Cyclic Hotline
12th Oct 2001, 04:56
Senate bill would allow pilots to carry guns
By Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved a bill to strengthen aviation security -- including a provision that would allow pilots to carry guns -- as it tries to prevent a repeat of the September 11 attacks.
The measure would also require government employees to take over baggage screening and authorise the government to put an armed air marshal on every flight to prevent hijackers from taking over aircraft and using them as missiles, as they did on the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre.
An amendment to the bill allows pilots to carry guns if they have the right training and if the guns are approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, Texas Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, a said.
"It's been one month after the attack. We in the United States Senate are taking a major step in ensuring this kind of thing can never happen again," said Sen. John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who co-sponsored the bill along with South Carolina Democrat Sen. Ernest Hollings and Hutchison.
But it is far from certain that the measure will become law. In the House of Representatives, many Republicans are opposed to a government takeover of baggage screening. They are working on a bill but it has yet to be introduced.
Hutchison said the Senate action should wake up the House.
"I think the overwhelming vote in the Senate for this very solid bill will surely call on the House to either to take up our bill or take up their own," she said. "We understand there will be disagreements between the two bodies, but not to act at all is not the right approach."
DELAYED ACTION
The measure passed by the Senate requires that federal workers, rather than private employees, screen bags at the nation's largest 142 airports. Screeners at other airports could be federal, state, or local government employees.
All bags, including those that are checked, will have to be X-rayed under the measure, lawmakers said.
Hollings said the bill's price tag is up to $1.9 billion a year, with the airlines allowed to assess a charge of at least $2.50 per ticket to pay for it.
The Hollings-McCain measure had been stuck in the Senate for over a week while lawmakers haggled over the baggage screening and whether the bill should also help over 100,000 laid-off airline workers and upgrade rail service and safety.
In the end proposals to help displaced workers and Amtrak were forced to wait as senators decided it was more important to pass the airport safety provisions now.
Sen. Jean Carnahan, Democrat of Missouri, reluctantly withdrew her proposal to give benefits to laid-off airline workers in the face of Republican delaying tactics, but she vowed to reintroduce it at another date.
Sen. Joseph Biden, Democrat of Delaware, agreed to withdraw his amendment to beef up Amtrak after Hollings introduced legislation to help Amtrak as well as other passenger and freight rail operations with cash outlays and loan guarantees.
Congressional leaders had sought to craft a bill that could pass both chambers with White House approval, a feat achieved with other major legislation since the Sept. 11 attacks.
But in the end, the Senate went ahead with its version.
Aides said the Republican leadership in Transportation committee would introduce a bill either Friday or next week calling for a public-private partnership in screening, with federal managers setting standards for private screeners. This would be similar to a proposal by President George W. Bush.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta indicated last week that the administration was willing to compromise with the Senate on the bag screening issue. But some leading House Republicans, such as majority whip Rep. Tom Delay of Texas, have declared they do not intend to add some 18,000 bag screeners to the federal payroll.
Aides said Democrats were thinking about putting forward their own bill in the House -- which would probably embrace government-run baggage screening -- if bipartisanship failed.
By Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved a bill to strengthen aviation security -- including a provision that would allow pilots to carry guns -- as it tries to prevent a repeat of the September 11 attacks.
The measure would also require government employees to take over baggage screening and authorise the government to put an armed air marshal on every flight to prevent hijackers from taking over aircraft and using them as missiles, as they did on the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre.
An amendment to the bill allows pilots to carry guns if they have the right training and if the guns are approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, Texas Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, a said.
"It's been one month after the attack. We in the United States Senate are taking a major step in ensuring this kind of thing can never happen again," said Sen. John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who co-sponsored the bill along with South Carolina Democrat Sen. Ernest Hollings and Hutchison.
But it is far from certain that the measure will become law. In the House of Representatives, many Republicans are opposed to a government takeover of baggage screening. They are working on a bill but it has yet to be introduced.
Hutchison said the Senate action should wake up the House.
"I think the overwhelming vote in the Senate for this very solid bill will surely call on the House to either to take up our bill or take up their own," she said. "We understand there will be disagreements between the two bodies, but not to act at all is not the right approach."
DELAYED ACTION
The measure passed by the Senate requires that federal workers, rather than private employees, screen bags at the nation's largest 142 airports. Screeners at other airports could be federal, state, or local government employees.
All bags, including those that are checked, will have to be X-rayed under the measure, lawmakers said.
Hollings said the bill's price tag is up to $1.9 billion a year, with the airlines allowed to assess a charge of at least $2.50 per ticket to pay for it.
The Hollings-McCain measure had been stuck in the Senate for over a week while lawmakers haggled over the baggage screening and whether the bill should also help over 100,000 laid-off airline workers and upgrade rail service and safety.
In the end proposals to help displaced workers and Amtrak were forced to wait as senators decided it was more important to pass the airport safety provisions now.
Sen. Jean Carnahan, Democrat of Missouri, reluctantly withdrew her proposal to give benefits to laid-off airline workers in the face of Republican delaying tactics, but she vowed to reintroduce it at another date.
Sen. Joseph Biden, Democrat of Delaware, agreed to withdraw his amendment to beef up Amtrak after Hollings introduced legislation to help Amtrak as well as other passenger and freight rail operations with cash outlays and loan guarantees.
Congressional leaders had sought to craft a bill that could pass both chambers with White House approval, a feat achieved with other major legislation since the Sept. 11 attacks.
But in the end, the Senate went ahead with its version.
Aides said the Republican leadership in Transportation committee would introduce a bill either Friday or next week calling for a public-private partnership in screening, with federal managers setting standards for private screeners. This would be similar to a proposal by President George W. Bush.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta indicated last week that the administration was willing to compromise with the Senate on the bag screening issue. But some leading House Republicans, such as majority whip Rep. Tom Delay of Texas, have declared they do not intend to add some 18,000 bag screeners to the federal payroll.
Aides said Democrats were thinking about putting forward their own bill in the House -- which would probably embrace government-run baggage screening -- if bipartisanship failed.