Warlady
11-01-2001, 07:30 PM
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House rejected a plan Thursday to turn airport screening operations over to federal employees, handing a major victory to the White House and its Republican allies.
The 218-214 vote to defeat the Senate-passed, Democratic-backed alternative set the stage for passing a GOP aviation security bill that would allow screening to be contracted out to private employers. A vote on the Republican bill was to come later Thursday evening.
The House action could delay for weeks enacting a wide-ranging package of new security measures aimed at restoring Americans' confidence in flying after terrorists hijacked four airliners Sept. 11 and turned them into weapons of mass destruction. Lawmakers now face the task of trying to find a compromise with the Senate, which voted 100-0 three weeks ago to pass the measure making screeners federal employees.
``My greatest fear is that if it goes to a conference, it never comes out,'' House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt said earlier Thursday.
President Bush (news - web sites) met GOP lawmakers Thursday morning and made calls throughout the day trying to win over the last undecided members. ``I want every mom and dad who gets on an airplane to feel safe,'' he said. In the end, eight Republicans voted for the Senate bill while six Democrats voted against it.
The Republican bill puts the government in control of the training and supervision of airport baggage screeners but allows the president to decide whether screeners should be public servants or private employees.
GOP conservatives strongly resisted the formation of a new federal work force of some 28,000 people. Rep. John Mica (news - bio - voting record), R-Fla., a chief sponsor of the Republican bill, said he was determined not to ``create the biggest bureaucracy in the history of a generation.''
Democrats asserted that the current system, in which airlines contract out security functions to private companies, has failed to provide air travelers with adequate security and that screening must become a law enforcement operation.
``Do you want to contract out the Capitol Police?'' Gephardt asked his colleagues. ``Do you want to contract out the U.S. Marines? If it is good enough for us, it is good enough for the American people.''
Both bills require more air marshals on commercial flights as well as secure cockpit doors. They would expand anti-hijacking training for crews and move toward inspecting all checked bags and matching passengers and bags.
Had the Democratic bill passed, it would have gone directly to the president for his signature. With passage of the Republican bill, the measure must next go to a House-Senate conference for what could be a difficult attempt to resolve differences.
Click to read the rest (http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011101/ts/aviation_security_3.html)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House rejected a plan Thursday to turn airport screening operations over to federal employees, handing a major victory to the White House and its Republican allies.
The 218-214 vote to defeat the Senate-passed, Democratic-backed alternative set the stage for passing a GOP aviation security bill that would allow screening to be contracted out to private employers. A vote on the Republican bill was to come later Thursday evening.
The House action could delay for weeks enacting a wide-ranging package of new security measures aimed at restoring Americans' confidence in flying after terrorists hijacked four airliners Sept. 11 and turned them into weapons of mass destruction. Lawmakers now face the task of trying to find a compromise with the Senate, which voted 100-0 three weeks ago to pass the measure making screeners federal employees.
``My greatest fear is that if it goes to a conference, it never comes out,'' House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt said earlier Thursday.
President Bush (news - web sites) met GOP lawmakers Thursday morning and made calls throughout the day trying to win over the last undecided members. ``I want every mom and dad who gets on an airplane to feel safe,'' he said. In the end, eight Republicans voted for the Senate bill while six Democrats voted against it.
The Republican bill puts the government in control of the training and supervision of airport baggage screeners but allows the president to decide whether screeners should be public servants or private employees.
GOP conservatives strongly resisted the formation of a new federal work force of some 28,000 people. Rep. John Mica (news - bio - voting record), R-Fla., a chief sponsor of the Republican bill, said he was determined not to ``create the biggest bureaucracy in the history of a generation.''
Democrats asserted that the current system, in which airlines contract out security functions to private companies, has failed to provide air travelers with adequate security and that screening must become a law enforcement operation.
``Do you want to contract out the Capitol Police?'' Gephardt asked his colleagues. ``Do you want to contract out the U.S. Marines? If it is good enough for us, it is good enough for the American people.''
Both bills require more air marshals on commercial flights as well as secure cockpit doors. They would expand anti-hijacking training for crews and move toward inspecting all checked bags and matching passengers and bags.
Had the Democratic bill passed, it would have gone directly to the president for his signature. With passage of the Republican bill, the measure must next go to a House-Senate conference for what could be a difficult attempt to resolve differences.
Click to read the rest (http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011101/ts/aviation_security_3.html)