Congress OKs sweeping air security bill

WASHINGTON -- Trying to reassure travelers, Congress sent President Bush a sweeping aviation security bill Friday to establish a new federal force to stop weapons and bombs from getting on planes and to strengthen cockpit doors against would-be hijackers.

A direct response to the Sept. 11 attacks, the legislation would make all 28,000 airport screeners federal workers. It would move toward inspection of all checked baggage and put law enforcement officers on duty at screening points. On planes, it would ensure that cockpit doors would be reinforced and locked and that air marshals would become a common presence on flights.

The legislation, said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., in a speech echoed by other lawmakers, is "the most significant transportation and aviation security measure to pass the Congress in its history."

President Bush said putting the federal government in charge of aviation security would make the skies safer and he looked forward to signing the bill.

Congress was determined to pass the bill before it adjourned for the Thanksgiving holiday to give confidence to Americans before the busiest traveling season of the year that airplanes will be safe. After a compromise was reached Thursday on the issue of airport screeners, staff worked all night to draft the bill, enduring a 5:00 a.m. computer breakdown.

"This is not only a security measure but more than anything else an airline stimulus bill," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., a leading sponsor. The hope is that safety measures will draw more Americans back to flying, helping the aviation industry recover from its current financial crisis.

In rapid succession Friday, the Senate passed the legislation by voice vote and the House by a 410-9 margin. All nine dissenters were Republicans.

The Senate passed its version of the bill by 100-0 on Oct. 11, but reaching common ground with the House took time because some House Republicans objected to provisions in the Senate that put all screeners on the federal payroll. The House-passed bill maintained federal control over screeners but gave the president flexibility over whether workers would be civil or private.

Private screening flawed

Currently, airlines contract out screening to private security firms, a system that has proved flawed because the screeners they hire have tended to be poorly paid, poorly trained and had high turnover rates. The new federal workers are to be paid at least $30,000 a year, double current rates.

On Thursday, the Massachusetts state police superintendent barred Argenbright Security, the nation's largest airport security firm, from working in the state because it had hired workers with felony convictions and probation violations and was responsible for security lapses at Boston's Logan International Airport.

With such problems in mind, many Republicans rallied behind the demand for a full federal workforce. "Security is not something that you can contract out to the lowest bidders," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.

In a compromise crafted by Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, all airports must switch to federal workers to screen baggage and travelers within one year. For the next three years, all airports must employ that system, except for five, from five different size categories, that can volunteer for pilot programs experimenting with other security approaches.

After three years, airports can opt out of the federal program, but New Orleans Mayor Marc H. Morial, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said he thought most airports would keep their federal workers. "Once you get a system in place and it works, I don't think anybody is going to want to change it."

Few immediate changes

While lawmakers hope the bill will give a psychological lift to worried holiday travelers, those travelers can expect to see few immediate changes. Among those, they should see more law enforcement officers -- under the bill law enforcement personnel will be at every screening post at major airports -- and there should be a rapid expansion of the screening of checked bags.

Airports have 60 days to initiate plans to increase inspection of checked luggage, and by the end of 2002, all bags must undergo explosives detection screening.

While the Senate generally prevailed on the screening issue, the House won inclusion of such provisions as the creation of a new Transportation Department agency to oversee all transportation security matters and the expansion of security measures to include monitoring of the tarmac, caterers and other airport areas.

House language that extends liability protections to aviation manufacturers and the owners of the World Trade Center buildings, which were destroyed in the attacks, was also included in the final bill. The Transportation Department is allowed to authorize the use of weapons in cockpits.

A $2.50 fee is to be levied when a passenger boards a plane to pay for the added security costs, with a maximum payment of $5.00 for a one-way trip. That fee is to go into effect within 60 days.