WEBVTT - TSA 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:13.480 On November two thousand one, President Bush signed the Aviation 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:17.360 and Transportation Security Act into law. It required screening conducted 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:21.840 by specially trained federal employees, one percent checked baggage screening, 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:26.520 expansion of the Federal Air Marshal Service, and reinforced cockpit doors. 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:29.240 The new law would spin off into the creation of 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:31.800 the t s A to oversee security and all modes 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:36.080 of transportation. We set a very clear goal to achieve 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:41.080 world class security and world class customer service. This is 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:44.919 nine eleven, two decades later. I'm Steve Gregory in Los Angeles. 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:48.920 Congress gave officials with the newly created agency one year 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:53.360 to achieve its security objectives. On November two thousand two, 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.360 the t s A reached a major milestone. Here's the 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:59.920 press conference at Reagan Washington National Airport with Transportation secret 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.720 Erry Normanetta and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. Now Rich 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:06.280 was just an advisor to the President at the time 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:09.560 because the Department of Homeland Security didn't yet exist. Well, 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:13.279 good morning, everyone, Thank you for joining us this morning. 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:17.440 Nearly one hundred years after the miracle of flight began. 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.680 We are here today to celebrate another historic milestone in aviation. 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:28.440 Tomorrow tomorrow, every one of our nation's four hundred and 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:32.759 twenty nine commercial airports will be staffed and secured by 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:37.760 professional screeners. More than forty four thousand dedicated men and 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:42.280 women have been hired, trained, and deployed to screen passengers 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:46.920 and ensure the safety of our skies. Each has received 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:49.320 more than one hundred hours of classroom and on the 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:56.080 job training for this important responsibility. The bottom line, the 0:01:56.160 --> 0:02:02.080 Department of Transportation, under the extraordinary dnership of their Secretary Normanetta, 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:08.000 Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson, and Admiral Looy, will successfully meet 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:12.080 the one year deadline said by President Bush when he 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:16.760 signed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act on November two 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:33.519 thousand one. Within ten days of the passage of that legislation, 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:38.800 I can recall Secretary Monetta coming to the White House 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:42.600 for the Oval Office with a blueprint for building this 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:49.160 unprecedented new agency. The Transportation Security Administration began in January 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:54.320 with a mission statement and about a dozen employees, and 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:58.280 look where we are today. Now shortly, I'll have the 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:02.760 privilege of introducing Secretary Manetta, and he can chronicle what 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:06.320 I consider to be one of the most extraordinary organizational 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:09.120 achievements they've seen in this town in a long, long time. 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:13.200 And again to the Secretary and do Michael Jackson into 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.640 the Admiral in all of the hard working men and 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.000 women at the Department of Transportation and t s A, 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:24.320 we say congratulations on a job, very, very well done. 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:30.840 I might add that Norm's team not only beat the deadline, 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:42.680 they beat expectations. I remember watching the television and the 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:45.960 talking heads, listening to the talking heads and reading all 0:03:45.960 --> 0:03:50.120 the journalists and all the opinion leaders who said there's 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.480 no way, as the secretary, you can possibly meet this deadline. 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:57.040 No way. But we are here today to prove that 0:03:57.080 --> 0:04:00.960 they were wrong. However, we might us temper our pride 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:05.760 and this achievement, knowing terrorism is a permanent threat and 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:10.400 our airports on enduring vulnerability. We have seen the lenks. 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.440 Terrorists will go to penetrate airport security. They are just 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:18.640 as determined to destroy innocent lives as we are determined 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:23.280 to protect them. And make no mistake, we must be 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:29.599 ever vigilant because they will try again. That is why 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:33.560 we must now take the next historic step in securing 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:37.360 our homeland. I'm going to take this opportunity to encourage 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:39.760 the Senate of the United States today and tomorrow to 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:44.039 complete their work on the new Department of Homeland Security. 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:47.920 We will enable us to unify our homeland security responsibilities 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:52.440 under one department with one primary mission, the protection of 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:56.839 American citizens and their way of life. Having one department 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:59.120 will make it easier for us to build partnerships with 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.839 state and local god from it with the private sector, 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:06.880 including the aviation industry. This is absolutely critical if we 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:10.400 are to find solutions to our most pressing security challenges. 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:18.320 We all understand that airlines are critical, vital arteries of 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:23.120 our global economy. The right brothers would be astonished to 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:29.760 learn that eight million flights, near least six million passengers 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:33.960 and twelve billion dollars in freight go through US airports annually, 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:38.000 and I'm confident that this new agency will continue to 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:41.400 look for ways to improve service as it seeks to 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:46.120 improve security. In time. I suspect we will employ twenty 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:50.440 one century technology biometrics, smart cards, and other forms of 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:56.360 positive identification, as well as even more sophisticated explosive detection systems. 0:05:57.240 --> 0:06:01.240 And of course, we rely on the training in the efforts, 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:05.000 the instincts, and the experience of the forty four thousand 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:07.359 men and women who work at T s A to 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:09.520 make sure that on a day to day basis, we 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:14.800 use good old fashioned common sense at every gate, at 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:19.560 every airport around this country. Admiral Roy likes to talk 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:23.200 about some of the rules that add to passengers stress 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:25.840 levels without reducing the risk, and I suspect in time 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:30.279 you'll eliminate or modify all of those as well. In 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:35.200 this new era, we must all think a new We 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.760 must keep in mind passengers daily routines as we provide 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:44.039 them with this new measure of protection. I'm confident we 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:47.440 can do this. In fact, early results suggest that up 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:51.440 to of passengers are being screened in ten minutes or less, 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:56.360 and that's great news for the traveling public. So today 0:06:56.440 --> 0:07:01.320 is a milestone, but it is not an ending. New 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:06.479 and important deadlines boom ahead. Meeting those deadlines will not 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:12.640 guarantee that we are one secure from terrorism, but based 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:15.800 on the progress to date, we can look forward to 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:21.119 a far, far safer future. Mr Secretary, you have built 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:26.000 a terrific model here. I remember that first meeting in 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:30.560 the Oval Office. I remember the Mission Statement, a very 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:34.480 complex piece of legislation. A lot of people inside and 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:39.119 outside government. I just really didn't think you'd be able 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:43.440 to build this structure, train forty thousand folks and get 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:46.920 them all deployed within the year time frame because of 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:50.040 your leadership, surrounded yourself with some great people who have 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:53.440 identified earlier, and you've got the commitment from those four 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:58.400 thousand men and women who volunteered to help you secure 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:02.560 the airlines and our skies. You did it. So just 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.720 on a personal note, I think it's important to recognize 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:10.920 what an extraordinary job Secretary Normanetta has done. He was 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:15.720 passionate about meeting the deadlines, getting these individuals trained on time, 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:19.160 deployed on time, made a commitment to the President that 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.720 he could get it done. He could meet those deadlines. 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:25.480 So we celebrate the success of this organization and extraordinary 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.920 accomplishment a great public service. Is my great pleasure to 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:36.120 introduce to you our Secretary of Transportation, Normanetta. Norman Tom, 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:39.839 thank you, thank you very very much for that very 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:46.640 kind introduction. Governor Ridge. Last fall, President Bush turned to 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:53.240 an extraordinary leader to head up the Office of Homeland Security, 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:58.120 Governor Tom Ridge. As many of you know, I've known 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:03.800 Tom since two when we served in the House of Representatives, 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.000 and we did a lot of things together, and so 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:10.960 I know of his capabilities. And Tom has done an 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:15.800 outstanding job since his start just over a year ago, 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:20.080 and there will be much more that he will accomplish 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:24.120 in the days and the years ahead. Tom, I am 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:28.760 grateful for your friendship and your counsel and advice, and 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:33.800 the strong support that you have given to our important 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:40.960 security mission at the Department of Transportation. One year ago, 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:47.359 President Bush stood in this room and signed the Aviation 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:52.040 and Transportation Security Act, and with the stroke of that pen, 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:58.199 the Transportation Security Administration, otherwise known as t s A 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:02.600 was created m And at the time of the signing, 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:09.120 America was still suffering from a widespread fear of flying. 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:14.960 A half mile from here, burnt walls at the Pentagon 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:21.679 were a visible reminder of nine eleven, and at airports 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:29.120 throughout the country, long lines of nervous Americans watched as screeners, 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:33.599 ill prepared and ill equipped for the new wartime reality, 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:41.960 struggled to check passengers. National Guard troops patrolled our airports, 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:47.520 and the press and the public wondered if adequate security 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:54.400 could ever be restored. President Bush sent legislation to Congress 0:10:55.240 --> 0:11:01.840 proposing the creation of the Transportation Security Administration. Congress soon 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:08.079 passed t s A legislation, and the President's signature set 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:17.080 in motion the largest peacetime mobilization in our nation's history. 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:21.120 Nico Melendez was hired by the t s A and 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:24.600 January of two thousand two, just forty five days after 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:27.439 the t s A was created, he was the agency's 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:30.600 first public affairs spokesperson. On the morning of nine eleven, 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:34.200 I was working for a small consulting firm in Arlington, Virginia, 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:37.440 and my main client was the director of Surface Warfare Pentagon. 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.000 I had a nine thirty meetings scheduled with my client 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.840 in the Pentagon, but because all of us in the 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:46.880 office we're watching the events in New York City on TV, 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:51.160 we got delayed, so ultimately the meeting was obviously canceled, 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:53.920 but we were all heading over to the Pentagon for 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:56.480 a meeting that day, and the people that we were 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:59.120 supposed to meet with actually are the ones that started 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:01.440 jumping out of window. Was in catching people trying to 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:04.720 evacuate the Pentagon. So it was very near and dear 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.440 to me and my family because fifteen minutes later I 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:09.520 could have probably been in that building. How did you 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:12.079 get attached to the t s A. Well, shortly after 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:14.840 nine eleven, I was approached by a colleague of mine 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:17.839 who worked at the Department of Transportation, and the t 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:21.280 s A had been created on November two thousand and one, 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:23.760 a short two months after the events of nine eleven, 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:25.880 and this colleague of mine asked me if i'd be 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:28.680 interested in the job at Department of Transportation. So I 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.920 submitted my my resume and my application and I got 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:34.800 I got a job offer working in the Office of 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.640 the Secretary. So I started on January three of two 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.520 two and a couple of weeks later, I was asked 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.440 to be the first public affairs representative for this new 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:46.720 agency t s A, which frankly, at that time I 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:49.000 had never really heard about, I didn't know much about, 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:51.480 and it was only about forty five days old when 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:53.800 I started working for them. So what was your understanding 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.679 this agency would do and what its function was? After 0:12:57.000 --> 0:12:59.720 learning about the agency working at the Department, they were 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.320 going to be the new federal mechanism for security, providing 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:07.520 security at our nation's airports, to screen passengers and cargo, 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:12.400 and provide for the secure movement of both of those things. 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:14.880 Did you know out of the shoot, kind of the 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:18.040 scope and the responsibility this agency was going to take on. 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:21.440 I don't. I don't really think that anybody knew the 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:23.920 scope and the responsibility of this agency was going to 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:26.240 take on. You know, twenty years later, I looked back 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.040 and think, how did we how did we even do that? 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:32.520 You know, when we started the agency, I remember it 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:35.480 was it was a laugh to us that nobody really 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:38.600 had any sense of how many airports there were in 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:42.679 this country. Nobody had a sense of how many screeners 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.720 there were in this country because it was a completely 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:51.000 different structure back then than it is today. So the 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:55.480 scope of the of the mission, while it continued to 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:58.520 change almost on a daily basis, the guidelines that we 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:01.160 were given by Congress or something that I don't think 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:04.880 anybody anticipated, not even Congress themselves. What was security like 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:07.800 for air travel twenty one years ago as opposed to 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:10.160 what it is today? Yeah, you know, I remember going 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:12.719 through airports and it's it's almost funny when you think 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:15.280 about it now. I remember going through an airport checkpoint 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:18.320 and you walk up to the magnetometer or the metal detector, 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:21.120 and I take my keys out of my pocket, throw 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:22.880 them up in the air and catch them on the 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:26.520 other side, and you just stroll through. But it was 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:30.080 that quick, It was that insincere. But when we were 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:34.520 created in two thousand one, while the FA had oversight 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:39.160 responsibility for security in our nation's airports, there was no 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:42.720 guide book, There was no instruction manual on how security 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:46.200 was supposed to be performed. The airlines were responsible for 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:51.240 paying for these security firms, and as is most cases 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:54.200 in business, you always go for the lowest bidder. So 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.960 at an airport that has five or six terminals, you 0:14:57.000 --> 0:15:00.520 could have five or six different security companies providing security 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:04.840 at each terminal, and the turnover rate of those screeners, 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:07.080 in some cases we found to be as high as 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:11.000 a hundred and fifty. People would leave the job as 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:13.960 quickly as they got there. So the training was lacking, 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:19.000 the concentration was lacking, and the predictability was lacking. So 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:22.600 when we got in, nobody knew. There was nowhere that 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:26.040 we could find any documentation of how many screeners there 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:29.040 were in our nation's airports because it was so many 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:31.680 different companies, there were so many different airports, so many 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.520 different airlines paying all these people we kind of had 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:37.240 to start from scratch and determine what's a good number 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:40.360 of screeners. Do you think the general public is good 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:42.760 at this now? Do you think we have it finally 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:44.960 or do you think there's still a lot that the 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:46.960 public needs to know. Well, you know, in the early 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:49.640 days of t s a are, our goal was to 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:52.640 be unpredictable. We didn't want the bad guys to be 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:56.040 able to gain the system, so we kept it unpredictable 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:59.520 from one airport to another. But now it's very predictable, 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.560 so we've kind of fallen into what was there before. 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.960 While the training is consistent from airport to airport, screener 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:10.360 to screener, the entire screening mechanism is rather predictable, So 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:13.320 we've kind of fallen back into where we were, but 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:16.920 with people who have made this a career rather than 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:21.360 the the attrition rates that we used to experience. So 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.600 the agencies created you're kind of figuring things out. There's 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:26.760 a big learning curve. It sounds like now you're trying 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:28.640 to hit your stride a bit. What were some of 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:31.760 those growing pains and big challenges overall for you as 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:35.000 not only spokesperson that is an employee of this new agency. 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:38.360 I think that the biggest growing pain, that the biggest 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:42.760 challenge that we had was the expeditious nature in which 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:44.760 we had to carry out this mission. And what I 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:48.120 mean by that is on September tenth, two thousand one, 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:52.000 for instance, less than five percent of all check bags 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:55.520 were screened for explosives. Well, Congress created this law, the 0:16:55.560 --> 0:17:00.120 Aviation and Transportation Security Act, that required all bags to 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:03.720 be screened for explosives by December thirty one, two thousand two. 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:07.840 So they gave this brand new agency about fourteen months 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:12.960 to identify the types of technology, purchase the technology, get 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:18.280 industry to produce the technology, and build the machines, deployed them, 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:21.280 and find places to put them. Well, some of these 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:25.119 machines required a lot more energy than was available to 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:28.959 us through electric outlets at the security checkpoints. So in 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:33.640 some cases we had to restructure the entire electrical mechanism 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:38.159 that that provides power to these machines, and we had 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:41.280 to do it in fourteen months. And that was curculian 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:44.200 effort because at the time, there were only a couple 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:48.800 of companies that made the technology that we needed to 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:50.880 put into the airport, and a lot of people today 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.880 will remember back twenty years ago, when you walked into 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:57.600 an airport lobby, we had the big, huge baggage screening 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:01.480 machines sitting in the lobby that therefore displaced passengers out 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:05.199 into the street. So it was a real it was 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:08.480 a real trying time because airport managers were not happy 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:11.399 that we had these big machines and the terminals. Passengers 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:13.959 weren't happy, and Congress wasn't happy because we weren't doing 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:15.840 it fast enough. But we had to figure out a 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:17.840 way to do it, and at the same time, we 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:20.440 were trying to hire fifty thousand people to go in 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:23.840 airports frankly all over the world because the reach of 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:27.520 t s A goes from the Northern Marianas Islands all 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:30.720 the way down to Port Puerto Rico. So it was 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:33.800 it was a huge effort, and the biggest problem was 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:35.840 the time that we had to do it. There's been 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:38.159 a lot of criticism against this agency. You know, a 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.160 lot of people have said that maybe they feel safer, 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:43.680 maybe they don't, and they've equated t s A employees 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:47.040 to you know, just going through the motions. How have you, 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.560 as a spokesperson be able to defend your agency and 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:53.280 sort of counter that sort of negative stigma. I think 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:57.760 I always had to put the agency with the backdrop 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:01.280 of the mantra never forget. It seems that as the 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:03.800 American public, we have a very short attention span. Is 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:06.080 as we all say, we'll never forget, We'll never forget. 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:08.639 But when I worked for T. S A. It was 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:11.240 very clear to me that a lot of the traveling 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:14.639 public very quickly forgot. You know, they were calling for 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:19.080 a better airport security on but a year later, those 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:21.399 same passengers were upset with the lines they had to 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:24.880 stand in, with the invasive screening protocols, with the different 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:28.040 machines that we had in the airport. So the challenge 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:31.720 was informing people, reminding them, and keeping them aware of 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:33.760 the fact that the reason we're there was to prevent 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:36.240 another nine eleven. And I think that was the biggest 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:38.560 hurdle that we had, is is keeping the attention of 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:40.680 the American public on what we were doing and why 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:42.639 we were doing it. What do you think we're lessons 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:44.560 learned or something. If you could go back and you 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.560 wish the agency would do it differently, I think that 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:51.000 if we if we could have worked with Congress um 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:54.560 a little better in that first year to maybe extend 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:57.840 some of the timelines or change some of the requirements 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:00.359 that they put in the law. If we hyped hire 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:04.280 fifty people in a twelve month period and have them 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:07.280 trained and ready to go, mistakes are going to be made, 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:11.240 you know. I remember very early in two thousand, two 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:15.720 thousand three, we had to have fire like four screeners 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:19.320 at one airport because the baggage or the background checks 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:22.440 came back and we found something in their background. So 0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:26.720 we took a black eye because we hired these people, 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:28.400 but we had to hire them fast. So the goal 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:30.800 was to get them on the line and then finish 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:34.640 the matriculation process, and then once a matriculation process completed, 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:37.480 then we would clean our clean our roles. But that 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:39.520 was a that was a black id our agency. We 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:41.680 hired a lot of people that had something in their background. 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:44.680 We didn't want them, the federal government didn't want them, 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:47.640 passengers didn't want them. But we needed people to fill 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:51.080 these spots, and we just hired people quickly, and we 0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:52.879 spent a lot of money. We spent a lot of 0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:56.160 money on technology, We spent a lot of money on restructuring, airports. 0:20:56.320 --> 0:20:59.120 We spent a lot of money getting people to where 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:01.960 they needed to go because it was an unpresented time. 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:04.920 Had we had more time, could it have been done 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:09.359 more efficiently and more effectively, Probably, But we had a 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:14.920 fourteen month deadline to meet and we were being beat 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:17.199 up from the very beginning that we weren't doing it 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:19.840 fast enough. His air travel safer today than it was 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:23.680 years ago. I think security is more effective. I think 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:26.640 that we have people in place that know what they're 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:29.200 doing and know what they're looking for. And I think 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:32.280 that from the time that I was there, we knew 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:35.960 that the bad guys were probing our system, trying to 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:39.040 figure out a way to get in. We know they're 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:42.800 out there. We know that in caves in Afghanistan or 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:47.280 caves in Pakistan they have found information about the airline 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:50.240 industry and about T s A operations and what we're doing. 0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:54.800 So I think that the having this organization in place, 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:58.680 it's good for the traveling public, is good for our government, 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:01.920 is good for commerce. But we always we're always going 0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:03.879 to need to fine tune it to make sure that 0:22:03.920 --> 0:22:06.639 they stay on the cutting edge and make sure they 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:09.680 keep their eyes on the ball. Finally, is our country 0:22:10.000 --> 0:22:12.960 safer today than it was twenty one years ago? I 0:22:13.000 --> 0:22:16.680 think ebbs and flows, I really do. I think that 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:21.399 going back to the mantra of never forget, we have 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:24.879 a short attention span, and with the border issues that 0:22:24.920 --> 0:22:27.399 we have and not knowing who's coming through the border, 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:32.560 with people being disingenuous about their desire for their constitutional rights. 0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:36.560 In one perspective, you have passengers saying why don't you 0:22:36.640 --> 0:22:40.440 be more like Israel where they don't have a constitution 0:22:40.480 --> 0:22:42.480 and they can screen all of their passengers the way 0:22:42.520 --> 0:22:47.120 they want to to us, where we implement body scanners 0:22:47.280 --> 0:22:50.520 and they say it's violation of their constitution, but then 0:22:50.520 --> 0:22:53.920 they want us to profile. It's just disingenuous to say 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:56.520 what you want and then be opposed to the things 0:22:56.560 --> 0:22:58.720 that we put in place because we're trying to make 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:01.119 the system more effective. So I think as a country 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:04.800 we are, we are more secure, but it adds and flows, 0:23:05.200 --> 0:23:07.359 you know, from month to month, day to day. We 0:23:07.480 --> 0:23:10.440 just need to do a better job of remembering why 0:23:10.480 --> 0:23:13.320 we're doing what we're doing. Coming up in episode four, 0:23:13.400 --> 0:23:15.960 there was an extreme focus on are we going to 0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:19.119 be hit again? Will there be another nine eleven Securing 0:23:19.200 --> 0:23:24.320 the Homeland nine eleven, two decades Later, is produced by 0:23:24.359 --> 0:23:27.720 Steve Gregory and Jacob Gonzalez, and is a production of 0:23:27.760 --> 0:23:30.760 the KFI News department for I heart Media Los Angeles 0:23:31.000 --> 0:23:34.160 and the I heart Podcast Network. The views expressed are 0:23:34.200 --> 0:23:37.360 strictly those of the guests and not necessarily the hosts 0:23:37.480 --> 0:23:40.960 or employees of I heart Media.