[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 156 (Wednesday, December 7, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H11127-H11128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         SECURING AIRCRAFT COCKPITS AGAINST LASERS ACT OF 2005

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 1400) to amend title 18, United States Code, to provide 
penalties for aiming laser pointers at airplanes, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 1400

       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 ``Securing Aircraft Cockpits 
     Against Lasers Act of 2005''.

     SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST AIMING A LASER POINTER AT AN 
                   AIRCRAFT.

       (a) Offense.--Chapter 2 of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 39. Aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft

       ``(a) Whoever knowingly aims the beam of a laser pointer at 
     an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the 
     United States, or at the flight path of such an aircraft, 
     shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 
     years, or both.
       ``(b) As used in this section, the term `laser pointer' 
     means any device designed or used to amplify electromagnetic 
     radiation by stimulated emission that emits a beam designed 
     to be used by the operator as a pointer or highlighter to 
     indicate, mark, or identify a specific position, place, item, 
     or object.''.
       (b) Amendment to Table of Sections.--The table of sections 
     at the beginning of chapter 2 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``39. Aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Scott) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1400 currently 
under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Wisconsin?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1400, the Securing 
Aircraft Cockpits Against Lasers Act of 2005.
  Over the past several years, there have been an increasing number of 
alarming reports to the Federal Aviation Administration concerning the 
aiming of lasers into airplane cockpits. Since 1990 the FAA reports 
there have been well over 400 incidents and more than 100 in the past 
year alone. It was not that long ago that there was a frenzy of media 
coverage surrounding these types of events. While the media coverage 
may have subsided, the threat has not.
  Laser pointers, while readily obtainable and relatively inexpensive, 
are not toys. In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration issued a 
warning to parents and school officials concerning handheld laser 
pointers. The FDA warning stated that ``the light energy that laser 
pointers can aim into the eye can be more damaging than staring 
directly at the sun.'' Federal law requires a warning on laser pointers 
about this potential hazard to the eyes, and that is 21 Code of Federal 
Regulations 1040.
  FAA research has shown that laser illuminations can temporarily 
disorient or disable a pilot, particularly during critical stages of 
flights such as landings and takeoffs. Direct laser exposure to the eye 
can even cause temporary blindness. In some cases these laser 
illuminations can cause permanent damage. In fact, just last year, a 
laser aimed into a Delta Airlines flight over Salt Lake City injured 
the eye of one of the plane's pilots. This type of interference, 
whether it is intentional effort to sabotage a plane or just a 
misguided prank, should not be tolerated because of the potential for 
catastrophe.

                              {time}  1145

  H.R. 1400 is a straightforward, commonsense measure aimed at 
deterring and prosecuting those who would willfully committ a senseless 
act of potential sabotage.
  The bill would impose criminal penalties upon any individual who 
knowingly aims a laser pointer at an aircraft within the special 
aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.
  These criminal penalties include fines of up to $250,000, and 
imprisonment of up to 5 years. The bill before us today includes an 
amendment proposed in mark-up offered by gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. 
Jackson-Lee).
  During committee consideration of the bill, the gentlewoman suggested 
that the bill include a definition for the term ``laser pointer.'' That 
definition has been added to the bill, and I thank the gentlewoman for 
her important contribution.
  Finally, I would like to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Keller), the author and lead proponent of H.R. 1400, for his leadership 
on this issue. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am a cosponsor of H.R. 1400, and I urge my colleagues 
to support it. The rash of incidents involving hand-held lasers have 
fueled a growing concern within the aviation industry. In fact, since 
November of November of 2004, airline pilots have reported over 100 
incidents of lasers being aimed into their cockpits.
  The potential harmful effects of such lasers is quite serious. The 
FAA research has shown that even some low-level lasers can temporarily 
disable and disorient a pilot during critical stages of flight. 
Needless to say, the results could be devastating.
  Although I have some concern that when the bill is applied, it will 
likely involve some stupid or misguided young person fooling around 
with a laser beam, we all realize that the conduct the bill prohibits 
can be very dangerous, whether done by a fool or by a terrorist. So it 
must be strongly discouraged.
  Since the bill does not have mandatory minimum sentencing, the 
Sentencing Commission and the courts can apply the appropriate 
punishment for violators based on specific facts and circumstances of 
the case.
  After this bill is passed, as a further precautionary step, perhaps 
the appropriate committee of jurisdiction could also consider requiring 
manufactures of laser products to issue strong notices and warnings on 
lasers and packaging alerting them to the provisions of this law so 
that all will be on notice.
  But for now I think this bill is an appropriate step for Congress to 
address this potentially disastrous problem. Mr. Speaker, I support the 
bill and urge my colleagues to do the same.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Keller).
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, aiming a laser beam into the cockpit of an airplane is a 
clear and present danger to the safety of all of those on board the 
aircraft. It is only a matter of time before one of

[[Page H11128]]

these laser beam pranksters ends up killing over 200 people in a 
commercial airline crash.
  These easily available pen-sized laser pointers, like the one I 
purchased here at the office supply here in the House of 
Representatives for $12, have enough power to cause vision problems in 
pilots from a distance of up to 2 miles.
  This legislation is simple, straightforward and common sense. It 
makes it illegal to knowingly aim a laser pointer at an aircraft. Those 
who intentionally engage in such misconduct shall be fined or 
imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both, in the discretion of the 
judge.
  Significantly, 100 percent of the Democrats and Republicans on the 
Judiciary Committee voted in favor of this legislation and it enjoys 
wide bipartisan support.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored that the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Scott) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble), the ranking 
member and chairman respectively of the Crime Subcommittee, are the 
cosponsors of this legislation.
  A recent rash of incidents involving lasers aimed at aircraft 
cockpits have raised concerns by pilots and law enforcement officials 
over the potential threat to aviation safety and security. The problem 
is more widespread than one might initially think.
  According to the Congressional Research Service and the Federal 
Aviation Administration, there have been over 400 incidents reported 
since 1990 where pilots have been disoriented or temporarily blinded by 
laser exposure.
  So far none of the 400 incidents involving flight crew exposures to 
lasers have been linked to terrorism. Rather, it is often a case of 
pranksters making stupid choices to put pilots and their passengers at 
risk of dying.
  Let me give you just one real-life example of what it is like to be 
in an aircraft cockpit hit by a laser beam. In September of this year, 
I spoke with Lieutenant Barry Smith from my hometown of Orlando, 
Florida, who was actually in the cockpit of a helicopter that was hit 
by a laser beam.
  Lieutenant Smith is with the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. He and 
his partner were in a police helicopter searching for burglary suspects 
at night in a suburb of Orlando when a red laser beam hit their 
aircraft twice. Lieutenant Smith said the Plexiglass windshield of the 
helicopter spread out the light to be the size of about a basketball. 
It shocked them.
  They were flying near a large tower with a red light, and they 
mistakenly thought that they had flown too close to the tower. They 
were disoriented and they immediately jerked the helicopter back. When 
they realized that they were not actually near the tower, Lieutenant 
Smith began to worry that the light could have come from a laser sight 
on a rifle. He wondered if they were about to be shot out of the sky. 
He told me, ``It scared the heck out of us.''
  In reality, it was just a 31-year-old man with a small pen-sized 
laser light standing in his backyard. Unfortunately, there are over 400 
other stories just like this one where laser beam pranksters nearly 
caused fatal aviation crashes.
  Surprisingly there are currently no Federal statutes on the books 
making it illegal to shine a laser beam into an aircraft cockpit unless 
one attempts to use the PATRIOT Act to claim that the action was a 
terrorist attack or other attack of violence, intentional, against a 
mass transportation system.
  On February 17, 2006, a Federal judge in Newark, New Jersey, will 
sentence a New Jersey man who pled guilty last month to shining a hand-
held laser at two aircrafts back in December of 2004. The defense 
attorneys for the defendant, Mr. David Banach, argued that the PATRIOT 
Act was supposed to be used against terrorists.
  The Federal prosecutors acknowledged that Mr. Banach is not a 
terrorist, but they said they had no other choice but to use the 
PATRIOT Act since no other Federal law applied.
  Clearly, this legislation before us is needed to clarify the law and 
make it crystal clear that we will not tolerate either pranksters or 
terrorists who jeopardize the safety of pilots and passengers by aiming 
laser beams into the cockpits of aircrafts.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote yes on H.R. 1400.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to thank the gentleman from Florida and 
the gentleman from Wisconsin for bringing this bill forward. It makes 
it clear that endangering pilots and passengers with laser beams is 
illegal.
  Whatever the law may be, this will make it absolutely clear. I would 
hope that the House will pass the bill so that the pilots and 
passengers can be protected.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bishop of Utah). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) that 
the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1400, as amended.
  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. SENSENBRENNER. 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.

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