[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 22597]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       THE AVIATION SECURITY BILL

  (Mr. CROWLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, over the last 2 months we have seen reports 
of knives, guns, mace, and stun guns slip past keystone cop security 
guards at our Nation's airports, and still the GOP defends the third-
rate rent-a-cops at our airports.
  Two days ago, one of the airport screeners at Logan Airport in Boston 
who was tasked with protecting the traveling public left her checkpoint 
unattended for 4 minutes while passengers gained unfettered access to 
the gate area.
  There have been over 90 breaches of security since September 11. In 
the words of our colleague from Ohio, ``Beam us all up. Have we totally 
lost it? Have we learned nothing from the events of September 11?'' I 
find it incredible that negotiation for this bill have dragged on this 
long.
  There is no compromise when it comes to the security of our aviation 
system. The status quo has failed us, and continues to fail us every 
day. We must do away with private security firms at these checkpoints 
and implement the federalization of our airport security apparatus 
immediately.
  This country has suffered enough, and we have an obligation to 
protect each and every one of our citizens. We must do that today.

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