issue of Atlantic Monthly "in the wake of 9/11 ... led to creation of the Transportation Security Administration and the huge over-emphasis on airport screening. ... [The] TSA devotes 80 percent of its $5.3 billion budget to airport screening, even though it is nominally responsible for all the rest of transportation as well—roads, bridges, subways, tunnels, railroads, ports, etc." Fallows "quotes several experts who maintain ... that the $4 billion spent on screening 'could make Americans safer if it were applied more broadly in transportation—reinforcing bridges, establishing escape routes from tunnels, installing call boxes,' etc." --Aviation Security Newsletter, Reason Foundation, March 2005.

TSA R&D: Explosive Detection Technology (EDS)
"TSA’s R&D program has two projects to develop better EDS technology. Project Phoenix seeks upgrades to the systems already installed at airports—increased throughput, greater accuracy, etc. The next-generation stuff is being sought under Manhattan II, which recently awarded contracts to nine teams." --Aviation Security Newsletter, Reason Foundation, March 2005.

Mission
"TSA’s mission is to protect the nation’s transportation systems by ensuring the freedom of movement for people and commerce." 

The TSA includes the Office of National Risk Assessment and the Federal Air Marshals Service.

Also see the "History of TSA."

Administrator
In December 2003, Retired Rear Admiral David M. Stone was appointed as the first Acting Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Admiral Stone was scheduled to depart TSA early in June 2005. 

TSA Leadership Council

 * Kenneth Kasprisin, Acting Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for TSA
 * Tom Blank, Acting Deputy Administrator for TSA
 * Jonathan Fleming, Chief Operating Officer
 * James E. Fuller, Chief of Staff
 * John K. Moran, Acting Associate Administrator/Chief Support Systems Officer (CSSO)
 * Source.

Organization chart

 * See the TSA Organization Chart, accessed July 5, 2005.

Contact information

 * URL: http://www.tsa.gov/public/
 * Screening Partnership Program/Private Security Screening Program or Opt-Out.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Computer Assisted Passenger PreScreening System II
 * data mining
 * Fortress America
 * Liquid bomb plot August 2006
 * national security
 * North American Union
 * Reveal Imaging Technologies, Inc.
 * Secure Flight
 * Tanks at Heathrow Airport
 * Threat Advisory security alert nonsense
 * Threat Advisory security alert nonsense: John Ashcroft
 * US-VISIT

External articles

 * Jim Hightower, "TSA Secretly Snoops on Passengers," AlterNet, July 2, 2005: "If you flew in June of 2004 the Transportation Security Administration now has a file on you, amassing such passenger records as our names, phone numbers, and credit card info."
 * David Edwards and Nick Juliano, "CNN: TSA knew 'dry run' terror alerts were bogus," The Raw Story, July 27, 2007.