While program providers, some airports and airlines, and certain business travel industry constituents continue to support the program, members of Congress and TSA administrator Kip Hawley cast doubt on it during a U.S. House of Representatives hearing last week. "Registered traveler (RT) is not now an effective operation tool against the 'clean-skinned' terrorist (a terrorist without criminal history or identification on a watch list), and therefore we have not reduced the security process for RT passengers," Hawley said. "TSA is not waiting for RT. We are moving forward to improve the security process for all travelers." Noting that RT participants are only  screened against terrorist watch lists, Hawley said he is "not comfortable in a world of the suicide bomber. We know they are interested in dealing with modified electronics; shoe bombs remain a concern; and body-carrying explosives are a concern. Shoes, coats and laptops can't be off the screening table just based on the absence of a participant's name on a watch list." Hawley in January told Congress that TSA "hopefully" would get to the point where the checkpoint process could change materially for RT program participants--one of the primary selling points behind the concept--but seven months later, he offered no evidence that TSA had come any closer to that goal. Despite finger pointing between Congress, TSA and program providers--ascribing blame for delayed implementation, disconnected technological development and still-unclear benefits of what is envisioned as a nationwide program--RT is gradually expanding. Last summer, only Orlando offered an operational program, as TSA had missed an initial target for launching on a wider scale. A year later, nine airports have operational programs serving members in at least one terminal, and at least a dozen more are in the process of either selecting providers or implementing the program. But that is not enough, according to some in Congress. "I am disappointed in the lack of rapidity in the development and deployment of this program by TSA," said Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), during the Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection's hearing. "At some point in time, you have to say either the program is going to work, or it is not going to work. We moved faster from the beaches of Omaha, and the other Normandy beaches, through to Berlin, than we have in going through the pilot project of RT, and I don't understand why we should have any more delay." One of the largest challenges raised during the hearing is the apparent divide between TSA and private-sector companies who operate or plan to operate RT. Steven Brill, CEO of one program provider, Verified Identity Pass, provided in his testimony the example of a new shoe-scanning kiosk, developed in conjunction with General Electric and meant to eliminate the need for program participants to remove their shoes: "In Feb. of 2007 the [TSA] RT program director told me in an email that the review and some new testing that had to be done would be finished by Feb. 22 and that deployment would likely follow soon thereafter. It turned out, however, that no re-testing was being done at all, or at least that is what we are now being told. It's now July and as of today TSA is still not re-testing the equipment. That's 15 months since it was put on the 'fast track' by TSA. The loss of public credibility and industry credibility has been incalculable ... Things have now reached to the point where GE has formally notified us that they are about to cancel this project because neither we, nor they can justify the investments in it." Hawley acknowledged "shortcomings" in GE's shoe-scanning device, but said that he expected those "to be corrected." But Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) remained highly critical. "If this is an administration for innovation, then you are the poorest excuse for an administration that I have seen," she said to Hawley. "Shame on you for your slow walking on saying yea or nay on this innovation." Another contentious topic discussed during the hearing was the requirement--implemented by TSA last fall--that RT program participants show government-issued identification in addition to swiping their RT program membership card. "Members have called and written Verified Identity Pass' RT program clear with complaints about the obvious illogic of this new rule, which requires them to present more in the way of identification credentials than other travelers," according to Brill's testimony. "Clear has been at a loss to answer these complaints, because there really is no answer ... This makes the program, or TSA, or both, a laughing stock." Hawley told the committee that there are a number of reasons for that requirement, and in his written testimony, stated that it is "an essential layer of transportation security and the best way to provide assurance that the passengers presenting themselves at security checkpoints are the passengers identified on their boarding passes." That argument did not satisfy Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.). "What you are saying does not logically add up," she told Hawley. "If the bottom line is that people who gave biometrics and who had their personal history checked have to give more identification than someone who wanders in off the street, there is something wrong with this picture." The National Business Travel Association, an RT proponent, also criticized TSA. "We often hear inconsistent messages out of TSA--some wholeheartedly supporting the program, others casting doubt on the value of background checks performed, others focusing on the investments RT service providers will have to make in order to have customers realize security benefits," according to written testimony by NBTA executive director Bill Connors. "These varied messages can create confusion among the public and make many of us in the private sector doubt TSA's commitment to the program." Hawley said RT has not lost support within TSA, but suggested that resources are "best applied to more critical needs," including more training, TSA's Secure Flight passenger screening program (delayed until at least 2008), improved intelligence integration, security at seaports and for other transportation nodes, harmonization with other countries' efforts, use of "existing, affordable technology," and other measures. When asked when RT would be "ready for prime time," Hawley did not provide a specific answer, saying only, "We are not in a position to prime the pump on RT at the expense of the general passenger." But TSA has since November been collecting $28 per RT member--accounting for a portion of the overall membership fee--to "cover the cost of completing a security threat assessment for each applicant and program management expenses." TSA officials were not available to say how much money has been collected. Registered Traveler program overview Airports currently offering RT program in at least one terminal: •Albany
•Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
•Indianapolis
•Jacksonville
•New York JFK (Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Air France)
•Newark (Virgin Atlantic)
•Orlando
•Reno/Tahoe
•San Jose
  Airports with agreements to provide RT programs: •New York LaGuardia (AirTran Airways)
•Rochester, NY
•Little Rock, AK
•San Francisco
•Westchester County, NY
  Airports currently soliciting service providers: •Atlanta
•Chicago O'Hare
•Denver
•Huntsville, Ala.
•Los Angeles
•Miami
•Washington National
•Washington Dulles
  Source: Transportation Security Administration, National Business Travel Association