[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 23, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H8102-H8103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             TWA FLIGHT 800

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Stearns] is recognized during 
morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to say parenthetically that 
the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone] knows that that quote is 
out of context. In fact most of the television stations across this 
country are not longer running their (Democrats) ads because they know 
it is not the truth. The Speaker was talking about the Health Care 
Financing Administration, not Medicare. He was talking about trying to 
downsize it. Who else, Mr. Speaker, said we should scrap the Health 
Care Financing Administration? President Clinton and Vice President 
Gore in their Putting People First book. They outline exactly the same 
thing that they are accusing the Speaker when he talked about getting 
rid of the bureaucracy here in Washington with the Health Care 
Financing Administration. I think we need to establish the truth.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to share my thoughts today about the crash of TWA 
Flight 800. But before I do so, I wish to say to the family and friends 
and loved ones of the passengers and the crew who were aboard that ill-
fated flight that our prayers here in the House, in the Senate and 
Congress are with all of you at this very difficult time.
  The tragic ending of over 230 passengers on this flight is a grim 
reminder of another flight, Mr. Speaker, Pan Am 103, which went down 
over Lockerbie, Scotland. It has yet to be established whether sabotage 
played a role in the crash of this flight.
  Unfortunately, an overwhelmingly difficult and grim task has been 
made even more difficult by the inclement weather. However, when 
additional fuselage has been retrieved from the ocean, the 
antiterrorist experts that have been called in to investigate will be 
in a better position to render a judgment.

                              {time}  0930

  Chemical residue has been detected by the EGIS machine which was 
developed in the mid-1980's, which is specifically designed to detect 
plastic explosives. In time, we will know the cause of this disaster 
and if it is, as suspected, an act of terrorism, I pray to the Almighty 
God above that the perpetrators are caught and dealt with and the 
punishment will fit the crime.
  Even if we find it was not an act of sabotage, the time has come for 
this country to treat acts of terrorism for what they are: An assault 
on Pan Am Flight 103 was a direct attack on this country. Mr. Speaker, 
Government must treat American aviation security as a national defense 
issue and not as a regulatory issue.
  That is why I am here and I am talking about drafting a bill, a piece 
of legislation to do just that. One cannot help but hearken back to the 
tragedy at Lockerbie.
  After officials, in channeling of the investigation of the Pan Am 
flight, determined that the plane was carrying plastic explosives which 
blew the plane

[[Page H8103]]

out of the sky, Congress held hearings and passed legislation, the 
Aviation Security Act of 1990.
  Section 108 of the public law was entitled ``Deployment of Explosive 
Detection Equipment.'' Certain guidelines were put in place for the 
deployment of high-technology equipment which could detect plastic 
explosives such as used in Pan Am 103.
  Mr. Speaker, on July 20, 1996, The Washington Post ran a story with 
the following headline: ``U.S. Airports Lack High-Tech Scan Devices To 
Detect Explosives.'' This article details how the Federal Aviation 
Administration developed several high-technology pieces of equipment to 
detect plastic explosives.
  Currently, the Europeans have about 90 such machines in use. Germany 
has approximately 50 machines like this in use, the rest being in the 
United Kingdom and France. That is all well and good. I think they are 
right to want to protect their citizens.
  Do my colleagues know how many of these machines are used in the 
United States? None. We are now testing about four of these machines in 
San Francisco and Atlanta because of the large volume of visitors 
passing through these airports, but we have only four of these type 
machines in use in a testing mode in the United States.
  Something is definitely wrong with this situation. We developed this 
high-technology equipment at taxpayers' expense here in the United 
States. Then we sell it overseas and we do not even use it here at 
home. I believe legislation to rectify this problem is long overdue 
because, as much as I wish I were wrong, I believe such barbarous and 
cowardly acts of violence will continue to be committed against the 
United States as well as other countries.
  Machines such as the EGIS and the updated CTX-5000 that works like a 
CAT scan, slicing up objects visually, ensure that we will find all 
such bombs and plastic devices on board. We are now using 20-year-old 
x-ray machines that can only detect 10 percent of this. I hope all my 
colleagues will join me in sponsoring my legislation to protect all 
Americans.

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