U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) raised security concerns on Wednesday after the first commercial flight departed the United States for Cuba following normalization of relations between the countries.
Katko, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security, said that the Obama administration has advanced its political goals at the expense of the safety and security of the traveling public.
“Cuba has long been tied to criminal and terrorist enterprises,” Katko said. “The discovery of forged Cuban passports, used by Afghans and manufactured by Iranians, illustrates the dire need for additional, strictly enforced security measures before the resumption of commercial air travel.”
Recent tragedies demonstrate that insider threats are real, Katko said, and the U.S. government currently lacks sufficient information to ensure that Cuban airports are not vulnerable to external threats.
“Nor has sufficient information been provided to U.S. air carriers about the ideological sentiments, criminal history, or foreign ties of Cuban airport workers,” Katko said. “Further, the airlines will not be permitted to hire their own workers and all airport and airline functions will be performed by Cuban government employees.”
Katko concluded that the “unilateral action” taken by the administration to open commercial air travel between the countries has disregarded congressional oversight and prioritized ideological goals over safety.