[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 21224-21225]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                            AIRPORT SECURITY

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to talk a little bit about this 
airport security issue, because it seems that the Democrat Party, in a 
split from the presidency and the nonpartisan spirit that we have been 
having in Washington, is hung up on trying to unionize and create a new 
Federal bureaucracy in the name of airport security.
  There are pros and cons with that. We all know that. There are good 
employees and bad employees that are with the unions. It is a little 
more difficult to work with. But the issue is not creating a new 
government bureaucracy, the issue is protecting my children, my family, 
my loved ones, and your business associates and loved ones, when they 
travel.
  I believe we need to do what is best for airport security and not 
what is

[[Page 21225]]

best for a particular political party. I support the President's plan. 
The President's plan calls for strict Federal Government oversight on 
hiring and background checks, but it does not just stop at the gate; it 
says who is going to work on the plane. What about the maintenance 
people who clean the plane? What about the people who have access to 
the parts of the airplane in the airport itself? It is a much broader 
approach to airport security.
  Mr. Speaker, this debate is about security, not about new government 
bureaucracies. I support the President's position. I hope that the 
Democrats will come on board and do so as well.

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