[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 516 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 516

To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow the arming of pilots of 
                cargo aircraft, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 5, 2003

Mr. Bunning (for himself, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Craig, Mr. Allen, 
   Mr. Nickles, Mr. Burns, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Thomas, Ms. Snowe, Mr. 
Miller, Mr. Campbell, and Mr. Sessions) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow the arming of pilots of 
                cargo aircraft, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Arming Cargo Pilots Against 
Terrorism Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) During the 107th Congress, both the Senate and the 
        House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed measures that 
        would have armed pilots of cargo aircraft.
            (2) Cargo aircraft do not have Federal air marshals, 
        trained cabin crew, or determined passengers to subdue 
        terrorists.
            (3) Cockpit doors on cargo aircraft, if present at all, 
        largely do not meet the security standards required for 
        commercial passenger aircraft.
            (4) Cargo aircraft vary in size and many are larger and 
        carry larger amounts of fuel than the aircraft hijacked on 
        September 11, 2001.
            (5) Aircraft cargo frequently contains hazardous material 
        and can contain deadly biological and chemical agents and 
        quantities of agents that cause communicable diseases.
            (6) Approximately 12,000 of the nation's 90,000 commercial 
        pilots serve as pilots and flight engineers on cargo aircraft.
            (7) There are approximately 2,000 cargo flights per day in 
        the United States, many of which are loaded with fuel for 
        outbound international travel or are inbound from foreign 
        airports not secured by the Transportation Security 
        Administration.
            (8) Aircraft transporting cargo pose a serious risk as 
        potential terrorist targets that could be used as weapons of 
        mass destruction.
            (9) Pilots of cargo aircraft deserve the same ability to 
        protect themselves and the aircraft they pilot as other 
        commercial airline pilots.
            (10) Permitting pilots of cargo aircraft to carry firearms 
        creates an important last line of defense against a terrorist 
        effort to commandeer a cargo aircraft.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that a member 
of a flight deck crew of a cargo aircraft should be armed with a 
firearm to defend the cargo aircraft against an attack by terrorists 
that could result in the use of the aircraft as a weapon of mass 
destruction or for other terrorist purposes.

SEC. 3. ARMING CARGO PILOTS AGAINST TERRORISM.

    Section 44921 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``passenger'' each place 
        that it appears; and
            (2) in subsection (k)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking ``or,'' and all that 
                        follows; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``or any other flight 
                        deck crew member.''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(3) All-cargo air transportation.--For the purposes of 
        this section, the term air transportation includes all-cargo 
        air transportation.''.

SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION.

    (a) Time for Implementation.--The training of pilots as Federal 
flight deck officers required in the amendments made by section 3 shall 
begin as soon as practicable and no later than 90 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act.
    (b) Effect on Other Laws.--The requirements of subsection (a) shall 
have no effect on the deadlines for implementation contained in section 
44921 of title 49, United States Code, as in effect on the day before 
the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>