John Mica: “in closing, I simply want to say thank you to each and every one of the pilots, men and women, who have stepped forward…”

“in closing, I simply want to say thank you to each and every one of the pilots, men and women, who have stepped forward to take a stand to defend the United States and to ensure that our traveling public is safe and that further harm does not come to aviation. One of the reasons we have changed the rules with TSA in screening passengers is because we have a system like this in place, and they have just announced that this week. {time} 1100 Mr. Speaker, I would say it is almost impossible to take over an aircraft the way the 9/11 terrorists did. We have armed pilots through this program. We have air marshals and secure cockpit doors. And then we have the traveling public who would never allow that to happen knowing what we know. So now we are changing the focus and these pilots through their efforts and this program have allowed us to look at additional risk such as explosive devices and other threats that we face. We know we are secure again through the efforts of the countless pilots we are honoring who have participated in our Federal Flight Deck Officer program. So again, on behalf of Chairman Young, who chairs our full committee and Mr. Lungren, Mr. King and Mr. Costello, and my other colleagues, I am pleased to present this resolution to adequately recognize those who have come forward and have helped make this a more secure Nation through the aviation industry.”