Political Quotes

“I thank the Presiding Officer. The elimination of the fees for checked bags is not a panacea. It is not going to solve this problem alone. But it will, along with other measures, help reduce lines that result from screening. I commend Admiral Neffenger for his very close and prompt attention to this matter and for a number of the initiatives he has taken. We heard about them in the Commerce Committee this morning. I also thank Secretary Johnson for supporting elimination of the fees for checked bags. I think his leadership will be important. There are a number of other initiatives that can and should be taken. There is automated equipment that can expedite the screening of those carry-on bags. The use of additional screeners is important. The number has been reduced over the last 3 years by about 5,800. The addition of another close to 800 will help compensate. But again, alone, none of these solutions will provide the answer. As far as the automated equipment is concerned, the cost for the 20 busiest airports is about $30 million--a pittance compared to the $3.8 billion in revenue the airlines make every year as a result of the fees for checked baggage. I will repeat that: $3.8 billion is going to airlines as a result of their purposefully charging for bags checked instead of carried on. Many of those bags that go through screening now wind up in the holds of those airplanes anyway because there isn't room for them on the plane, so they wind up being checked at the gate.…”