[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 20465]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    FEDERALIZE AIRPORT SECURITY NOW

  (Mr. MEEHAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, my district in Massachusetts has been very 
hard hit by the events of September 11. Twenty-eight families in my 
district have been devastated, with 28 victims who were on flights, a 
vast majority of them, on American and United Airlines.
  As I met with families who have been devastated, overwhelmingly they 
say to me, if you do nothing else, please make airports and airplanes 
in this country safe. If you do nothing else. Overwhelmingly they say 
to me, federalize security at the airports. They say to me, we noticed 
the other body voted 100 to nothing to federalize airport security. Why 
can the House of Representatives not do the same?
  I do not have an answer for those families. Apparently, there is 
somebody on the other side of the aisle that does not want to 
federalize security at airports.
  On behalf of the families who have been devastated in my district, I 
urge the leadership of this House to bring that airport security bill 
down to the floor of the House of Representatives that passed 100 to 
nothing in the other body. Let us get it done this week.

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