[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3827]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             O'HARE AIRPORT

  (Mr. KIRK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, the security at O'Hare Airport is not what it 
should be. Reports over the weekend showed 3,700 security badges have 
not been returned from former employees no longer allowed to work at 
the airfield. Many of the badges had not been canceled and would permit 
anyone access to an aircraft.
  According to CBS TV, several of the employees involved had previous 
arrest records and convictions for nonmajor crimes. Reports also 
indicated that several doors at O'Hare did not even have ID scanners, 
allowing anyone who appeared to be official to enter the airfield.
  The Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security 
Agency and Federal law enforcement officers that I have met with have 
all promised action. While they can levy fines on the contractors 
involved, the penalties should be increased.
  Later this month, I will introduce legislation levying a fine of 
$10,000 per day for an airport security badge that is not canceled for 
an employee that was fired. That should get their attention and help 
make the world's busiest airport more secure.

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