[DRUDGE]Bureaucratic Infighting Said To Have Stalled Airport Security Effort
Almost a year after the Bush administration promised a nationwide drive to tighten airport security, such efforts are being stymied by poor coordination among federal agencies and a lack of clear-cut technical requirements, said executives of aerospace and defense companies seeking to land government contracts. The WALL STREET JOURNAL reported on Friday: Bureaucratic delays and disagreements among agencies, these officials contend, have made it hard to get decisions to deploy new technologies or speed the flow of funds for new security initiatives. Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co. and Honeywell International Inc. are among the companies that have privately or publicly voiced such complaints, urging a more focused effort.
‘There has to be some direction’ from the Bush administration before the situation will improve,’ said David Cote, Honeywell’s chairman and chief executive. ‘Until the regulation is there and the funding is put there’ to establish clear priorities, he said during this week’s Farnborough International Air Show near London, ‘I don’t think it’s going to happen.’
Heather Rosenker, a spokeswoman for the TSA, said, ‘We’re not aware of any complaints,’ adding that ‘our systems are going fine, and we don’t have any problems.’
She said the agency is still waiting for funding from Congress and quoted Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta at a congressional hearing Wednesday stressing that the TSA needs money to move ahead with projects.
Ah, bureaucracy, don’t you just love it. As usual, when a government agency fails to do it’s job, it’s becuase it “needs more money,” or “more regulation/power is required for to be effective” — it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the inherent unefficiency/incompetency of government bureacuracies, could it now?
Just one question,
Are you feeling safe yet?
Leave a Reply