Obama taps ex-spy to head TSA
Published: Mar 9, 2010 21:11 Updated: Mar 9, 2010 21:11
WASHINGTON: A recent legal case in Hawaii revealed that hundreds of people have traveled on US airlines using cheap, low quality fake IDs undetected by Transportation Security Administration agents.
While most illegals are not much of a security threat, for the TSA, which oversees US airport security, this was yet another embarrassing episode of its problems in screening passengers at airports.
So it was big news when President Barack Obama announced he had chosen retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert A. Harding on Monday to lead the TSA. He selected someone unknown to the aviation industry and federal unions to lead one of the government's most visible agencies.
Harding, a lifelong intelligence specialist whose bio reads like a character in a Robert Ludlum novel, has extensive experience in managing large organizations and in intelligence.
Gen. Harding served in the army for 33 years, largely in intelligence gathering.
From 1996 to 2000, he was director of operations at the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he was the Defense Department's senior human intelligence officer responsible for managing more than $1 billion in intelligence collection program requirements and supervising Defense attaches in more than 200 embassies and offices worldwide.
In 2003, he founded a defense and intelligence contracting firm, which he sold in 2009.
He also was a member of the Presidential Transition Team for the Obama administration, providing insights into the intelligence community.
Harding's intelligence background was welcome news to the organization that represents the governing bodies of airports in the United States and Canada. "Airports have long advocated that intelligence must be the cornerstone of effective aviation security," Greg Principato, president of the Airports Council International-North America, told reporters.
The TSA was created following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when terrorists hijacked airplanes and flew them into the Pentagon near Washington and the World Trade Center towers in New York, killing about 3,000 people.
If confirmed, Harding will face a short honeymoon. The TSA, with 45,000 employees, faces significant pressure to revamp the nation's aviation security procedures in the wake of the attempted Christmas Day airliner bomb attack on Delta Airlines. It has also faced several embarrassing reports of airline passenger mistreatment at the hands of airport screeners, which prompted inquiries by lawmakers.
TSA has been without a top executive for more than a year. Erroll Southers, Obama's first nominee for the post, withdrew in January after a prolonged battle with Republicans over his involvement in the background security check of his ex-wife's boyfriend two decades ago and fears he would support collective bargaining rights for TSA screeners.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urged swift confirmation for Harding. "This nomination should not be subject to partisan delay tactics," Reid said in a statement. The leaders of the Senate Commerce and Homeland Security committees, which will hold hearings on the nomination, also pledged to move quickly on Harding.
