Daines Leads Letter with Zinke Demanding TSA Revoke Burdensome Employee Screening Policy

U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines and Congressman Ryan Zinke sent a letter to Transportation Security Administration (TSA Administrator Pekoske urging the Biden administration to revoke a burdensome TSA employee screening policy that would add a significant strain to Montana airports.

In a letter to TSA Administrator Pekoske, they wrote, “Ultimately, if implemented, the National Amendment would represent a fundamental shift in TSA’s screening responsibilities and undermine the role in which they were specifically tasked to perform post-9/11. Airport staff would essentially be required to duplicate the individual screening process that TSA screening officers are trained for, have equipment for, expertise in, and are already performing at airports.

“With these factors in mind, we request that the amendment be rescinded immediately and that aviation security screening remain the sole responsibility of the TSA, even for aviation workers at airports. If you intend to move forward with the amendment, we ask that its implementation be delayed for not less than one year and for a briefing no later than August 31, 2023, on how the agency plans to address the concerns Montana’s airports have raised with the National Amendment.”

You can read the full letter HERE.