[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20175]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     COMMERCIAL AIRLINE HIJACKINGS

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Madam President, I have been trying to find 
the appropriate wrinkle in this important debate on the Energy bill to 
share with the Senate something that I heard on the radio this morning 
that almost caused me to drive off the road.
  Given the fact that we have, over the last couple of weeks, just gone 
through and passed an important bill with regard to the Department of 
Homeland Defense, given the fact that former Senators Warren Rudman and 
Gary Hart have compiled a major report continuing to warn us that we 
are dangerously unprepared to prevent and respond to a catastrophic 
terrorist attack in the U.S., and given the fact that we are all, every 
day, reminded of the war on terror and how we are going to protect 
ourselves, something I heard on the radio this morning makes me wonder 
that we must not be listening.
  According to intelligence reports made public yesterday, terrorists 
may be plotting suicide missions by hijacking commercial airliners, 
most likely in the United States, but clearly it could be anywhere in 
the world. Such a plot is detailed in a memo from our own 
Transportation Security Administration. I want to quote from it:

       The plan may involve the use of five-man teams, each of 
     which would attempt to seize control of a commercial aircraft 
     either shortly after takeoff or shortly before landing at a 
     chosen airport. This type of operation would preclude the 
     need for flight-trained hijackers.

  Madam President, the threat that we face from terrorist organizations 
is still with us ever since we were rudely awakened on September 11. 
And interestingly, at the same time that we are informed of these 
potential new terrorist plots, the Transportation Security 
Administration, in a shocking disclosure that I heard on the radio 
today, reportedly intends to cancel air marshals on some of our most 
vulnerable commercial flights.
  And if that is not enough, they are reportedly also cutting back on 
the training for new air marshals. In the wake of these reports, the 
agency says it has every available air marshal deployed right now and 
additional resources are being directed to this critical program. I 
certainly hope so.
  The air marshal program was instituted as the front line of defense 
against would-be hijackers. Just knowing there is someone trained and 
armed who is usually sitting in the first-class section if somebody is 
trying to bust forward into the cockpit is a great comfort. What is the 
reasoning behind these reported cuts I heard on the radio that almost 
caused me to run off the road? It is that the Transportation Security 
Administration does not want to pay for the hotel rooms for the air 
marshals for overnight stays.
  What price do we pay for security? That is almost like saying, while 
we are at it, we are going to get rid of the x-ray machines in security 
lines at the airports because we want to save on electricity, which, of 
course, is a ridiculous argument.
  The Transportation Security Administration, according to the news 
reports, says it is trying to save $104 million. That might be a 
laudable goal, but I suggest we ought to start looking at the $8 
million program that has already been spent in the Pentagon that has 
recently come to the fore and has caused such a flap. That is the 
program that would allow people to gamble on on the likelihood of 
terrorist attacks and assassinations, on which we have all joined in 
mutual disgust--that there was such a program.
  Now having been denied that program, it will not continue, said the 
Deputy Secretary of Defense in testimony yesterday before the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee, and yet that was an $8 million program.
  I have been waiting all day to say--and I thank the Senators for 
their indulgence--that when it comes to the defense of our citizens, we 
cannot afford to cut corners. If we do, we will have forgotten the 
lessons of September 11. I hope the radio report I heard this morning 
that they are seriously considering cutting back on the air marshals 
program is not true. Clearly, let's not forget the lessons of September 
11.
  I thank the Chair.

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