article_snippet.sent: Only two major airports in the U.S. -- Miami and Orlando -- require employees to be screened through metal detectors, a CNN investigation found earlier this year.
article_snippet.sent: As a result of A new TSA report, the TSA's Aviation Security Advisory Committee Secretary Jeh Johnson announced immediate actions, including criminal background checks every two years for all airport aviation workers, screening of airline and airport employees traveling as passengers, reduction of access points to secure areas at all airports and increased random screening of aviation employees.
article_snippet.sent: TSA Secretary Jeh Johnson requested the TSA study after a Delta Air Lines ramp worker and passenger at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport were arrested in December for allegedly smuggling guns onto flights to New York.
article_snippet.sent: Since the incident, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has hired private security to check the bags of employees when the bags of employees show up for work and has increased overall security.
article_snippet.sent: Immediately following the incident in December 2014, TSA increased the random and unpredictable screening of aviation workers at various airport access points to mitigate potential security vulnerabilities,TSA Secretary Jeh Johnson TSA Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement.
article_snippet.sent: Sen. Charles Schumer called TSA Secretary Jeh Johnson's announcement "a prompt response and a significant first step to closing the gaping loopholes in airport security, especially with regard to reducing access points and enhancing criminal background checks.
article_snippet.sent: Specifically, the TSA report said employee vetting should be strengthened by "updating the list of disqualifying criminal offenses, instituting continuous activity monitoring through the inclusion of additional Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and DHS data sources, and maintaining a national database of airport employees whose credentials have been revoked for cause.
article_snippet.sent: In addition, TSA should expand the collection of domestic intelligence, which would include monitoring social media, and expand national reward programs to encourage employees to report security issues, the TSA report said.
article_snippet.sent: the TSA report also recommended increased surveillance of employees who work inside baggage rooms and cargo areas.
article_snippet.sent: Rep. John Katko, R-New York and chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security, said, "As threats to aviation security continue to evolve, it is critical that the Transportation Security Administration, as well as the airport community, are adequately prepared to mitigate insider threats.
article_snippet.sent: I look forward to having a meaningful dialogue with airport stakeholders and the TSA on what can be done, going forward, to improve employee vetting and screening for those with access to sensitive and sterile parts of airports.
article_snippet.sent: Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-New York, a ranking member of the Transportation Security Committee, said the report makes the report clear that the TSA must do more to neutralize the insider threat and prevent security breaches like Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-New York, a ranking member of the Transportation Security Committee saw in December.
article_snippet.sent: Lauren Stover, security director at Miami International Airport, told CNN, "Lauren Stover, security director at Miami International Airport support the findings of the Transportation Security Committee and agree that there is no single solution in mitigating the insider threat, however "We will continue "We employee screening program as "We believe that physical screening is a critical component to a layered security program.