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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 7, 2007
CONTACT: Geoff Embler or Jamie Loftus

Sen. Hutchison Supports Flexible TSA Workforce for Increased Security


WASHINGTON -- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, today supported an amendment to strike language in a bill, S. 4, which would authorize Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport screeners to bargain collectively.

“In 2001, after lengthy debate, Congress determined that we needed a long-term security solution for airline passenger screening,” Sen. Hutchison said. “Collective bargaining among TSA screeners would jeopardize safety because it would take away TSA’s flexibility to respond quickly to security threats.

“Because this bill allows separate unions to be created at each airport, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost of negotiation and arbitration would be $175 million. That sum is equivalent to employing over 3,800 transportation security officers who could screen 330,000 passengers per day. We can’t afford the negative consequences this would have on air passenger security.”

Sen. Hutchison was one of the authors of the 2001 legislation that created the TSA.

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