[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 170 (Monday, December 10, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12777-S12778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CLELAND:
  S. 1794. A bill to amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit 
the unauthorized circumvention of airport security systems and 
procedures; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. CLELAND. Madam President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
that will make it a Federal criminal offense to intentionally 
circumvent an airport security checkpoint. This morning I chaired the 
first Senate Commerce Committee hearing on aviation security since the 
landmark aviation security bill was signed into law earlier this fall. 
That historic piece of legislation was enacted as a response to the 
events of September 11, when terrorists commandeered U.S. commercial 
jets filled with passengers and used them as weapons of mass 
destruction.
  Those terrorist attacks have precipitated a sea-change in attitude on 
how we view our homeland security. There is no such thing as ``business 
as usual,'' especially at our airports across this country. Immediately 
after the events of 9-11, the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. 
Department of Transportation took steps to tighten aviation security 
across the country. U.S. airlines and airports put in place additional 
security safeguards. And Congress passed the most sweeping aviation 
security bill in history.
  Under the new law, every commercial airport will now have a Federal 
security manager and the manager will conduct an immediate assessment 
of safety procedures at the busiest airports in the country. We will 
have strict and uniform national standards for the hiring and training 
and job performance of the men and women who are on the front lines of 
ensuring that our airports and airplanes are not only the safest in the 
world, but are also the most secure. Because of this legislation, every 
airport screener must now be a U.S. citizen. He or she must pass a 
criminal background check, and they must perform well in their job. If 
they don't, and this includes federal screeners, they can and will be 
fired immediately. Cockpit doors will be fortified, the number of air 
marshals on airplanes will be significantly increased, and 
international flights must provide the U.S. Customs Service with 
passenger lists before they can land in this country.
  Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest 
airport, Delta, with its world headquarters in Atlanta, and AirTran are 
key not just to Georgia's economy, but to our national aviation system 
as well. At the Commerce Committee hearing this morning, Spokespersons 
from each of these Georgia giants, told us about the security measures 
that have been put in place since the September 11 hijackings and what 
further steps they plan to take in light of the requirements of the new 
aviation security law.
  At the hearing, Hartsfield's General Manager, Mr. Benjamin DeCosta, 
addressed the incident of November 16 when an individual breached 
security at the Atlanta airport. The security breach triggered the 
total evacuation of Hartsfield and a temporary halt of incoming 
and outgoing air traffic. That action caused a ripple effect of delays 
and flight cancellations. I might add that I have firsthand knowledge 
of those delays, since I spent some ``quality time'' on the tarmac in 
Atlanta that day. But I want to stress that despite those delays, the 
system worked. Hartsfield correctly followed the FAA directive, put in 
place after September 11, that required airport lock-down until airport 
security could be assured.

  However, the November incident revealed a glaring loophole in the 
system, even after enactment of the new airline security legislation. 
Currently, an intentional security violation aboard an aircraft is a 
Federal crime, but a willful breach of an airport security checkpoint 
is punishable only by local criminal penalties and federal civil 
penalties. Just as we have at last stepped up to the plate to assure 
greater uniformity and greater accountability through federalizing the 
airport security workforce, I believe it is the responsibility of 
Congress to address this shortcoming in our federal laws. Accordingly, 
I am introducing legislation, the Airport Checkpoint Enhancement, or 
ACE, Act, to make willful violations of airport security checkpoints a 
federal crime. We should send a message loud and clear that airport 
business is serious business, that if you come to a U.S. airport for 
mischief or for folly, you will pay the consequences.
  My legislation addresses the all-important issue of aviation security 
which, as we have recently learned in the most painful way possible, is 
a matter of national security. Specifically, the ACE Act will amend the 
recently-passed Aviation and Transportation Security Act to provide a 
federal criminal penalty for individuals who intentionally circumvent 
or breach an airport security checkpoint. It was amazing to me to learn 
that in Georgia, an individual who willfully violates the secure area 
of an airport is only subject to a misdemeanor which means a maximum 
penalty involving a civil fine up to $1,100 and a year in jail. My 
legislation will mean that violators could face up to 10 years in 
prison. This legislation is supported by Atlanta's Hartsfield 
International Airport, Delta Airlines, the Air Carrier Association of 
America, and the Office of the Solicitor General, Clayton County, GA. 
We have only just begun to improve airport security and therefore, I 
look forward to continuing this discussion with airport officials and 
law enforcement officers across the country on how we can best protect 
passengers, airport workers, and air travel in the future.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1794

       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 ``Airport Checkpoint 
     Enhancement Act''.

[[Page S12778]]

     SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON UNAUTHORIZED CIRCUMVENTION OF AIRPORT 
                   SECURITY SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES.

       (a) Prohibition.--Section 46503 of title 49, United States 
     Code, as added by section 114 of the Aviation and 
     Transportation Security Act (Public Law 107-71), is amended--
       (1) by inserting ``(a) Interference With Security Screening 
     Personnel.--'' before ``An individual''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(b) Unauthorized Circumvention of Security Systems and 
     Procedures.--An individual in an area within a commercial 
     service airport in the United States who intentionally 
     circumvents, in an unauthorized manner, a security system or 
     procedure in the airport shall be fined under title 18, 
     imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.''.
       (b) Conforming and Clerical Amendments.--(1) The section 
     heading of that section is amended to read as follows:

     ``Sec. 46503. Interference with security screening personnel; 
       unauthorized circumvention of security systems or 
       procedures''.

       (2) The item relating to that section in the table of 
     sections at the beginning of chapter 465 of that title is 
     amended to read as follows:

``46503. Interference with security screening personnel; unauthorized 
              circumvention of security systems or procedures.''.

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