WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Potentially lethal weapons are still getting past airport screeners two years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, congressional investigators say.
Despite tighter security at airports nationwide and the deployment of government-paid screeners, guns and knives, along with boxcutters like those used by the terrorists, are slipping through checkpoints, USA Today reported.
A report by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said the transportation security agency doesn't adequately train screeners or keep track of how well they are performing.
"We have a huge army (of screeners) that's not working well," said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of a House aviation subcommittee.
Congress ordered private airport screeners to be replaced with a government force to increase federal oversight of screening procedures and improve training and supervision.
A security agency spokesman says screeners have found more than 1,000 prohibited guns, more than two million knives and 50,000 box cutters.
