our second witness is captain tim canoll who began serving as the tenth president of the alpa. captain canoll pre sides over the meetings of the association's governing bodies and oversees daily operations of the association. the chow recognizes captain canoll to testify. >> good morning chairman katko and congressman payne. i am captain tim canoll president of the airline pilots association international. alpa represents more than 52,000 pilots who fly for 31 passenger and all cargo airlines in the united states and canada. thank you for inviting me here today. for several decades, alpi pilots have had a strong relationship with the federal air marshal service. alpi leaders meet on a regular basis to make sure we have the most current and accurate understanding of the roles, responsibilities training and methods. we focus in particular on learning how fans interface with people like me when we fly the line. throughout the fams history, alpi members have been deeply impressed by the dedication of the program's leaders. including assistant administrator allison. every day fams pu

the chair recognizes captain canoll to testify. tim: good morning chairman katko and congressman payne. i am the chairman of the air line pilots association international. alpa represents passenger and cargo airlines in the united states and canada. thank you for inviting me here today. for several decades, alpa pilots have had a strong relationship with the federal air marshal service. our leaders meet on a regular basis with the fams to ensure we have the most current and accurate understanding of the roles, responsibilities, training, and methods. we focus in particular on learning how fams interface with flight officers like me when we lie the line. alpa members have been deeply impressed by the professionalism of individual air marshals and the dedication of its leaders, including administrator allison. every day, fams put themselves at risk for the passengers and crew members of our flights. for that, alpa members will always be grateful. in alpa's view, flying with antiterrorism experts aboard is highly valuable. these professio

on our second panel, we will have captain tim canoll from the air line pilots association to discussthe real flight deck officer program and its coordination with the admiral air marshal service. i look over to testimony from both of our messes and having a meaningful dialogue on how to make improvements to the federal air marshal service as we work together to counter threats facing the u.s. aviation sector. i recognize the ranking member of this subcommittee, the esteemed gentleman from new york, ms. rice, for an opening statement. -- the esteemed gentlewoman from new york, ms. rice, for an opening statement. rep. rice: thank you for convening this hearing. i understand this is the first time since 2012 that a panel in this committee has discussed the federal aviation marshals service. so it is clearly important that we do so. i want to thank our witnesses for their participation today. prior to september 11, the federal air marshal service consisted of only 33 full-time sky marshals. the 9/11 attacks made clear we a greater presence on commercial aircraft to counter the threat of