Chuck Schumer: “my amendment addresses the issues of air cargo security and how we need to be doing much more to protect our Nation's…”

“my amendment addresses the issues of air cargo security and how we need to be doing much more to protect our Nation's skies. Right now, TSA security procedures leave a staggering 95 percent of cargo on passenger and all-cargo flights unscreened. In addition, TSA security regulations are voluntary and go unenforced. My amendment provides a total of $302 million for fiscal year 2006 to improve air cargo security. We all know not only are there planes that carry cargo exclusively but most commercial flights have cargo in the belly of their plane. I ask a rhetorical question: What good does it do to make sure all of the passengers onboard the plane are screened so that there are no explosives or any other weapons, yet allow cargo that would ride in the belly of the plane to not be screened 19 out of 20 times, thus keeping every passenger on that plane, as well as the pilots and everyone else, at risk? The answer is obvious. It makes no sense. For all the money we have put into passenger screening, we are leaving a gaping hole alongside, and that is cargo screening. While passenger screening has, indeed, improved rather significantly--anyone who goes to any airport in this country knows that--cargo security has not.…”