[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 156 (Wednesday, December 7, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H11118-H11120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING PILOTS OF COMMERCIAL AIR CARRIERS WHO VOLUNTEER TO PARTICIPATE 
                 IN FEDERAL FLIGHT DECK OFFICER PROGRAM

  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 196) honoring the pilots of United 
States commercial air carriers who volunteer to participate in the 
Federal flight deck officer program.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 196

       Whereas after the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001, 
     Congress enacted legislation authorizing volunteer pilots of 
     United States commercial air carriers who participate in the 
     Federal flight deck officer program to use lethal force to 
     defend the flight deck of an aircraft against acts of 
     terrorism;
       Whereas a volunteer pilot in the Federal flight deck 
     officer program must undergo rigorous psychological screening 
     and a background investigation, as well as complete an 
     intense training curriculum;
       Whereas volunteer pilots in the Federal flight deck officer 
     program provide a significant deterrent against potential 
     acts of violence or terrorism in United States airspace, are 
     an essential layer of security for the Nation's flying 
     public, and are a key factor in restoring confidence in the 
     Nation's air transportation system;
       Whereas volunteer pilots in the Federal flight deck officer 
     program devote personal time and finances to maintain a high 
     standard of proficiency in the use of firearms and techniques 
     for addressing emergencies in flight; and
       Whereas volunteer pilots in the Federal flight deck officer 
     program, at great personal risk and with no compensation or 
     recognition, are dedicated to the protection of the flight 
     deck, thereby providing an additional layer of protection to 
     the aircraft, passengers, and cargo from acts of terrorism, 
     such as the possible use of the aircraft as a weapon of mass 
     destruction against people on the ground: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring),  That Congress--
       (1) recognizes that volunteer pilots in the Federal flight 
     deck officer program are the consummate quiet professionals 
     and embody what is best in our national character;
       (2) applauds volunteer pilots in the Federal flight deck 
     officer program for taking a stand against those who would 
     seek to harm the United States through acts of terrorism in 
     the air; and
       (3) expresses appreciation to volunteer pilots in the 
     Federal flight deck officer program on behalf of all citizens 
     of the United States for the ongoing contribution of these 
     pilots to the security of the Nation and its air 
     transportation system.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Mexico (Mr. Pearce) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Mexico.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on 
H. Con. Res. 196.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Mexico?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 196 recognizes and applauds 
the volunteer pilots in the Federal Flight Deck Officer program. It is 
an opportunity to show our appreciation for those brave pilots who are 
committed to protecting Americans against another act of terrorism not 
only at huge personal risk but with no compensation or recognition.
  I appreciate Chairman Mica's leadership in establishing and 
supporting this program. I am proud to represent the district where the 
Federal flight deck officer training occurs. Chairman Mica visited this 
program with me last year. These are superb assets at Artesia, New 
Mexico, which include two 727s all lined up and allow real simulated 
training for the Federal flight deck officers. I also toured the 
facility with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff just 
in the last month.
  We should speak for a grateful Nation for the selfless contribution 
these pilots make to providing a critical layer of protection to the 
aircraft, passengers, and cargo from acts of terrorism.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Mica) control the remainder of my time and that he be allowed to 
yield time to other Members in consideration of this resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Mexico?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Mica for introducing this 
resolution honoring the pilots who participate in this Federal Flight 
Deck Officer program. As the ranking member of the Aviation 
Subcommittee and a cosponsor of this resolution, I believe these 
volunteer pilots deserve to be honored and recognized for their 
continued and dedicated service.
  Ten months after the tragic September 11 attacks, I and over 300 
Members of this body voted to authorize volunteer commercial pilots to 
carry handguns. At the time, arming pilots was a controversial idea, 
yet the House

[[Page H11119]]

resolved to take any measure necessary to prevent terrorism and 
terrorists from ever taking over an airline again.
  After almost 3\1/2\ years, we now have thousands of armed and trained 
pilots serving our country as Federal flight deck officers. Federal 
flight deck officers are a powerful deterrent to hijackers and are a 
vital last line of defense in the skies.
  Federal flight deck officer candidates must submit to rigorous 
psychological screening and a background investigation, as well as 
completing an intense training program before they are deputized. These 
pilots volunteer their services and do not get paid for their initial 
training, which includes travel, lodging, and daily expenses.
  Further, they must devote personal time and finances to maintaining 
their firearm proficiency and anti-terrorism skills. They do it because 
they are patriots. These men and women represent what is best in our 
national character since the founding of this country. They are 
citizens willing to stand up and help provide for a common defense. We 
should honor them.
  I applaud the gentleman from Florida, the chairman of the 
subcommittee, for introducing this legislation; and I urge my 
colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Kuhl) and also the vice chair of the 
Aviation Subcommittee.
  Mr. KUHL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of 
the gentleman from Florida's legislation, H. Con. Res. 196. This bill 
recognizes airline pilots who have courageously volunteered to 
participate in the Federal Flight Deck Officer program.
  Following the tragic events of 9/11 in my home State of New York, the 
Federal Flight Deck Officer program was created by Congress as a part 
of the Homeland Security Act to select, train, equip, and supervise 
volunteer pilots to defend the flight decks of passenger aircraft 
against acts of criminal violence and air piracy.
  These volunteers have dedicated their time and money to the extensive 
flight deck officer program. They are selected for training only after 
meeting very strict qualification standards. The training is specific 
to protecting the flight deck. Upon completion, the pilots are 
deputized as Federal officers. They have jurisdiction specific to the 
flight deck and contribute to aviation security throughout the U.S. on 
a daily basis.
  Federal flight deck officers provide a critical, and I repeat, 
critical layer of defense for the safe operation of aircraft traffic. 
In recent polls conducted by the Airline Pilots Association, the public 
overwhelmingly supports the arming of pilots on commercial and cargo 
flights. These men and women deserve much praise for their willingness 
to provide the flying public with secure skies.
  I thank each of these heroes for their tremendous courage and 
dedication, as they are protecting our country and preventing 
terrorists from threatening Americans' ability to carry out and carry 
on their daily lives.
  Mr. Speaker, once again, I strongly support this bill, and I urge its 
immediate passage to honor those who are willing to protect our 
citizens with their own lives.
  Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 
196, which I introduced to honor our commercial airline pilots, those 
individuals who volunteer for what is termed the Federal Flight Deck 
Officer program.
  Before I speak to the resolution, I just want to take a few minutes 
to thank the chairman of the Select Committee on Homeland Security, Mr. 
King, and also the ranking member of that committee, Mr. Thompson, also 
Mr. Lungren and others, for their support in facilitating the 
consideration of this resolution before the House today.
  I also want to thank Mr. Pearce. He said in his opening remarks in 
support of the resolution that he also represents the area in New 
Mexico where they have put the facility to train our pilots, and I did 
have an opportunity to visit that facility with Mr. Pearce, and I will 
talk about that in just a minute.
  I introduced this legislation, as I said, in a resolution to honor 
thousands of passenger and cargo airline pilots who on flights every 
day have volunteered their own time, expenses, and their welfare to 
complete what turned out to be a very rigorous Federal Flight Deck 
Officer program. In Congress, when we first thought about this, we 
thought about something more simple, just strapping an arm on, like 
they did during the 1960s when we had problems with hijacking of 
aircraft, and the guns were issued by the airlines. But this is a much 
more rigorous program. In fact, it is a week long and involves very 
intensive use of equipment, as Mr. Pearce described, and comprehensive 
training.
  What was interesting, when we started this, I was not a big fan of 
this approach; but I had thousands of pilots and their families and 
others, pilots in particular, who saw the gaps in our aviation security 
system after September 11 who came to us and said we need to do 
something to be able to defend our aircraft. So they stepped forward. 
They initiated this legislation.
  After the tragic attacks of September 11, Congress did authorize 
legislation. We started out, I remember, with Mr. Oberstar, Mr. 
DeFazio, and Mr. Young with a small demo project that was just going to 
include a few pilots. We brought it to the floor and the overwhelming 
sentiment was to open this to all pilots, which we did; and we later 
included even cargo pilots to be able to defend their aircraft and 
their passengers against acts of terrorism.
  So I am pleased that we have a history of not only the pilots being 
heroes and participating in the program but also initiating the 
program. And these courageous pilots are providing a significant 
deterrent against potential acts of violence against our skies.
  We saw the damage to our economy. The debate on the floor the week 
before the September 11 attacks was what we were going to do with the 
$120 billion Federal surplus, and we saw how terrorists can in fact 
affect our economy. But pilots stepped forward to help restore 
confidence in the security of our Nation's aviation system, and pilots 
are the people we are here to recognize with this resolution.
  These volunteer pilots devote personal time and finances to maintain 
a high standard of proficiency. If you think it is easy for them to 
participate, well, government never makes anything easy. We envisioned 
a small program, but we ended up with them moving out to Artesia, New 
Mexico; and it was probably a wise decision because we had some 
infrastructure and facilities.
  Now, a pilot goes at his or her own expense to Artesia. I went out 
there, and I took three flights. I remember flying, I think from 
Washington to Denver, from Denver to Albuquerque, and from Albuquerque 
to Roswell. Then Mr. Pearce got me in his car and drove me an hour to 
the south. I do not think you can put a Federal program any further or 
more remotely away. And God bless Mr. Pearce, who has one of these huge 
districts that transcends a great deal of New Mexico. But at the far 
end of that district is where we train these pilots.

  I was absolutely stunned at the thousands of pilots, both men and 
women, who have taken time and expense to go through this comprehensive 
training. Do you know that this year we will have more pilots trained 
and armed to defend their cockpit and also the passengers than we have 
Federal air marshals. Now, all that is a classified number, but I am 
telling you it is in the thousands. So terrorists and others who want 
to do harm, we have a line of defense that is unparalleled.
  This week, I saw the grades from the 9/11 Commission about aviation 
security. I want to tell you that the pilots who participate in this 
program deserve an A-plus, the pilots, men and women across this 
Nation, who have stepped up to this challenge.
  So this is a very sophisticated and successful program, and we are 
here to recognize those volunteers, again, who at their own time and 
expense have made this one of the best lines of defense for aviation 
security and security for our Nation and the traveling public.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page H11120]]

  Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this 
resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I simply want to say thank you to 
each and every one of the pilots, men and women, who have stepped 
forward to take a stand to defend the United States and to ensure that 
our traveling public is safe and that further harm does not come to 
aviation.
  One of the reasons we have changed the rules with TSA in screening 
passengers is because we have a system like this in place, and they 
have just announced that this week.

                              {time}  1100

  Mr. Speaker, I would say it is almost impossible to take over an 
aircraft the way the 9/11 terrorists did. We have armed pilots through 
this program. We have air marshals and secure cockpit doors. And then 
we have the traveling public who would never allow that to happen 
knowing what we know. So now we are changing the focus and these pilots 
through their efforts and this program have allowed us to look at 
additional risk such as explosive devices and other threats that we 
face. We know we are secure again through the efforts of the countless 
pilots we are honoring who have participated in our Federal Flight Deck 
Officer program.
  So again, on behalf of Chairman Young, who chairs our full committee 
and Mr. Lungren, Mr. King and Mr. Costello, and my other colleagues, I 
am pleased to present this resolution to adequately recognize those who 
have come forward and have helped make this a more secure Nation 
through the aviation industry.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I have not been a supporter of the Federal 
Flight Deck Officer program because I believe it creates safety 
problems which outweigh any security benefits. Without any disrespect 
for the individuals participating in the program, I rise to remind my 
colleagues that there is still a lot of work left to do to improve 
aviation security.
  On Monday, the 9/11 Commission released its Final Report on 
Commission Recommendations. The Commission gave aviation security low 
to failing grades ranging from ``C'' to ``F''.
  Three priority issues we must work expeditiously to address in the 
coming months include: suicide bombers at the checkpoint, checked 
baggage screening and screener staffing.


                            suicide bombers

  Probably the greatest threat facing aviation is the threat of a 
suicide bomber getting past airport checkpoint security. We know that 
we have vulnerabilities at passenger checkpoints, and we need to give 
our screeners the tools to get the job done.
  Earlier this year Department of Homeland Security Inspector General 
(DHS IG) released a report indicating that our airport screening system 
still needs improvement. Regarding the causes of poor screener 
performance, the DHS IG stated ``that significant improvement in 
performance may not be possible without greater use of technology.''
  While we have made some progress in recent months deploying 
checkpoint explosive detection machines like trace portals, the 9/11 
Commission report gives checkpoint explosive detection a grade of 
``C''. We can and must do better.


                        checked baggage security

  As to checked baggage screening, it is important to install in-line 
screening systems at large airports given both the increased security 
such systems provide as well as the cost benefits. In-line EDS systems 
promote greater security because they are not exposed to the public; 
screeners are able to focus on screening bags rather than moving them; 
and fewer people are congregated around machines in the public area.
  In addition to these benefits, in-line baggage screening systems have 
a much higher throughput than stand-alone systems. If we install in-
line systems, more bags will be screened by explosive detection systems 
instead of less reliable, alternative methods.
  TSA and airport operators rely on commitments in letters of intent 
(LOIs) for Federal assistance as their principal method for funding the 
modification of airport facilities to incorporate in-line baggage 
screening systems. To date, TSA has issued only 8 LOIs to cover the 
costs of installing systems at 9 airports.
  Earlier this year GAO reported that TSA has estimated that in-line 
baggage screening systems at the 9 airports that received LOI funding 
could save the Federal government $1.3 billion over 7 years. TSA 
further estimated that it could recover its initial investment of in-
line systems at these airports in just over 1 year.
  Moreover, TSA officials stated without in-line EDS technology, 27 
airports will not comply with the congressional mandate to screen all 
checked baggage using EDS or ETD.
  Yet despite the security benefits and savings that we would clearly 
gain from installing in-line EDS systems, this Congress has failed to 
provide sufficient funding to install in-line EDS at more than a few 
airports. We must fund the installation of in-line EDS systems.


                           screener staffing

  TSA's main mission is security. But the agency also has the 
responsibility to move passengers efficiently, so long as security is 
not compromised. In both of these missions, TSA has been handicapped by 
the ill-advised cap of 45,000 full time screeners imposed by the House 
Appropriations Committee over three years ago, and which is continued 
in the FY06 DHS Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-90). This cap was imposed 
without any basis for determining that 45,000 was the right number, and 
is both arbitrary and counterintuitive. Moreover, this cap does not 
provide TSA with flexibility that it needs to schedule screeners for 
training and other skill improvement activities, while continuing to 
adequately staff security checkpoints.
  To add insult to injury, the FY06 Appropriations provides only $2.4 
billion for Federal passenger and baggage screeners, which I am told is 
tantamount to 43,000 full time equivalent screeners--a decrease of 
2,000 screeners below the cap! Passenger enplanements in 2006 are 
expected to reach upwards of 750 million. Surely this anticipated 
increase in passenger traffic justifies fully funding TSA up to the 
45,000 cap!
  I urge my colleagues to support these needed improvements in aviation 
security.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaTourette). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. 
Res. 196.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

                          ____________________