E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 107th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 147 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2001 No. 149 House of Representatives SECURE TRANSPORTATION FOR But my main goal was to have the best very deeply in the idea of security. If AMERICA ACT OF 2001 security bill for our people. I believe we do not pass this bill today of mine The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. my bill does that. It is not perfect, but and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. THORNBERRY). Pursuant to House Reso- I can tell my colleagues the Senate bill MICA), we are doing a great disservice lution 274 and rule XVIII, the Chair de- is nowhere as near as my bill. to the American people, because they clares the House in the Committee of If my colleagues vote for the sub- will go to the airport and say, oh, my the Whole House on the State of the stitute, which some of my colleagues God, we are now safe because we have Union for the consideration of the bill, are planning on doing, they are not passed a bill, and in reality there is no H.R. 3150. going to have a conference. That has safety in the substitute. already been decided. It will be on the Mr. Chairman, it disturbs me how 1335 b President’s desk, and the American this thing got so far out of hand that IN THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE people will be told by certain people we cannot solve the problem correctly. Accordingly, the House resolved that they will be secure in their air- We must go to conference. We can solve itself into the Committee of the Whole ports, but we will have the exact same it in conference where the problems are House on the State of the Union for the system that is in place right now, different, but if we do not go to con- consideration of the bill (H.R. 3150) to which has failed miserably. All of my ference, we have nothing and we have improve aviation security, and for colleagues know that. kidded the public. I am not about to, other purposes, with Mr. HASTINGS of This has become a political football, and I was accused today of not being a Washington in the chair. and I stayed out of that, because I want statesman because I said I probably The Clerk read the title of the bill. the best security for the people of will not review this issue again because The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the America. my colleagues have made the decision rule, the bill is considered as having I want to thank the gentleman from if I lose that they have a safe bill and been read the first time. Florida (Mr. MICA), who has done an the people of America are safe. I can Under the rule, the gentleman from outstanding job, and the staff has done tell my colleagues from the bottom of Alaska (Mr. YOUNG) and the gentleman a good job on this issue and, yes, the my heart, my colleagues know they are from Minnesota (Mr. OBERSTAR) each President of the United States. All he not, and I will not be a part of kidding will control 30 minutes. is asking us to do and what my bill the American public about how secure The Chair recognizes the gentleman does is give him some flexibility. My they will be if we adopt the substitute. from Alaska (Mr. YOUNG). bill does not federalize, it does not na- We have to accept the Young-Mica bill Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Chair- tionalize, it is not a total requirement. for the best for the people of America. man, I yield myself such time as I may But it is a brand new era, a time where Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. consume. we need good security. In all good con- 3150, the Secure Transportation for America (Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was science, there is no way that a sub- Act of 2001. given permission to revise and extend stitute is going to be offered that I H.R. 3150 is the result of a great deal of his remarks.) could even vote for that legislation, be- hard work by our aviation subcommittee and Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Chair- cause we are kidding the American its chairman, JOHN MICA. man, I have a long prepared statement public. which I will submit for the RECORD, but The Senate keeps referring to a 100 to I want to take this opportunity to express my I would ask my colleagues today to zero vote. I have had Senate Democrats appreciation for his efforts and the hard work think about this legislation very and Republicans come to me and say, of the aviation subcommittee on this issue. strongly. I have talked privately with my God, we have to go to conference. Chairman MICA and the members of the the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. And I have had a few people say to me, aviation subcommittee held hearings and con- OBERSTAR) and the gentleman from Il- we will have to straighten this out ducted extensive research to find out which linois (Mr. LIPINSKI), and they say that later on. That is not good legislation. system of security would work best for our the bill that they are proposing does This is the House of the people, not the aviation transportation needs. not do the job. That tells me one thing: Senate. To have to accept a Senate bill The American people have every right to be the bill that they are promoting does to me is deplorable. It is beneath us. It concerned and worried about the inadequate not do the job, and this bill does. is the wrong thing to do. level of security provided at our airports. We worked very closely to get a bill I do not believe there is a fairer per- This bill will dramatically increase the level and came very nearly to having a bill. son in this Congress than myself work- of security and will dramatically change the Some people did not see it that way. ing with each individual. My heart is way the system has operated at our airports. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H7631 . VerDate 13-OCT-2001 18:03 Nov 02, 2001 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 9920 E:\CR\FM\K01NO7.090 pfrm01 PsN: H01PT2 H7632 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE November 1, 2001 Under the current system, the airlines hire The real issue is giving the President the (9) Undertake research to improve secu- the security screeners at the airports using low flexibility and the money to get the job done. rity. cost, low bid security companies. I also want to make it clear that this issue (10) Inspect, maintain, and test security The airlines in the past have worked to re- is not about whether screeners will be union- equipment. (11) Ensure that adequate security is pro- duce their costs by driving down the cost of ized. vided for the transportation of cargo, includ- airline security. Unfortunately, this has resulted They are unionized now and under my bill ing cargo as defined in section 40102(a)(12). in a low paid, poorly trained and poorly moti- can continue to be members of union and to (12) Oversee the security at airports and vated workforce. bargain collectively. However, they cannot go other transportation facilities. I want to make it abundantly clear. This bill on strike under my bill. (13) Perform background checks on screen- changes all of that. H.R. 3150, the Secure Transportation for ers and those who work at airports. Low paid, poorly trained and poorly moti- America Act, addresses all these security (14) Develop standards for the hiring and vated screeners in charge of our nation’s air issues to achieve a workable system that pro- firing of screeners. security is simply unacceptable. (15) Train and test screeners. vides for real security as quickly as possible. (16) Carry out other duties and powers au- Under our bill, H.R. 3150, the federal gov- I urge support of H.R. 3150, which is to thorized by law. ernment will take over the job of screening bring real security to the traveling public in as Subsection (f) gives the Under Secretary passengers and their baggage at our airports. short a period of time as possible. the same powers to acquire and maintain It will become a federal government respon- SECTION-BY-SECTION SUMMARY—SECURE property as the FAA. sibility. TRANSPORTATION FOR AMERICA ACT OF Subsection (g) allows the Under Secretary Where we differ with some of our col- 2001—H.R. 3150 to accept transfers of funds. leagues is how do we best achieve the goal Section 1 is the short title. Subsection (h) allows the Under Secretary, of a truly secure federally controlled aviation if the situation warrants, to issue a security SECTION 2—TRANSPORTATION SECURITY rule on an expedited basis without Secre- screening process. ADMINISTRATION We do it by insuring that it is the federal tarial or OMB review and without notice and Subsection (a) adds a new section 114 to comment as would otherwise be required by government that will set the compensation for Chapter 1 of title 49 of the U.S.