Aviation Security: TSA Should Limit Future Funding for Behavior Detection Activities : Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Transportation Security, Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives

"This testimony discusses GAO's November 2013 report assessing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) behavior detection activities, specifically the Screening of Passengers by Observation Technique (SPOT) program. The recent events at Los Angeles International Airport provide an unfortunate reminder of TSA's continued importance in providing security for the traveling public. TSA's behavior detection activities, in particular the SPOT program, are intended to identify high-risk passengers based on behavioral indicators that indicate mal-intent. In October 2003, TSA began testing the SPOT program, and by fiscal year 2012, about 3,000 behavior detection officers (BDO) had been deployed to 176 of the more than 450 TSA-regulated airports in the United States. TSA has expended a total of approximately $900 million on the program since it was fully deployed in 2007. This testimony highlights the key findings of GAO's November 8, 2013, report on TSA's behavior detection activities. Specifically, like the report, this statement will address (1) the extent to which available evidence supports the use of behavioral indicators to identify aviation security threats, and (2) whether TSA has data necessary to assess the effectiveness of the SPOT program in identifying threats to aviation security."--Highlights.