[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 22213]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                            AIRPORT SECURITY

  Mr. DODD. Madam President, I commend my colleague from Florida for a 
very excellent statement regarding airport security. As many colleagues 
here, over the weekend, I, too, traveled and met with some airport 
administrators and officials. Regardless of where you are in the 
country, the message is the same. These are people who don't 
particularly wear any labels of Democrat or Republican, Conservative or 
Liberal, whatever those labels may mean to some, but to most Americans 
out there, the issue of being more secure on something as fundamental 
as air travel is basic.
  They don't understand why the Republican House leadership has refused 
to join the 100 Members of this body and the overwhelming majority of 
people involved in the airline industry in getting federalization of 
these workers and making airports as secure as possible.
  I served in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic and many people 
were going back home there on that flight yesterday. One young man 
served in the Navy, and he just received his leave and was going back 
to visit his parents from the Dominican Republic. Another woman who 
escaped the World Trade Center tragedy lost her life on the flight 
yesterday.
  Obviously, we don't make any equation of terrorist acts to what 
happened yesterday upon the preliminary information. But it heightens 
the security that people want to have in air travel. We call, again 
today, on the Republican leadership in the House to change their minds 
and adopt the bill embraced to this body 100-0 and offer the public the 
security they deserve.
  The Senator from Florida made an excellent point.

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