March 6 2002 7:30pm - Remarks For The Honorable Norman Y. Mineta Secretary Of Transportation Travel And Tourism Industry Unity Dinner

Thank you for those kind words Bill. I'm happy to be here tonight with the Travel Industry Association of America at your Unity Dinner.

You and your organization have been great partners of the Department of Transportation particularly since the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11th.

Those attacks on our nation were six months ago on Monday. Six months.

That's right. It was just about six months ago when terrorists tried to pull this country apart. Six months ago we were a nation in shock then a nation in mourning.

But today we stand together - unified.

Unified in our desire to build a better stronger more alert more caring nation than in the days before. Unified in the face we show those who would attack us.

It is important that we do our best to follow President Bush's call to bring our nation back to "business as usual" - back to a "new normalcy."

How do we do that?

First we strengthen our resolve and do everything possible to safeguard against future terrorist attacks.

It is important that we show the American public that we are serious about making our country safe about preserving our freedoms - including the freedom to travel throughout this nation and beyond.

To do this we in the Bush Administration worked with Congress to pass the airline industry stabilization plan a bill that quickly earmarked $15 billion for the airline industry so they could stay in business.

To date my department has dispersed $4 billion of the $5 billion available for grants to more than 300 airlines. Of the $10 billion available for loans the Air Transportation Stabilization Board has approved one loan and is considering three more applications.

Next lawmakers passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 establishing the Transportation Security Administration or the TSA within the Department of Transportation.

This agency which is the largest created from scratch since World War II is charged with keeping all forms of U.S. transportation safe. That means they are watching our highways railways waterways and runways - the lifelines of tourism.

It is headed by Under Secretary John W. Magaw former director of both the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.

Most recently on February 17 TSA took over responsibility for all airport screening security personnel. By November we should have all civilian airport security personnel on board as federal employees.

Our last mandated deadline will be in December when we will have all checked luggage screened by bomb detection machines.

In addition to what the law required Under Secretary Magaw and I are working together to develop additional layers of security.

For example:

TSA is studying security procedures and processes at 15 selected U.S. airports. The result of the studies will be used to improve security at all 429 U.S. airports with commercial service. Baltimore Washington International Airport currently serves as a case study for security best-practices.

TSA has implemented a number of changes to passenger screening such as providing chairs and shoehorns for passengers whose shoes are inspected. We also have instituted policies to ensure that passenger pat-down searches are administered by a screener of the same gender as the passenger.

An ombudsman under the direction of Under Secretary Magaw and with direct responsibility for enforcement of passenger rights and concerns soon will be appointed. The office of the ombudsman will enforce regulations to protect against discrimination abuse and inappropriate behavior.

We have also created an aggressive passenger complaint system for travelers to voice concerns and complaints about airport security.

It is important that we make these changes and that we make them quickly efficiently and visibly to assure the American traveling public that we are committed to their safety. We need them to once again have trust and confidence in our national transportation system.

In fact it looks like we are succeeding.

A recent Gallup poll taken a week before TSA took over airport security found that eight out of 10 Americans felt airport security had improved since September 11th. And more than seven out of 10 believed that federal control of airport security would improve it even more.

But why take Gallup's word for it? TIA is working with our own Bureau of Transportation Statistics on the Travel Confidence Survey.

I am pleased to say that the survey shows Americans still cherish their freedom to travel. More than one-half of all Americans are planning a leisure trip during the first half of this year.

Now more than ever it is important for people to refresh their minds body and spirit.

Aside from addressing air travelers' needs head-on DOT helps support travel for leisure and recreation by providing hundreds of millions of dollars for other transportation efforts such as by maintaining roads on federal lands and parks improving recreational trails and designating scenic byways.

These programs support transportation improvements in the broadest sense. Trails overlooks interpretive information byway maps - all enhance the experience of leisure travelers visitors and tourists alike.

We also know from our joint survey with TIA that we can expect more business travel. The latest survey results tell us that more regular business travelers will increase their travel this year than will decrease their travel.

Though international travel has been off 30 percent since September 11 we see these polls as signs of a brighter future.

Consistent customer service is a key to this future.

To that end we are developing a screening process that systematically prohibits weapons or other banned materials in airport sterile zones without requiring a wait of longer than 10 minutes at any security checkpoint in the United States.

No weapons no waiting: that's our goal.

The one-day business trip needs to be viable. The ability of any modern transportation system to drive our economy depends not only on security but also on efficiency safety and reliability.

This brings me to the recent changes we have made with the elite traveler lines. When airlines were responsible for passenger screening the airlines had two main systems to deal with premium passengers.

One method screened first-class and club member passengers in airline clubrooms away from the rest of the traveling public. That method has been discontinued at the direction of the TSA.

A second method involved opening a separate frequent flier checkpoint for use by passengers who had joined an airline's frequent flier program. The TSA is currently working with airlines experimenting with existing methods that screen frequent travelers more efficiently at passenger checkpoints.

We are open to some type of Trusted Traveler ID card system but we must ensure that any such arrangement does not reduce the level of security provided to the traveling public.

While allowing some experimentation we are working aggressively to put in place systems that move all passengers through the screening process efficiently with world-class security.

We will continue to make world-class security and world-class customer service our twin commitment to all passengers.

We also will continue to work with representatives from the travel industry to find effective solutions.

You may think we are spending an awful lot of time on aviation. Well you are right. With all of the strict deadlines set by Congress to take over aviation security we have had to concentrate a lot of resources there.

However we have not forgotten that 75 to 80 percent of all travel occurs on our nation's highways. Nor have we forgotten our ports which host both cargo and cruise ships.

Following the September 11th attacks I established a National Infrastructure Security Committee or NISC to review security throughout the national transportation system. NISC is made up of six different Direct Action Groups that are each focusing on a different mode of transportation.

This committee was created even before the TSA. It plays an important role and continues to meet today and works closely with TSA.

For example these NISC groups discovered the need for DOT to provide round-the-clock information to the transportation industry. In response we are establishing a Transportation Information Operations Center that will in effect become our communication link to the transportation industry.

DOT also plays an important role in new laws that have been passed by Congress pertaining to security.

For example we are the agency responsible for handing out the $93 million in Port Security grants. We are also the agency writing the rules and regulations for that part of the NAFTA agreement that will allow Mexican commercial trucks and regular route buses greater access to our country.

As busy as we are helping to improve traffic flow in a safe and efficient manner we hope that you know that the Department of Transportation is committed to being a good partner with the travel industry.

We appreciate your assistance and support on the various pieces of legislation that have been passed to help us do just as the President asked - get back to business as usual.

Thank you Bill for letting me speak tonight.