[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 143 (Wednesday, October 24, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H7284-H7285]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     SCREENING LUGGAGE AT AIRPORTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak this evening about 
this matter of the airline security, because most Americans when they 
buy an airline ticket believe that when they get on that plane that the 
luggage that has been loaded into the belly of that airplane has been 
screened for explosive devices, and the fact is that it has not. 
Probably less than 10 percent of all the luggage that is put on 
passenger planes is screened for explosive devices.

                              {time}  1715

  Last week, this House left town on Wednesday evening. We returned 
this Tuesday at 6 o'clock p.m. We went into session at 10 o'clock this 
morning. We completed work before 5 o'clock this afternoon. And 
tomorrow we are told to be prepared to leave town by 2 o'clock in the 
afternoon. It has been 43 days since those two planes were hijacked and 
tore into the World Trade towers in New York City. It has been 43 days 
since the Pentagon was attacked and all those lives were lost. It has 
been 43 days since those innocent people went down in that plane in 
Pennsylvania. And we still have not passed an airline security bill in 
this House of Representatives.
  Two weeks ago, the Senate passed an airline security bill 100-to-
nothing. Every Senator joined together to vote to protect the traveling 
public. Yet this House has not acted. Why have we not acted? It is 
because the leadership here is opposed to making the people who work in 
our airports, to provide the security for our traveling public,

[[Page H7285]]

Federal employees. And they know the American people want this. They 
know that Republican and Democrat Senators alike wanted it, and they 
know if it comes to this floor for a vote, it will pass, because a vast 
majority of the Members of this House believe that those employees 
should be Federal employees, well-trained, well-equipped, well-paid 
professional people who are charged with the responsibility of keeping 
us safe when we fly.
  Many Americans are shocked to learn that in some of the major 
airports in this country, up to 80 percent of the employees who provide 
this security are noncitizens. They are noncitizens of this country. 
They receive little more than minimum wage. They received a day or two 
of training. Some of them receive less training than they would receive 
if they were hired by Starbuck's to sell coffee in our airports. Yet 
they are charged with keeping our airports safe and making it safe for 
us and our families and our loved ones to board those planes.
  It is shameful in my judgment that we are wasting so much time in 
this House, that we are completing work before 5 o'clock in the 
evening, that we are leaving town tomorrow in the early afternoon and 
not returning until 6 o'clock next Tuesday without acting on this 
airline security bill.
  We do not want Americans to be afraid to fly but Americans have a 
right to know. They have a right to know that today when they get on an 
airplane, it is likely that 95 percent of the luggage that is in the 
belly of that airplane has not been checked for explosives. They need 
to know that as they make decisions about themselves and their families 
and whether or not they want to fly. And we need to understand that if 
we want this economy to go downward, we will lose another plane or two 
and people just simply will refuse to get on our airliners.
  We can do this. The technology is there to check for explosive 
devices. We just simply do not have the will to make the decision to 
make it happen. Yesterday my friend the gentleman from Washington (Mr. 
Inslee) and I went to the Committee on Rules. We wanted a part of this 
stimulus package to provide the financial resources to enable our 
airports to have these devices that could check for explosives. That 
certainly was not made a part of today's package which passed here on 
the floor of this House. But if we lose an airliner as a result of an 
explosive device being placed on that airliner, the responsibility is 
going to be in this House and it is especially going to be on the 
leadership of this House if they do not move this bill forward. Bring 
it to the floor, let us debate it, let us vote. We owe this to the 
American people. The American people want it, and I believe as they 
become increasingly aware of the dangers they face that they will 
demand it.
  Mr. Speaker, we ought to do this and we ought to do it this week 
rather than waiting to some later time.

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