Political Quotes

“it is interesting to see, because in 1977 Senators Abe Ribicoff and Jake Javits presented language mandating the introduction of explosive tagging over a period of time. During consideration of the bill, the National Rifle Association--who somebody has just said is for taggants--opposed the inclusion in the program of black and smokeless powders used by some hunters to hand-load antique rifles. The National Rifle Association was successful at the committee level at deleting the requirement that these powders be tagged. Nonetheless, the requirement that other types of explosives be tagged was left intact. The bill never reached the Senate floor. In the 96th Congress, the antiterrorism legislation was reintroduced with provisions for gradually phasing in identification tagging over a 22-year period. The legislation was considered in the House by the Aviation Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee. It was supported by the Airline Pilots Association and the Airline Transport Association. The House Members and Glenn Anderson, the subcommittee chair, wanted to wait for action on the subject in the Senate before taking the issue up in the House. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee marked it up on May 7, 1979. The only controversial aspect of this Omnibus Antiterrorism Act, Senate bill 333, was explosive tagging.”