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MR. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, more than two months have passed since the horrific events of September 11^th, when we watched as our Nation’s aircraft were hijacked and used against us as weapons of mass destruction. More than a month has passed since the United States Senate stood together and unanimously passed an aggressive, comprehensive Aviation Security Act, solemnly resolving that we must never again see a day like the 11^th because of inadequate security measures at our Nation’s airports.

Today we keep that promise made to the American people: this aviation security bill is simply a huge win for passenger safety, in every part of the Nation.

The legislation we approve today will require numerous new security features, including full federal law enforcement at all airports, expansion of the Federal Air Marshall program, and screening of all passengers, baggage, and employees.

Mr. President, this bill will revolutionize security at our airports and in our skies. Every person and every bag, at every airport -- big and small -- will be screened by federal law enforcement personnel, no exceptions.

The traveling public want and deserve safe and secure airports and airplanes, and this legislation gives them the confidence they need to keep flying.

As we learned after the attacks on September 11^th, we can no longer ignore the security needs at our Nation’s airports. We can no longer allow the lives of our citizens to be placed into the hands of private companies. Airport security is no longer just a transportation issue, it is a national security concern, and the federal government will now take on this critical responsibility.

Additionally, the bill requires dramatic security increases in and around airplanes. This includes the securing of all cockpit doors; screening of everything that is put on an airplane (beverages, food, mail, etc.); background checks of every employee that services the flight, including catering company workers; and, anti-hijack training for pilots and flight attendants.

I am extremely pleased to join in bringing to the Senate floor a final conference report that will so dramatically improve the safety of our Nation’s skies. The road to final legislation has been harder and longer than the unanimous Senate vote may have led some to predict. That is, as we all know, because the House of Representatives passed an aviation security bill far different from our own, particularly on the question of whether screeners on the front lines of national security should be federal law enforcement officers or private companies.

This final conference report resolves that issue firmly on the side of federal law enforcement and represents a great victory for passenger safety. The American people deserve to be safe and to feel safe when traveling in our skies. Now more than ever, aviation security is national security, plain and simple. Like all other aspects of national security, it must be entrusted to federal law enforcement personnel.

The House and Senate bills both contained a number of important provisions that we were able to quickly agree upon. As I stated earlier, we will now move to fortify cockpits, dramatically expand the sky marshal program, provide flight crews with the best anti-hijack training possible, and ensure that every single bag, every person, and every item boarding a plane is screened. These steps alone offer an enormous improvement in aviation security.

In addition, we have agreed on a bipartisan and bicameral basis to "federalize" airport screeners and reorganize the Department of Transportation around security priorities. Federalization of the screening process is a necessary step in strengthening the flying public’s faith in our Nation’s air transport system. In many ways, the American people have shown their clear preference that the screening of passengers and bags become a federal law enforcement responsibility. This Conference Report answers their demands and ensures that the safety of our skies is given the same priority as the safety of our streets and borders.

The federal government will implement a program to place law enforcement officers at every single airport screening station in America. These men and women will be public servants of the highest quality, having been subject to background checks, skill assessments, and intensive training in classrooms and on the job.

Then, two years after the screening system has been fully upgraded nationwide, the Conference Report provides airports the flexibility to consider bids from private screening companies. If an airport believes, and the Secretary of Transportation agrees, that a private company can offer security equivalent to that provided by federal law enforcement, then they can choose that approach. Certainly, this will be a high hurdle -- as well it should be. But this compromise represents the best of what America has to offer -- the unquestionable competency and professionalism of our federal law enforcement and the ability for individual airports to be responsible for meeting tough federal standards by an alternative means.

In addition, we will allow the Department of Transportation to initiate a pilot program for privatizing screeners at no more than five airports, each in a different size category. Importantly, those airports must themselves seek to be part of this pilot program -- the DOT cannot force a private company approach on anyone. This will give us a chance to evaluate and reevaluate what works and what does not. I welcome the opportunity to engage in a continuing review process, adjusting our original plan as necessary to make sure it works as well in the real world as we believe it will today. It certainly will not matter who manages security at our Nation’s airports if we are not vigilant in maintaining the quality of the program once in place.

As Chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee, I take real pride in the work of the conferees to reach a final agreement on aviation security. I must also say, however, that I was disappointed that some of my House colleagues tried to turn this into an anti-government and anti-union debate. This bill is about safety, plain and simple. It has nothing to do with the size of government or unionization of workers.

In the end, national security prevailed, but the misplaced focus on unionization meant that the House would not yield on including the most basic rights of federal workers -- health care, worker’s compensation, and civil rights and whistle blower protection. These critical matters are left to the discretion of the Department of Transportation, and it is my hope and expectation that the Secretary will have no choice but to offer a good package to fill so many positions so quickly. In fact, DOT has assured us that they will offer rights and benefits at least as good as those afforded other federal workers, and I intend to hold them to that promise.

Finally, I want to emphasize that much of my effort on this bill, like all of the aviation bills I work on, was aimed at ensuring that rural communities have the best possible options for security and service. In the face of so many House proposals to federalize only at the large airports, and privatize only at the small airports, I held firm to the principle that small airports must be served by true law enforcement. Now, within a matter of months, all West Virginia travelers will have the security of federal screeners, federal supervisors, and federal and local law enforcement on hand to protect them.

I urge all parties, public and private, to move swiftly to implement the new security measures as soon as the President has lifted his signature pen from the paper. The sooner the actual provisions of the law are implemented, the sooner the public’s confidence will be restored. When Americans once again feel safe in the sky, we will have claimed a major victory in our war against terror.