[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20644]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          AIRLINE BAGGAGE SCREENERS SHOULD BE FEDERAL OFFICERS

  (Mr. DOGGETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, in addition to attempting to assure 
safeguards for the taxpayer, who has to foot the bill, one of my 
principal concerns in questioning the airline bailout was the need to 
at the same time address the security of passengers on our airlines. 
But even I could not imagine that we would still be here seven weeks 
after the disaster of September 11 without this House doing anything to 
address airline security.
  The other body acted with unanimity and in a bipartisan way and 
approved an approach to address and secure our airlines so that the 
people who are out there checking our baggage are not people who are 
paid less than the people that clean the bathroom at the airport or who 
bus the tables at the airport, as occurs right now. The people will be 
federal law enforcement officers.
  That is the kind of person we rely on to screen the baggage that 
comes into this building and into our own office buildings. We should 
demand no less for the American traveling public. It is time to move 
forward on airline security.

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