Ehrlich on Washington column, November 4, 2001

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional Districl of Maryland 1 407 York Rood, Sort* 304 LurttorvilU, Morylond 21093 315 Cannon Hot»* Offic* Building Washington, D.C 205 1 5 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of November 4, 200 1 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Congress Heeds President’s Call for Immediate, Effective Law Enforcement at America’s Airports As aviation officials work to secure America’s airports from future terrorist attacks, the security flaws in the current airport security system continue to be exposed. Just two weeks ago, a man passed through security at a New Orleans airport and boarded a flight while inadvertently carrying a loaded gun in his briefcase. Only a week later, another man passed through a metal detector in an Atlanta airport and realized before boarding that he had a pistol in his jacket pocket. Fortunately, no ill-will was intended in either instance and both men notified security immediately to resolve the potentially dangerous situation. Nevertheless, each instance reinforces President Bush’s call for an immediate crackdown on airline security procedures at our nation’s airports. Republicans in Congress have heeded that call by introducing HR. 3150, The Secure Transportation or American Act of 2001. This tough, commonsense bill, which was adopted by the House of Representatives by a bipartisan 286-189 vote last week, proposes major reforms to protect airline passengers and crew. First, H.R. 3150 takes airline carriers out of the airline security screening process and places the federal government in firm control of screening procedures and employees. It also requires that a law enforcement or military official be present at every screening checkpoint in the nation’s largest airports. In addition, H.R. 3150 deploys a force of highly-skilled and motivated Sky Marshals on commercial flights, and allows individual airlines to determine whether their pilots should carry firearms, provided those pilots are licensed and trained to carry a firearm. Finally, this bill directs the government to issue orders on how best to reinforce cockpit doors, making them virtually impenetrable to attack.