House to consider bill to change TSA rules for buying X-ray scanners

The House Homeland Security Committee will consider on Tuesday a bill that would change the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) procedure for purchasing equipment like its controversial X-ray scanners.

The measure, the Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act (H.R. 2719), would require the agency to implement “best practices” for purchasing security equipment.

The bill follows the release of a report from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general that showed the TSA was spending $800,000 per year on warehouse space for equipment that was not being used at airport security checkpoints.

{mosads}The legislation, which is being sponsored by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), has bipartisan support and is expected to be approved by the Homeland Security Committee. 

The measure would require the TSA to develop a multi-year strategic plan for security equipment purchases and report to Congress on issues with new purchases, such as cost overruns or technological failures.

The bill would also direct the TSA to reduce the amount of unused equipment it is paying to store in warehouses, and attempt to contract with private sector companies more often to provide security services the federal government is currently paying to provide.

The TSA has previously defended the money it spends on storing equipment it is not using by arguing that it is spending a lot less than it used to.

“In the past few years, TSA has reduced the annual cost for its warehouse leases and related expenses by working directly with warehouse owners and awarding the warehouse operations contract to a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business,” the agency said in a statement that was released after the report on its storage costs was released in May.