Mr. Vice President, we are all aware that any comprehensive security system is as good as its weakest link. Criminals and terrorist will continue to identify and exploit the weakest link in our defenses. Nationally, there are over 450 commercial airports with scheduled passenger flights. It is up to the Federal government that regulates the airlines to provide national security standards, adequate funding and actionable timetables. Anything short of that does not fulfill the Commissions mandate of enhancing aviation security in a meaningful way.
The Boeing chart on p.6 projects an aviation accident a week by the year 2015 based on the projected increases in air traffic. That acknowledges 250-300 people will die onboard passenger airplanes a week; 1,000-1,200 a month or projected total deaths of 12,000-15,000 annually ! Statistically, that compares weekly commercial aviation deaths to the weekly death toll in the Vietnam War. This is totally unacceptable and an outrage ! Commercial air travel need not bear the same risk as going to war.
In closing, Mr. Vice President, I feel that the flying public should be able to put their family members aboard a plane with a great degree of confidence that they will walk off at the point of their destination and not come home in a body bag like my husband did. It is for all the aforementioned safety and security reasons that I can not sign a report that blatantly allows the American flying public to be placed regularly at "unnecessary risk" while we as a nation have the capability, but not the will to reasonably protect them.