Further Examination of NW253
Today and tomorrow on the Hill, there will be a few committee hearings so that legislators can better understand what went wrong leading up to the attempted bombing of NW253 on Christmas. They are (from GovExec):
- Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee – Hearing [ 09:30 am, 01/20/2010 ]
Full committee hearing on “Intelligence Reform: The Lessons and Implications of the Christmas Day Attack,” focusing on the attempted bombing incident on Flight 253 to Detroit on December 25.
Witness(es): Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair; and Michael Leiter, head of the National Counterterrorism Center, testify. The chairman, Senator Joe Lieberman, spoke about this committee hearing on NPR this morning. - Senate Judiciary Committee – Hearing [ 10:00 am, 01/20/2010 ]
Full committee hearing on “Securing America’s Safety: Improving the Effectiveness of Anti-Terrorism Tools and Inter-Agency Communication.”
Witness(es): Robert Mueller, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy; Assistant Homeland Security Secretary for Policy David Heyman, testify - Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee – Hearing [ 02:30 pm, 01/20/2010 ]
Full committee hearing on “The State of Aviation Security – Is Our Current System Capable of Meeting the Threat?” focusing on the attempted bombing incident on Flight 253 to Detroit on December 25.
Witness(es): TBA - Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee – Briefing [ 02:30 pm, 01/21/2010 ]
Full committee closed hearing on the attempted bombing incident on Flight 253 to Detroit on December 25.
We are proud that Rosemary Dillard was on the Hill today representing NADA/F!
TSA Administrator
Also, much attention was paid to the fact that there was no TSA Administrator in place when the attempted bombing of NW253 occurred. While Senator DeMint has opposed the nomination of Erroll Southers based on perceived differences of labor policy. It was actually Southers’ past abuse of power, in his position as chief of security with the LAX police, that caused wider doubt as to his suitability for the job. He has withdrawn himself from consideration (via CongressDaily and GovExec). I have to say this is a good move, since these recent questions only prevented an efficient confirmation process. And, this position needs to be filled!
