[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 31, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H7535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  URGING SUPPORT FOR THE AIRLINE SECURITY BILL AND OPPOSITION TO THE 
                          DEMOCRAT SUBSTITUTE

  (Mr. DOOLITTLE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the House will take up the 
airline security bill. This is a good bill. It gives the President the 
flexibility he needs to protect Americans as they fly. I would urge 
support of this legislation and defeat of the Democrat substitute.
  The heart of the Democrat substitute is a mandate to make the 
security checkers all Federal employees. Europe has gone down that road 
and has rejected it.
  Let me just quote out of the Washington Post what the chairman of the 
Europe-wide Task Force on Aviation Security had to say regarding 
contract employees versus government employees:
  `` `It is harder to do quality control on our government people,' 
said Frank Durinckx, director of Belgium's Aviation Inspectorate and 
chairman of Europe-wide Task Force on Aviation Security. `Government 
agencies do not like to criticize themselves or one another, and civil 
servants are hard to get rid of if they are not performing well. If we 
give the work to a private contractor, we have control over them,' 
Durinckx said. `If we are not pleased with a screener, we can withdraw 
their license.' ''
  Let us support President Bush. Support the House aviation security 
bill tomorrow and defeat the Democrat substitute.

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