WASHINGTON — Rep. Steve Chabot told the nation's transportation security chief Tuesday that security at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is unacceptable.

        “It's absolutely miserable,” said Mr. Chabot, R-Ohio. “It should be an embarrassment.”

        The Westwood congressman asked John Magaw, who leads the new Transportation Security Administration, about the pace of security improvements at the airport during a hearing before the House subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security.

        A Transportation Security Administration test found that the airport's security screeners failed to detect fake guns or real handguns encased in plastic four of six times in undercover tests.

        USA TODAY, which obtained the study, reported that the national screening failure rate was 24 percent, compared with 58 percent locally — the highest among the 32 major airports tested in June. Screeners found hidden fake weapons or explosives at least 90 percent of the time in Miami; Newark, N.J.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Honolulu.

        The agency took over air security in February and is hiring up to 65,000 workers. It has a Nov. 19 deadline to federalize passenger screening and a Dec. 31 goal of screening all checked baggage at the nation's 429 airports.

        At Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport, the agency has contracted with Huntleigh USA, a private company based in St. Louis, to hire screeners. Mr. Chabot described the security failure rate at the airport as “pitiful.”

        “You almost could do that well by accident,” he told Mr. Magaw.

        Mr. Magaw said terrorists now could see weak points in airport security. “I'm sorry that that report got out,” he said.

        Mr. Magaw did not make any comments about security in Cincinnati but said his agency is developing training and monitoring standards to improve performance nationwide.

        President Bush has proposed folding the Transportation Security Administration into a new Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security.

Chabot decries airport security
FBI reviews Erpenbeck files
CPS hopes to keep candidates a secret
'Have you seen me?' draws 90 Erica tips
Man argues intent in own rape trial
Mother will stand trial in burning death of son, 9
Ob-gyns reassure patients on HRT
Police sting nets arrests on drug, soliciting charges
Smallpox not cause for panic
Suspect in bank robberies jailed
Teens in running for nationals
Tristate A.M. Report
BRONSON: Pro eaters
HOWARD: Some Good News
KORTE: City Hall
SAMPLES: Admissions College makes kids desperate
Children taken from filthy home
Liberty citizens kept in dark
Ohio 4 merchants oppose city's plans
Owensboro lab to make cancer, AIDS vaccines
Warren considers rollback on taxes
Despite tax hike, state receipts grow very little
Accused priest seeks defrocking
Ex-Governor Wilkinson eulogized as a fighter
Kentucky News Briefs
Man sought for role in wreck found
Patton drops quest for school dollars
School's turf going synthetic
TANK riders speak out against cuts
Water still shallow in Boone Co.