Copyright 2002 The Washington Post

The Washington Post
September 20, 2002 Friday
Final Edition
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A06

LENGTH: 562 words

HEADLINE: Senate Panel Votes to Exempt 40 Airports From Deadline

BYLINE: Sara Kehaulani Goo, Washington Post Staff Writer

BODY:


A Senate committee passed a bill yesterday that would exempt 40 airports, including many of the nation's largest hubs, from an end-of-the-year deadline to screen all passenger luggage with explosives-detection machines.

The bill, passed by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, also would allow non-U.S. citizens to apply for federal airport-screening jobs, reversing a restriction imposed last fall.

The measure, which revises an airport security bill passed after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, will either be part of legislation creating the Homeland Security Department or will be considered as a separate bill by the Senate, according to committee staffers.

In July the House extended the screening deadline for a year but did not cap the number of airports that could qualify for the additional time. The House has not addressed the issue of non-citizen screeners.

The Senate bill would require the Transportation Security Administration to identify the 40 airports that will get waivers from the year-end deadline and provide monthly progress reports to Congress for one year. There is no penalty, however, if the airports do not use explosives-detection machines to screen all their luggage after Dec. 31, 2003.

Airports pushed hard for the extension. They said the federal government moved too slowly to install the machines and a last-minute effort was likely to create long waits for passengers.

TSA chief James M. Loy told lawmakers last week that as many as 35 airports would not be able to meet the deadline. He said the agency would continue to use other means -- such as using bomb-sniffing dogs and searches by hand.

"It's absolutely critical we keep pressure on the TSA," said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who worked on the bill with committee chairman Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) and its original sponsor, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.).

Airport lobbyist Todd Hauptli suggested that more airports would need an extension. The TSA will have "more than 40 airports" that won't meet the deadline, he said. "It's, logistically, very challenging."

Reagan National Airport will be able to meet the Dec. 31 deadline because it already has several explosives-detection machines, said James A. Wilding, chief executive of the airport authority that runs National and Dulles International Airport.

"Dulles is a different story," Wilding said. It is "at least possible, even likely, that TSA will need to extend its deadline at Dulles."

Baltimore-Washington International Airport has asked the TSA how to apply for the waiver. "To do this correctly will require more time than the months we have remaining," BWI spokesman John White said.

McCain said the committee decided to lift the requirement that all federal screeners be U.S. citizens because, although "that requirement was an understandable impulse, it had some negative ramifications that were not clear at the time."

The TSA must hire 30,000 federal screeners by Nov. 19, but the agency is having trouble recruiting and hiring enough screeners.

In addition, the Senate bill would extend "war risk" insurance assistance to airlines for an additional nine months. It also spelled out more actions the government must take to improve air cargo security. And it would require the government to keep small aircraft from flying close to major sports stadiums for six months.

LOAD-DATE: September 20, 2002