[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 20015]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    A CALL TO FEDERALIZE AIRPORT SECURITY TO ASSURE AIRCRAFT SAFETY

  (Mr. STRICKLAND asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to the previous 
speaker, it is true that 90 percent of the luggage that goes into the 
belly of our aircraft are not screened for explosive devices. If my 
friend, the gentleman from Texas, would like to challenge that 
statement, I will relinquish the remainder of my 1-minute so he can do 
so.
  A message from the heartland: The Columbus Dispatch wrote yesterday: 
``How much more evidence do House Republicans need to convince them 
that only a top notch security force, paid by the taxpayer and not 
hired by low-bid contractors, will make the airlines as safe as 
possible? A bill passed by the Senate and pending in the House would 
federalize airport security. The House should stop playing politics 
with this essential legislation and pass it.''
  Mr. Speaker, airline travel may be marginally safer now than it was 
before September 11, but it is still not as safe as it ought to be or 
as safe as we can make it. This House should pass airline safety so 
that when Americans and their families get on our airlines, they can 
have confidence that there is not a bomb within the belly of that 
airplane.
  Until we pass this legislation, we can never have that confidence.

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