More than 1,000 employees trusted to screen luggage and passengers at several of the nation’s busiest airports have not been fingerprinted for criminal background checks, the Los Angeles Times reports. Another 18,000 employees of the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have not been fully screened by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and more than 1,200 people who have been convicted of serious crimes were recently fired, a congressional hearing was told yesterday. “These screeners often have access to some of the most sensitive areas of an airport, and are one of the last lines of defense against a potential act of terrorism,” said Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) said. “One mistake or one unsavory character and you have one huge, potentially fatal circumstance on your hands.”
Lawmakers were critical of the agency’s unresponsiveness to inquiries. Rep. Martin Olav Sabo (D-Minn.) said, “It appears to me that the management of TSA is virtually a misnomer. It does not exist from what I can tell.”