On the recordNovember 16, 2001
I will pledge to my colleagues in this Senate and also to the flying public that I will do everything I can to make it work because we have spoken. If we really wanted to maximize security at airport facilities across the Nation, we took a wrong turn in this bill. I offered an amendment to allow the bright line of accountability, authority, and responsibility of jurisdiction of enforcement of those laws to reside with the Department of Justice. When I offered that amendment, it was immediately accepted by a voice vote. No debate was held on that part of the bill. As we consider this legislation, I ask the question: Whom are we trying to protect? I will tell you whom we protect more than anything else. We protect Government jobs. We are building up a bureaucracy within the Department of Transportation to which even the Congressional Budget Office cannot put a figure. We do not know what this is going to cost yet.
Source
govinfo.gov
