[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 156 (Tuesday, November 13, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H8035-H8036]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           AVIATION SECURITY

  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, it has been 2 months since terrorists used 
our civilian airliners as weapons of mass destruction. Yet we have not 
made major changes in aviation security here in the United States 
Congress. A few steps have been taken by executive order, by the FAA 
administrator, by orders from the President and the Secretary of 
Transportation. Reinforcement of flight deck doors. We have got people 
looking over the shoulders of the private security firms, whatever good 
that does if you do not watch them every second of every day. But the 
major things that need to be done need to be done by statute, by change 
in the law. Yet it is not yet done.
  How could it take so long? Well, there is a major hang-up and the 
major hang-up is that the majority whip and the majority leader, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Armey), are adamantly and absolutely opposed to true federalization of 
aviation security at the airports, that is, taking the failing private 
security firms, putting them out of business, which is what they 
deserve, and bringing in Federal law enforcement just like we have 
outside the doors of this Chamber and at many other Federal 
installations to provide security around the country to make certain 
that people do not bring weapons on board airplanes and smuggle weapons 
or bombs into baggage and other critical areas of the airports.
  They say, well, we will more closely supervise those private firms. 
Well, the record is pretty miserable. Since September 11, there have 
been 24 incidents, major breaches of airport security by these same 
private firms. Twenty-four in 2 months. That is better than they 
usually do because actually over the last 5 years they have averaged 
one breach that was finable or prosecutable a day for the last 5 years. 
So they are doing better. About 50 percent of the days, they are doing 
a pretty good job, or at least as far as we know.
  But the failures are pretty notable: the guy with the seven knives, 
the stun gun and the mace in Chicago; the honest passenger on board 
Southwest Airlines who rang his call button and asked the flight 
attendant to come and take his loaded gun because he forgot it was in 
his briefcase and opened his briefcase on the plane; the concourses and 
planes that had to be returned to concourses because people were waved 
through security. At Logan, one of the Argenbright folks actually saw a 
weapon go through the screening device, but they were in the middle of 
their nap or their trance; and the person was long gone down the 
concourse before they said, oh, wait a minute, I saw a knife or a 
weapon about 5 minutes ago, and they had to empty out the concourse.
  They say they will do better. I do not believe that these firms will 
do better. They say they will be better supervised. What is better 
supervision than probation? Argenbright, the largest private security 
firm in the United States of America, owned by Securicor of Europe, was 
last year convicted, criminally convicted. Unfortunately, none of their 
executives went to jail. That might have gotten their attention. They 
did not. But they were criminally convicted of hiring known felons, 
maintaining known felons on staff, falsifying documents of the Federal 
Government regarding the training of employees and the background 
checks of employees. They were fined $1.5 million and put on probation. 
Well, guess what? About a month ago, they were found to be in violation 
of their probation. For doing what? Hiring and maintaining known felons 
on staff, falsifying Federal documents. They are

[[Page H8036]]

going to be fined again, and their probation is going to be extended.
  This is closer supervision? What closer supervision can you provide, 
except, as I said, maybe to put some of these executives of these 
failing private firms in jail, you will get their attention. Maybe that 
would shape them up. But I think the cleaner way to deal with this is 
the way we deal with other Federal Government law enforcement 
functions, and, that is, to admit it is a law enforcement function and 
put qualified law enforcement personnel in all of the critical places, 
in all our airports to assure the safety of the flying public.
  Two months is way too long to delay. And it will be extraordinary if 
because of the opposition to Federal law enforcement by a few Members 
of the majority that this Congress before the busiest travel weekend of 
the year, Thanksgiving, does not act in the long-term interests of 
security and the flying public. We have an opportunity this week. The 
bill must get done.

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