Kay Bailey Hutchison: “On September 11, the terrorists found loopholes in our homeland security. Four airplanes were used as weapons of mass…”

“On September 11, the terrorists found loopholes in our homeland security. Four airplanes were used as weapons of mass destruction, something we had never seen in our country. Now, 2 months later, we are closing these loopholes in our homeland security. The bill we are passing today will close the loopholes in aviation security so the people of our country, when they get on an airplane, will know every conceivable means of securing that aircraft are being utilized. The bill before us today will create a comprehensive Federal system. There will be Federal screeners. There will be Federal supervisors who are armed law enforcement personnel. There will be a Federal person in charge of every airport in our country to look at the safety system, to make sure it works. After a 2-year period, we will then have the option for other types of security to be offered by an airport and approved by the Secretary. So there can be private screeners or local law enforcement people working in a security system with the approval of the Under Secretary. We will have a pilot program in each of the five major category airports: Category X, categories 1, 2, 3, and 4, that will be all privatized so we can test that system to see if it works. Then, after 2 years of the federalized system, perhaps there will be airports that would prefer to have some privatization. Another element of this bill that closes a loophole is that every checked bag will also be required to be screened.”