Copyright 2002 The Washington Post

The Washington Post
July 11, 2002 Thursday
Final Edition
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A01

LENGTH: 779 words

HEADLINE: House Approves Bill to Arm Pilots;
White House Opposes Measure;
Senate Prospects Uncertain

BYLINE: Sara Kehaulani Goo, Washington Post Staff Writer

BODY:


The House yesterday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would allow airline pilots to carry guns in their cockpits, as some members said the federal government has not done enough to improve airport security since the Sept. 11 hijackings.

The Bush administration opposed the bill, which was approved 310 to 113. A similar bill has stalled in the Senate, but supporters said yesterday that they hoped to build on the unexpectedly strong support for the House bill.

The White House referred requests for comment to the Transportation Department, which said it continues to oppose arming pilots. Administration officials have argued that pilots should concentrate on flying their planes.

The bill was passed after months of aggressive lobbying by pilot unions, which said their members want to carry guns because loopholes remain in airport security.

The legislation gained support recently after a report by the new Transportation Security Administration showed that many weapons can still get through airport security checkpoints. Fatal shootings at a Los Angeles International Airport ticket counter July 4, although they occurred outside checkpoints, heightened concern.

The TSA was created in an aviation-security law passed last fall. The law left it up to the head of the new agency, John W. Magaw, to decide whether pilots could carry weapons.

"Frustration is setting in the with general public," said Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), a bill sponsor. Congress is sending a message to the TSA, Young said: "You either shape up or we're going to start passing legislation to get you to do what should be done."

Young called for the Senate to act on its bill and said he was not concerned about a presidential veto because the House could override it.

Supporters of the Senate bill said they do not know whether they have the votes to pass it. Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.), chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, strongly opposes arming pilots and has refused to hold a hearing on the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) has not made up his mind on the bill and "would like to hear the advice from both experts in the field and the administration before making any decision on what action the Senate will take," said his spokesman, Jeff Nussbaum.

Senate supporters of the measure are considering whether to offer it as an amendment to legislation creating the Homeland Security Department, Sen. Robert C. Smith (R-N.H.) said yesterday. A Republican aide said supporters may also try to attach the measure to an appropriations bill.

The House support "enhances our chances for some legislative action," said Lisa Harrison, Smith's spokeswoman.

The House bill passed after members removed a provision that would have armed only about 1,400 of the nation's 70,000 commercial airline pilots, for two years, in an experiment. Instead, the legislation would allow any airline pilot to undergo training similar to that of federal air marshals and carry a gun.

Republican and Democratic members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee had agreed to the more limited program. But that deal blew apart after the House approved an amendment offered by Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) to arm all pilots. To his surprise, the amendment passed, 251 to 172.

"This is a rare moment in the House. Without any large effort of lobbying, an amendment passed on its own merits," DeFazio said after the vote. "Members of Congress fly every week. They know we do not yet have a secure system."

The amendment angered several members who preferred the more limited program. Rep. William O. Lipinski (D-Ill.) said the bill went too far and would be more difficult for senators to support.

"If you pass this bill, you ensure you are not going to have the Senate take up this bill," Lipinski said on the House floor. "The people who really lost here are the American flying public. We had a bill. It was balanced, it was prudent, it was cautious."

The House bill also would offer more self-defense training for flight attendants, who had opposed arming pilots but supported the bill at the last minute.

"Since 9/11, airports have received stronger security, the cockpit has gotten more secure in the event airport security fails, but until today, cabin crew and passengers' lives have been left with no additional protection," Patricia Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said in a prepared statement.

Since Sept. 11, the federal government has paid for strengthening cockpit doors and has hired hundreds of air marshals. It now is hiring a federal workforce to take over airport security checkpoints.

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