A congressional investigation found airport screeners employed by private companies do a better job of detecting dangerous objects than government screeners, according to a US House of Representatives member who has seen the classified report.
The Government Accountability Office found statistically significant evidence that passenger screeners, who work at five airports under a pilot program, performed better than their federal counterparts at some 450 airports, Republican Representative John Mica of Florida, chairman of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee, said on Tuesday.
"You get a statistically significant improvement if you go to federal supervision with private screening companies," Mica said.
After the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, Congress ordered every commercial airport but five to switch from privately employed screeners to a government work force.
The five exceptions -- in San Francisco, California; Tupelo, Mississippi; Rochester, New York; Kansas City, Missouri; and Jackson Hole, Wyoming -- have private workers supervised by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials.
Mica wants to see that system at all US airports.
Oregon Representative Peter DeFazio, a senior Democrat on the aviation subcommittee, opposes private screeners.
DeFazio, who has seen the classified GAO report, said the difference between the screeners was statistically significant but still slight.
"Neither number is adequate or reassuring to me, and the difference is not very large," DeFazio said.
TSA screeners' ability to find guns and other weapons and dangerous items since the Sept. 11 attacks has been a continuing problem.
The Homeland Security Department's acting inspector general, Richard Skinner, issued a separate report on Tuesday that said the screeners' performance hadn't improved since the previous audit, which indicated screeners had not improved since before the 2001 terror attacks.
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