Hal Rogers: “Mr. Chairman, we agree that 100 percent of all cargo on passenger planes should be screened. We are together on the…”

“Mr. Chairman, we agree that 100 percent of all cargo on passenger planes should be screened. We are together on the goal. It is just that we do not have the capability now. We cannot do it this year. It is going to take a little bit longer. The machinery does not exist, contrary to what the gentleman from Massachusetts says. That big box is too big for the machines that we check our bags through that x-rays packages. The machinery does not exist at this time. We have effective means in place at the moment to reduce the risk to acceptable levels without shutting down air cargo and bankrupting airlines, as this amendment would surely do. We are aggressively tackling this problem of cargo on passenger planes. This bill that we have before you requires at a minimum that the TSA double the percentage of air cargo screened, actually screened. We appropriate $118.5 million for air cargo security, which is $33.5 million above what we put in the bill last year for this and as requested by the President, including $75 million for developing screening technologies, the R&D to develop the machines that would accommodate palletized cargo on airlines and the larger packages; $10.5 million to hire an additional 100 air cargo inspectors; $20 million to make further enhancements to the known-shipper program and implement a new cargo rule; and $3 million to expand the canine teams deployed to inspect air cargo.”