[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12412]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   SUPPORT FOR LESS-THAN-LETHAL PROVISIONS OF ARMING PILOTS AGAINST 
                             TERRORISM ACT

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, today we will debate H.R. 4635, the Arming 
Pilots Against Terrorism Act. I urge my colleagues, of course, to 
support this; and I am especially pleased that Chairman Mica of the 
Subcommittee on Aviation has offered a manager's amendment that has a 
provision to give authority to flight deck crew to carry less-than-
lethal weapons.
  This sensible measure supports the National Institute of Justice's 
findings that less than lethal weapons may also play a role in flight 
security. The NIJ recently reported to the Subcommittee on Aviation 
that ``Electrical shock weapons show promise for use by the flight deck 
crew. However, substantial systematic testing in realistic settings of 
their effects is essential to ensure they will not damage or disable 
critical flight systems.''
  So, Mr. Speaker, in addition to firearms, we should expand and 
explore weapons alternatives that are available to pilots to defend 
their aircraft.

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