David Thomas: “I want to discuss for a little bit the airline issue. I thank my friend from Arizona for the work he has done on this…”

“I want to discuss for a little bit the airline issue. I thank my friend from Arizona for the work he has done on this issue. Certainly, security in flying is an issue on which all of us want to move forward. So this is not a failure to act. Some people have said we are holding it up, it is slow, and so on. I do not think that is the case at all. I think what is the case is that this is a very important issue. This is an issue that could be done in several ways. I think there is a legitimate effort to try to ensure that we think it through enough to come up with a process that would most likely achieve the goals that we have; that is, of course, safety and security on airlines. There are a number of different issues that need to be talked about, but I do not think there is a soul in this body who does not want to move forward on airline security. It is the security issue of the moment. There needs to be some major changes in the process. We have had security for some time. We have a higher security level now, I believe, than we did before September 11. I happen to have been in Wyoming three times since then and have found that there is security. There are armed people in Dulles, for example--more security. Is it enough? Probably not. We probably need to do it better and more professionally. And that is what this is all about. But I do want to make the point that I think you will see airline passenger numbers going up.”