Ranking Member Henry Cuellar Statement at the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request Hearing for the Transportation Security Administration

Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee’s hearing on the fiscal year 2025 budget request for the Transportation Security Administration:

Thank you, Chairman Amodei.

Mr. Administrator, it was good talking with you last week and welcome back. You are no stranger to this subcommittee, and we appreciate the good work that you and your folks have done.

I appreciate you being here today and look forward to today’s hearing of the President’s Budget Request for TSA for fiscal year 2025.

I believe everyone sitting at the dais this afternoon will agree that there is probably no other Federal agency that has more interaction with Members of Congress than TSA.

We rely on TSA to ensure the flights we take to and from Capitol Hill are safe and secure and the lines we wait in are as short as possible.

I am happy we were able to fully fund TSA’s new pay structure for fiscal year 2024, demonstrating Congress’s commitment to the importance of investing in the TSA workforce by bringing their salary schedule in alignment with their peers in the rest of the Federal government.

Last year, when you were before this Committee, we had an opportunity to discuss a wide-range of topics, but one thing I want to remind folks about is that TSA’s mission is quite focused – it’s simply to prevent large-scale acts of terrorism on the American transportation system.

When it comes to the flying public, TSA screens individuals and scans baggage and cargo for that purpose.

I look forward to hearing more from you, Mr. Administrator, on the work you are doing to modernize and streamline these processes and how we, as Congress, can assist you with that vision.

Increasingly, TSA is also being called upon to do more in its role as a Co-Sector Risk Management Agency for the Transportation Systems sector, and in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline attack, we have all seen the importance of increasing our cybersecurity posture and improving our risk management protocols.

I hope to learn more about the current threat vector facing our Transportation Systems and what investments are included in the fiscal year 2025 budget request to shore up any gaps in our security posture.

I look forward to an engaging dialogue with you today and to working with you again this year.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.