AIRMAIL
Hello-
I am pleased
to announce the Airforwarders Association has been invited to testify before
the House Homeland Security Committee’s subcommittee on Transportation Security
and Infrastructure Protection. The
hearing will be held on Wednesday March 18 at 2:00 pm. Please tune into the hearing by visiting http://homeland.house.gov/ and clicking
on the ‘Live Webcast’ link on the left side of the page.
This
invitation is a great honor and further recognition of the Association's
relevance to Congressional staffers and TSA officials. The Association
was requested personally by the Ranking Member Charlie Dent, as the forwarding
community’s representative on the panel. I would like to thank all of our
members for their input as the Association has continued its work on CCSP. I invite all of you to continue to share your
thoughts, concerns and ideas for improvement with myself and Michelle
Lancaster, our government relations director. It is only with the benefit
of this input that I am able in my capacity as executive director to
effectively represent the myriad opinions of our diverse membership and it is
my sincere hope that my testimony on Wednesday reflects those perspectives
adequately.
Other
panelists at the hearing include: the Air Transport Association (ATA), the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Government Accountability
Office (GAO), and the International Air Cargo Association (TIACA).
Specifically,
the Association's testimony will focus on the success toward achieving the
first 50 percent milestone with relatively few problems, and outline the
challenges with the next 50 percent.
Specifically, we intend to call on Congress to maintain CCSP as an
option for screening, and encourage funding mechanisms for small forwarders and
the development of pallet screening technologies. I will be sharing a copy of the written
testimony with the membership immediately prior to the hearing; in the
meantime, if you have specific concerns or comments, please do not hesitate to
call me immediately.
Thank you
again for your active participation in the Airforwarders Association. Our
strength is in our numbers and your investment in your membership through
active engagement on the issues facing our industry. This opportunity is
an important step in building our efforts to secure funding to ensure that at
the upcoming level of 100% screening of air cargo, forwarders of all revenues
and employee sizes continue to compete in a fair, efficient marketplace.
If you or
your employees live, work, or operate a facility in a district represented by
one of the Subcommittee members listed below please contact Michelle
Lancaster at 202.223.4933 to obtain sample language for use in a phone script
to let your legislator know how this issue affects their district.
The members
of the subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection
are as follows:
Sheila
Jackson-Lee (D-TX): Chairwoman
Charles W.
Dent (Ranking Member)
Peter
DeFazio (D-OR)
Eleanor
Holmes-Norton (D-DC)
Ann
Kirkpatrick (D-AZ)
Ben Ray
Lujan (D-NM)
Emanuel
Cleaver (D-MO)
James A.
Himes (D-CT)
Eric J.J.
Massa (D-NY)
Dina Titus
(D-NV)
Bennie G.
Thompson (D-MS)
Daniel E.
Lungren (R-CA)
Pete Olson
(R-TX)
Candice S.
Miller (R-MI)
Steve
Austria (R-OH)
Peter T. King (R-NY)
---
Brandon
Fried, Executive Director
The Airforwarders Association
1156 15th Street, N.W., suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20005
202-393-2818