So this is a very large undertaking. As you know, Senator by the end of next year, we will have deployed at airports nationwide this new Federal force and we will have put a considerable amount of new technology into improving airport security.

Let me talk just a moment about how we are going to try to do that. First, there is an important point about how we are going to take this in a deliberate fashion, but a fashion that understands the urgency of what we have to do. We are going to pull together from the private sector, from across the Federal Government and from within the Department of Transportation the best minds tehat we can find. We have been planning and putting in place a transition team since before passage of the legislation so that upon its passage, we would have the tools and the process to handle this. We have organized and put in place some process management techniques that have been used in the private sector continuously with large corporations and in some of the large deployments of forces in war time and peace time in the Federal Government. As you know, this is an unprecedented deployment of many, many thousands of individuals to airports around the country, but we have put in place a very firm process of how to do it.

I would like to describe just a few components of that process, if I could. First of all, the leader of this team on a day-to-day basis will be the new Under Secretary for Transportation Security and the Secretary and the President are working closely and with great focus on getting us a fine individual to run this new operation.

In the meantime, we have established a war room with a process executive that we have appointed to manage the overall processes that we have put in place. We have a series of about a dozen goteams that are looking at specific problems. For example, how do we get explisive detection machines into airports in the 1-year time period provided for by the law. There is not enough of them if we just manufacture them in the current process, and putting them in is a complex process as well. So we have borrowed some folks from some of the Defense Department agencies who have done this type of work, we have borrowed folks from the private sector, we have taken a team of people internally and we are mapping out that process right now.

Similarly, there are about another eight to nine to ten of these go-teams working on various aspects of significant problems or issues that must be captured and dealt with quickly.

On top of that, we are using classical process mapping techniques to look at four categories of vulnerability-the passengers, air cargo, facilities and people who work in the facilities. So what we will do is we will map out from the time someone makes a reservation on the process side of passengers, for example, to the time that they finish their trip and we look at each point along the way from the reservation system to the arrival at the airport, check-in, screening, departure at the gate, experience on the airline. And we are putting in place tools and staff to address the vulnerabilities at each point along that process map. Then we will go to airports around the country with that basic process map and look through the specifics of that airport and make certain that we have refined it, adjusted it and worked it.

I had the pleasure of spending several hours last night at Hartsfield, it is my second trip to Hartsfield within the last 4 or 5 months and we had a terrific walk-through of security challenges and processes and issues there. We are going to be mapping that type of process all around the country.

I think one of the cornerstones as we take on passengers, cargo, people who work at airports and the infrastructure is going to be something that you mentioned, Senator, the Federal security managers. Federal security managers are the person representing the Federal Government at each of these airports that owns in their guts, in their hearts, in their minds, the security requirements that the Federal Government must address. We have some terrific people working for us in the FAA who are doing these jobs today, but we will be competing as we move into this new environment with Federal management for the best people possible to put in each of these airports and we will be training them carefully and supporting them with tools to make this work.

I would just say one last thing, try to talk about at the highest level how we manage this transition. We are looking at it really in three phases. In the first phase, we have, through the early part of next year, essentially the ongoing operation managed by airlines who contract out to third parties for security at airports and this process worked on conjunction with the ongoing responsibility for airport authorities.

In a second phase, beginning late January and proceeding for several months, the Federal Government will literally contract with those same third parties. No one is guaranteed to have the same job, you have to prove that you can meet the Federal standards. But we will have Federal officials overseeing these third party contracts. We will put in place new training requirements, we will put in place new eligibility requirements for people who are going to be hired after that transition period. And we will work through, during those several months, a transition to the third phase in which we deploy Federal workers to manage these jobs.

And so with this broad overview we will be managing the transition from what we have today to the new and substantial responsibilities we have ahead of us.

Senator, I look forward to working very closely with the Committee and with you personally as we manage this transition. We are committed to these two twin goals-world class security, world class customer service. We can do this, it is not easy, but we are going to do it and we are going to nail it just right. [The prepared statement of Mr. Jackson follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MICHAEL P. JACKSON, DEPUTY SECRETARY

OF TRANSPORTATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Senator Cleland and Members of the Committee: It is a pleasure for me to be here in Atlanta today; I was given a very special tour of Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport after I landed there last night, and was particularly impressed with the baggage operations at the world's busiest airport. These are quite impressive, and will serve as a model for us.

My statement today is devoted to the most pressing issue facing the Department of Transportation today: security, particularly for our aviation system. To describe our ongoing and planned efforts in this area, I have organized my statement as follows:

• A description of the actions we have taken in the wake of the tragic events of September 11 to immediately improve safety throughout the Nation;

A description of how we are responding to the Congress' leadership in passing landmark aviation and transportation security legislation, and are already implementing key provisions of that Act; and

• An overview of our approach to standing up the new Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a massive undertaking that will require a sustained effort for at least the next year.

ACTIONS TAKEN IN THE WAKE OF SEPTEMBER 11

The tragic events of September 11, in addition to being an attack on our very way of life, were a multi-pronged assault on a critical component of our economy: the Nation's air transportation system. To restore confidence in the system and provide a safe environment for the traveling public, the Department, under the leadership of Secretary Mineta, took the following actions immediately to improve security at our Nation's airports and airlines:

• Increased patrols on and around airports;

• Increased terminal inspections, typically using highly trained canine teams;

• Instituted more intensive random ID checks throughout the airport: at the ticket counter, the screening checkpoint, and the departure gate;

• Increased monitoring of vehicular traffic and removal of unauthorized vehicles; • Allowed only ticketed passengers and authorized individuals beyond screening checkpoints; and

• Instituted a zero tolerance policy at all security checkpoints, a policy that resulted in the intensive precautions taken here at Hartsfield a few weeks ago.

In addition, we have tightened our security procedures with respect to the Nation's air carriers in the following ways:

Steadily increased the number of Federal air marshals on domestic flights; • Adjusted CAPPS criteria for more intensive screening of all passengers to identify potential threats;

Discontinued off-airport check-in;

• Required thorough inspection of all employee IDs;

Required thorough inspection of all aircraft, including the interior and the galley, each day before passenger boarding begins; and

• Imposed new restrictions on jumpseat flights.

In the wake of Sept. 11, we also sought and received advice from experts in the fields of airport and aircraft security, law enforcement, and airline and airport operations-the Secretary's Rapid Response Teams. These efforts resulted in two reports-reports that identified critical areas where DOT should focus its attention and which provided specific recommendations as to how aviation security could be improved.

DOT ACTION ON KEY PROVISIONS OF TRANSPORTATION SECURITY LEGISLATION

As you know, the recently enacted Aviation and Transportation Security Act requires the Department to not only stand up a new agency, but also to make significant changes in our method of securing the Nation's transportation system. The Act provides great new tools to accomplish this, and to that end we have taken the following steps in the 3 weeks since President Bush signed the bill:

• Reduced operational access points at airports;

• Added Federal law enforcement officers at airports;

• Overseen a large deployment of National Guard troops at more than 400 airports;

Increased distribution of name alerts;

• Required continuous use of all hand-wand metal detectors, explosive detection systems, and hand-checking of baggage, which means that even passengers not selected by CAPPS are subject to random search;

• Strengthened cockpit doors on nearly the entire US fleet, and put in place additional procedures to guard the flight deck; and

• Issued a final rule requiring all individuals with access to secure areas of airports, all screeners and all screener supervisors to be fingerprinted and undergo a criminal history record check if it has not been done in the past; and

• Established a link to the Office of Homeland Security and other Federal agencies to assist us in protecting the aviation system.

In addition, (1) we are close to completing the development of improved qualifications and training for screeners that will immediately improve security and form the basis for hiring high-quality TSA screeners next year; (2) we are working closely with the Nation's airlines to put a system in place for screening all checked baggage

by mid-January, as the Act requires; and (3) we are assessing the airlines' current contractual arrangements with screening companies so that we may assume this responsibility on time next February.

STANDING UP THE TSA

The job of standing up the TSA, a new Federal agency that will have sweeping powers, more than 30,000 employees, and the mission of protecting the Nation's entire transportation system, represents an almost unprecedented undertaking. As you would expect, President Bush, Governor Ridge, and Secretary Mineta have taken intense interest in the work we are doing. I would like to take this opportunity to briefly describe that work.

Secretary Mineta has appointed me to head up a special task force charged with standing up the new agency, identifying all of our statutory requirements, and developing a modern approach to securing the transportation system. To complete the thousands of tasks that must be undertaken to open the doors of the TSA next year, we are following a time-tested process management approach that successful private sector companies around the world use every day to execute large-scale transactions, mergers, or critical activities. This approach has the following important attributes: • It enables us to prioritize our work according to the real-time needs of the system and the mandates of the statute: we have formed teams consisting of the leading experts from inside and outside the government to address issues on a very short timeframe, such as the 60-day checked baggage requirement;

It allows us to develop a structure for the new agency that meets the needs of all the actors in transportation, at every level of every organization, and at every site in every mode: we have started now to develop plans for recruiting, hiring, training, and deploying thousands of screeners, Federal agents, air marshals, and other critical players;

It keeps our focus on the most important aspects of transportation security and the agency itself-processes and functions: techniques are in place to develop processes targeted to optimum protection of the transportation system, while ensuring that every function required of us, and even some that aren't, are included in the TSA.

I would like to take this opportunity to say that restoring the public's confidence in the safety of our transportation system, and taking the necessary steps to promote and sustain safety over the long term is an open, inclusive effort that will consider, first and foremost, the requirements of passengers and industry, and will solicit the input of all who wish to contribute. In fact, a key aspect of our day-to-day operations is our cooperation with industry and communication with the Congress. It is important to reiterate as well that the Government's efforts are not just the work of one agency-far from it. For example, in just the few weeks since the bill was enacted, we have already solicited the assistance of the Departments of Defense, Justice, Treasury, the Office of Personnel Management and, of course, all parts of the Department of Transportation.

In closing, let me say that although we have all been deeply impacted by the events of September 11-a direct hit on the transportation system we work every day to improve the Federal Government, led by the Congress, President Bush, and Secretary Mineta, has risen to the occasion. I have tried to capture this response in my testimony here today, and look forward to discussing it further should you or other Members of the Committee have any questions. Thank you for your time and for hosting me in this great city.

Senator CLELAND. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Jackson, I appreciate that. I think that is a very positive and healthy attitudeworld class security and world class customer service. You know, the airlines are in the customer service business. They are in the security business but they are also in the customer service business. One of the reasons I supported the federalization of the checkpoints, the 700 checkpoints at those more than 429 airports, was the professional level that we could get nationwide, a uniform professional standard.

I have also recommended to Secretary Mineta and to the President in several letters-and I will mention to you today-to_consider a very great asset to the Federal Government, here in Georgia, in terms of training Federal law enforcement officials. The

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, better known FLETC, is down at Glynco, down in Brunswick, Georgia. They train Secret Service people, they train Customs people, they train Border Patrol. They are the world class facility for training Federal law enforcement personnel. And I've suggested in my correspondence to the President and to Secretary Mineta that they either have those airport screeners trained there or train the trainers there, so then you could send those out around America to train the workforce. The point is, I think you have a built in asset here that I just recommend that you seriously consider it, because those people every day focus on training Federal law enforcement personnel and they have for years.

Also, that center is familiar with the intricacies of all the other Federal law enforcement personnel that are out there, which is the point of one of my questions here.

In the scenario of attacks, a terrorist attack, biological attack, one of the things I am picking up on the Armed Services Committee and on the Governmental Affairs Committee and in testimony by Senator Nunn when he talked about his participation in an exercise called Dark Winter which was run by Johns Hopkins in June about a smallpox attack on America, that in the early phases of an attack, it is somewhat, shall we say, bureaucratic chaos. That the challenges are coordination, cooperation and communication.

I hope that in this legislation, we have outlined layers of authority and established in effect a protocol so that the system can deal with an attack or a breach of security and so forth. In other words, when something happens, everybody knows what their role is. The problem with say a terrorist attack or a biological attack or chemical attack is there is certain chaos if you do not have an established protocol. Now there are 60 different agencies as a minimum in the Federal Government that are in charge of, in effect, a piece of homeland security. We are just zeroing in on one of them hereaviation security.

But in that Federal security manager at the airport, I am kind of curious-and you may not be there yet in your mindset-but it does help, and one of the principles of war I have learned through the years is unity of command, that when something bad happens, people know what the chain of command is, they know who to go to, they know who to report to, they know who to communicate with, coordinate with and so forth.

In your mind, do you see that Federal security manager at airports in America in charge of other Federal entities? Here at Hartsfield, we have got INS, we have got the Customs Service, we have got the FBI, you know, we have a lot of folks in addition to the APD, the Atlanta Police Department. So at least there is a large Federal presence here. Do you see that Federal security manager, if maybe not in charge, then at least the lead dog, the team leader that when something happens, the protocol is established that that person is immediately notified and everybody knows that that is the person to go to and then there is a protocol established as to who does what to whom.

But I suggest that to you because in this whole world of response, one of the things I have learned is if there is unity of com