perhaps the most widely known initiative is tsa precheck. today approximately 600,000 passengers have experienced expedited screening through tsa precheck. by the end of 2012, we expect to offer passengers in 35 of our nation's busiest airports the benefits of tsa precheck. in addition to eligible frequent fliers and trusted traveler programs we expanded to include active duty u.s. military traveling out of reagan national airport. in addition to precheck, last fall we implimted new screening procedures for children 12 and under, allowing them to leave their shoes on and go through a less intrusive security screening process. and just last monday, passengers of 75 and older. finally we are also supporting efforts to start identity based screening. pilots have cleared security. these initiatives have allowed us to expedite the screening process for children, our military, many frequent fliers and now in testing the elderly. they have resulted in fewer divestiture requirements and a reduction in pat-downs, while allowing us more time to focus

>> the precheck pilot pramts are very popular. this is the domestic branch of the kind of trusted traveler programs that we began wnl the global entry program, internationally so. we are expanding that precheck program as rapidly as we can. >> very good. and then last the jolt act. i just call your attention to that, this is bipartisan legislation that we've introduced with senator schumer and rubio, blunt, mikulski, kirk, and lee. and i think it's very important to move ahead with that. we've appreciated some of the work you've done on tourism. we're working with the state department to improve the visa wait times, but there's also other things that we can do that are contained in this act. oh we would love to have your help and support with that bill. >> be happy to take a look at it. >> thank you. >> >> senator cornyn. >> madame secretary, good morning. good to see you. we can all stipulate you have an extraordinaire little challenging job.job. i want to ask you a question about dna testing of detainees. and i know you're a for

>> the precheck pilot programs are very popular. this is the domestic branch of the kind of trusted traveler programs that we began with the global entry program, internationally. so we are expanding that precheck program as rapidly as we can. >> very good. then last, the jolt act i just call your attention to that. this is bipartisan legislation that we've introduced with senator schumer and rubio, blunt, mick ulsky, kirk, and lee. i think it is very important to move ahead with that. we appreciated some of the work you've done on tourism and we're working with the state department to improve visa wait times. there are other things we can do contained in this act and we'd love your help and support with that bill. >> happy to take a look at it. >> thank you. >> senator corbin. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> good to see you. we can all stipulate you have an extraordinarily challenging job. i want to ask you a question about the dna testing of detainees. i know you are a former federal prosecutor and attorney general so you kno

that, tsa i must say that john pistole has done a good job and we're down the road on tsa precheck so we make flying easy, we make flying easy for people in this country and people that want to come into this country and visit this country. i think there's going to be a natural, as the industry evolves the way all consumer industries evolve, when was the last time you looked at all the options to buy a personal computer or an automobile? more and more merchandising as this industry evolves into a typical consumer-like industrial, there's going to be this propensity to regulate more. and we should avoid that. let customers decide whether they like to travel on an airline that charges for overhead space. it's just another product in the market. there's plenty of choice in the market. consumers have more perfect information about buying air transportation than any other industry in the world because the internet and our internet sites and the search engines they have give every consumer virtual shelf space on every single price, option, availability for any ticket virtually anywhere in t

we're actively engaged with a number of groups to try to expand our pre-check population, again precheck is the program that's allowing expedited screening for individuals that are qualified either today in pilot phase because they are part of a frequent flyer program or opted in through global entry, we extended the program to active duty military out of reagan national airport, that started last week. we are exploring other groups we can work with. >> i understand the mill taerks and like mr. issa and myself and others, took off the uniform one day and did work the next. but the shift still there. >> sir, we are actively looking at. that our goal -- >> what is your timeline for active on this, seems like just simple straight forward, the record either is there or it's not. the case i know of at least i can speak to myself i know the record's there. >> there are two aspects really, that we focus on. one is to your point, if the record is there, and then two, is our ability to reconcile that at the check point so there is a technology piece that allows us to verify that someone is who we

you guys were talking about precheck.s. >> apple pie, mom, baseball, taylor swift, and precheck. >> taylor swift again? second appearance of the week. >> it's fantastic. i want more of it. >> kip, your argument is -- >> we've got to do it for everybody. >> why don't we? >> we have old rules that are still stuck that were put in place after 9/11 that worked then and are no longer needed. i would say we could get rid of 90% of the prohibited items. >> like what? >> like knives. any knife. keep your knife. keep your tools. whatever -- they have hand tools you can't bring on. sporting equipment. there's a long list. a huge list. and officers spend most of their time looking through bags for this stuff, fishing them out. and what that would -- what my proposal would do would make the officers able to focus on explosives or toxins, really things that are threats now. and it would speed up the process. and it would just make the security better because the whole process would be calmer, passengers would come back. and i think th