Following the withdrawal of Erroll Southers from consideration to lead the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Roger Dow, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Travel Association, said that further delay in naming a leader for the TSA was unacceptable. Southers, the Obama Administration's nominee, withdrew his candidacy after delays in Senate action.
"Further delay is unacceptable," Dow said in a statement. "We are deeply disappointed that it took eight months to have a nominee and four more months for him to be considered at a time America's transportation system is obviously under threat.
"Northwest Flight 253 (the Christmas bombing attempt) serves as a wakeup call that we have critical security issues that must be addressed. We demand a fast-track nomination and immediate Senate consideration so we can put a leader for this critical agency in place as soon as possible," Dow continued. "More than 100,000 employees at the Transportation Security Administration have now gone 365 days without leadership. If the U.S. cannot get a TSA administrator in place, we're clearly not committed to security or the travel process itself. Secure and efficient travel needs to be a bipartisan and immediate priority."
Visit www.ustravel.org.