MICHELE NORRIS, host:
In response to that failed airliner attack, the Obama administration has announced that it's stepping up airport screening measures. The new policy allows for more random searches on U.S.-bound international flights. It also mandates pat-downs and the physical inspection of carry-on luggage for all citizens of, or anyone flying through or from, nations with significant terrorist activity. That includes Nigeria, Cuba, Iraq, Pakistan and others -14 countries in all.
Before the attempted bombing over Detroit, the Government Accountability Office put U.S. aviation security to the test last fall. It looked for risk across the country's commercial airports, and it found plenty of flaws. It also concluded that the Transportation Security Administration had, in the words of the GAO, no unifying national strategy. Stephen M. Lord wrote that report. He is director of homeland security and justice issues at the GAO. He says individual passenger screening is only one part of the process.
Mr. STEPHEN M. LORD (Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issue, GAO): You have to also focus on airport perimeter and access, which we did in our report. We found that - the first big issue we identified is, we thought TSA could do a better job of assessing the vulnerabilities at each of the individual airports through undertaking a formal assessment, known as a vulnerability assessment. This is not to say they have not done anything to assess the gaps and potential vulnerabilities. But we thought it should be more rigorous, should be more documented, and conducted in conjunction with the FBI - so basically, formalize an existing process.
NORRIS: When you talk about vulnerabilities, we most often think of that scene at the airport where you have to take off your shoes and pull out your laptop, but it sounds like you're talking about something larger, or something beyond the actual terminal. You're talking about the entire airport.
Mr. LORD: Yeah, this is the entire airport and with a focus on a perimeter security and the workers who work within the airport - that's an important part of the aviation security picture. The events of last week have focused largely on airport screening, you know, passenger screening - that's a very important part of it, too. There are several related components when you discuss aviation security. So you need to discuss the full set of programs.
NORRIS: What is the largest threat to the TSA?
Mr. LORD: Well, in the aviation security realm, TSA conducts what they call civil aviation, a threat assessment annually, and it persistently identifies the threat of hijackings and IED devices on aircraft as the principle threat. And this is public information.
NORRIS: In the wake of the attempted bombing on Christmas night, there has been much attention paid to these whole-body imagers, which might have caught the concealed bomb elements on the suspect. Did your report look specifically at the effectiveness and the feasibility of those devices?
Mr. LORD: We had access to some at a classified testing result, so I'm not at liberty, obviously, today to discuss them. But our point was, more generally, before you deploy any new technology, we think it's very important that you carefully test it in an operational environment to see how it works. The airways have been filled with stories within the last week about the promise of this new technology. And I think it's important to be a little more circumspect and objective and, you know, focus on the testing results. Some people have heralded this is the next best thing or the silver bullet, yet it's only a technology. It's used in conjunction when - human operators and other screening procedures, so it does have some limitations. I think that's really important to understand.
NORRIS: The new procedures that were announced today - the pat-downs, the physical inspection of carry-on luggage - does that follow your recommendation?
Mr. LORD: Yeah. Because when you look at aviation security, you have to focus on three critical components - not only the technology, the screening policies and procedures, and the people who administer the system, the screeners. So even though most of the press has been focused on the technology issues in the last week, you have to look more holistically, at these other procedures as well.
NORRIS: Based on your knowledge of the various options that individual airports have when deciding how to set up the screening process at an individual airport, is there a technology that is not used as widely as it should be used right now?
Mr. LORD: As you know, the whole-body imaging technology has engendered a whole series of questions about whether it's possible to protect privacy while using this technology, I think that's a decision that's still being looked at, obviously. And as I often add, it's just not a trade -ff between security and privacy. There's a third dimension: It's commerce. You have to look at the throughput for these machines and not�
NORRIS: The throughput - what do you mean?
Mr. LORD: Yeah. The - how many people you can process through this technology in an hour. I'm not sure the American public, over the long term, would be willing to put up with any technology they thought imposed a burden on, you know - inordinate burden on their traveling.
NORRIS: Mr. Lord, thank you very much for coming in to talk to us.
Mr. LORD: Hey, thanks for having me. I enjoyed it.
NORRIS: Stephen Lord is the director of homeland security and justice issues at the GAO.