Airport screening called 'waste of money'

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A program designed to find weapons in U.S. airport screening is "a waste of money," a U.S. House of Representatives committee chairman says.

The problem is a lack of follow up on why screeners fail to spot guns, knives and bombs on undercover agents, says Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., head of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Results of the covert tests are classified but recent reports made public told of investigators repeatedly smuggling liquid explosives and detonators past airport checkpoints in 2006.

Also, an internal TSA report said screeners in Los Angeles and Chicago airports missed fake bombs on agents in more than 60 percent of tests in 2006.

USA Today said it had a Government Accountability Office report that reported that U.S. Transportation Security Administration inspectors posing as passengers ran 20,000 tests at 450 commercial airports and when individual screeners failed to spot weapons they didn't report why.

The TSA disputed the report and said it has adopted many new screening practices and technologies to close holes revealed by testing.