Jay Inslee: “Basically, what we have seen is what happens when you try to do security on the cheap. And we have had this porous…”

“Basically, what we have seen is what happens when you try to do security on the cheap. And we have had this porous system, and I want to tell my colleagues how porous it is. I will read one thing, and perhaps the gentleman from Mississippi will want to comment on it. This is from the New York Times of October 12, a month after the tragedy. It says, ``The security company that was fined $1.2 million last year and put on probation for hiring convicted felons to screen passengers at Philadelphia National Airport has continued to hire screeners without checking whether they have criminal records, the United States attorney says. Prosecutors also said the company had failed to fire the felons it had already hired and lied to the government about the background checks it was supposed to be conducting.'' That is an experiment that we had when we did not have a federalized system of dealing with airline security. That has failed and we need to move forward. It is regrettable that the leadership of this Chamber has not allowed the majority will to fix this problem.”