James Oberstar: “Mr. Speaker, on Christmas Eve 1988, nearly Christmas Eve, the world of aviation as we know it changed. People had felt…”

“Mr. Speaker, on Christmas Eve 1988, nearly Christmas Eve, the world of aviation as we know it changed. People had felt secure against skyjackings from the time in the late 1960's when we were experiencing one skyjacking every 2 weeks. Then the United States required the installation of metal detectors and x-ray machines at major airports to screen passengers and their carry-on baggage and skyjackings dropped off the horizon as a threat to aviation in the domestic United States. But with the devastation of Pan Am 103, in which 270 people died, people from 21 countries besides the United States, the world of aviation changed. The new threat was terrorist acts against the flag of the United States. In the aftermath of Pan Am 103 a commission was created by this Congress, in cooperation with the Bush administration, to look into the causes and recommend actions to be taken to make aviation more secure. We have in place a strong law to protect against terrorist actions. We must understand that we are operating now in a world in which aviation is the target of State-sponsored terrorism, and the American flag and American air carriers and American passengers are its targets. Mr. Speaker, we must enact strong legislation.”