Posted on 09/27/2001 9:12:23 AM PDT by Solson
Thursday September 27 11:04 AM ET Bush: Use Guard to Protect Airports
By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) - President Bush urged governors Thursday to call up National Guard units to protect U.S. airports while he implements a long-term plan to secure airlines from terrorist attack. The package includes putting the federal government in charge of airport security.
Hoping to reassure jittery travelers, Bush also proposed spending $500 million on aircraft modifications that would deny or delay access to cockpits.
Terrorists hijacked four airplanes Sept. 11, crashing two into the World Trade Center in New York and one into the Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth crashed in Pennsylvania, apparently after passengers struggled with the hijackers. U.S. air travel has dropped sharply since the attacks.
The White House released an outline of Bush's air-security plan shortly before the president left for Chicago, where he was discussing the proposals with airline workers.
Hundreds of workers gathered outside an airport hangar to greet the president. Two jets were parked nose-to-nose at the event - one each from United Airlines and American Airlines, the carriers hijacked Sept. 11.
For the second time this year, Bush was having lunch here with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat and brother of Al Gore's campaign chairman last year.
Bush said Wednesday he was offering the ``confidence-boosting measures and some concrete proposals'' to ``convince the American public it is safe to fly.''
``One of my concerns is that this terrible incident has convinced many Americans to stay at home,'' Bush said. ``And one of the keys to economic recovery is going to be the vitality of the airline industry.''
Bush's plan includes:
-Expanding the use of federal air marshals aboard commercial airliners. ``The requirements and qualifications of federal air marshals are among the most stringent of any U.S. federal law enforcement agency,'' the White House statement said.
-Spending $500 million on plan modifications, including efforts to restrict the opening of cockpit doors during flights, fortify cockpit doors to deny access from the cabin, alert the cockpit crew to activity in the cabin and ensure continuous operation of the aircraft transponder in the event of an emergency. The transponder allows air controllers to track a plane.
-Putting the federal government in charge of airport security and screening, including the purchase and maintenance of all equipment. The government would supervise passenger and baggage security and perform background checks on security personnel. Uniformed federal workers would manage all operations; federal and nonfederal workers would share the security work.
``Fully implementing the extensive security proposal may take four to six months,'' the White House statement said. ``During that time, the president will help ensure that every airport has a strong security presence by asking the governors of the 50 states to call up the National Guard - at the federal government's expense - to augment existing security staff at every commercial airport nationwide.''
Bush's trip to Chicago was the second time he has traveled on Air Force One since the Sept. 11 jetliner attacks on New York and Washington that left nearly 7,000 dead or missing.
White House officials said the administration has several other options under consideration, including installing cameras to monitor jetliner cabins. Bush also hopes to reopen Reagan National Airport outside Washington, the only airport still closed due to the Sept. 11 attacks, but is not yet convinced that flying there would be safe, aides said. He is examining options that could lead to the reopening of the airport.
Bush's plan does not include arming pilots, action requested by the pilots themselves. ``There may be better ways to do it than that, but I'm open for any suggestion,'' Bush said Wednesday, as aides privately confirmed that he is cool to the idea.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta boarded a commercial flight Thursday at Baltimore-Washington International Airport to demonstrate his confidence in the air system. He was bound for Chicago to join Bush, accompanied by Jane Garvey, head of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Mineta waited in a long line at a BWI security checkpoint. He placed a leather bag on a scanner's conveyor belt, took out his keys and walked through the metal detector. It beeped, prompting a security guard to give Mineta a thorough sweep with a hand-held detector before allowing him onto Concourse A.
Mineta called the system safe, secure and stable.
Bush's father, the nation's 41st president, planned a news conference at Logan Airport in Boston to reassure Americans before flying from Boston to Houston.
The White House is also eager to convince the public that life is returning to normal, and getting Americans back onto airplanes is part of the effort.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the number of commercial flights each day had returned to near normal, now at about 5,500, compared with the maximum before the attacks of 6,500.
However, relatively few people are on those flights. Delta Air Lines, for example, says its planes typically are only 35 percent filled.
Bush requested that the "Battle Hymn" be sung. It was his choice.
What was wrong with it?
I work at a glass plant that runs 24/7 and we need 4 shifts to run 24/7.
I would also think the same thing for skymarshalls since planes take off 24/7.
I bet we will need 100,000 skymarshalls to cover 24/7"
Nope, just enough non-uniformed marshalls that don't disclose their identities. If you aren't sure which ones have the cops on them, you'd be hard pressed to want to hijack one. Otherwise, just allow the pilots/crew to carry.
Considering the cost of the planes flying into the buildings, I wonder whether the increased cost of security will match that. Not that I'm into more gov't tax dollars being spent on this, but how many of our tax dollars are being spent on the clean up/rescue/rebuilding? I know that insurance companies are taking a hit upwards of 20 billion dollars, but that's exclusive of what the rescue guys overtime, etc. If the gov't spends 20 billion on clean up/rescue, how much would they spend on it next time WITHOUT skymarshalls? (Just a thought, not looking to get in a debate)
The terrorist have WON! While proving the USA is a paper tiger, they closed down the air industry of the USA. I fear this is only the begining.
I'm sure you're so certain because that's worked *so* well before now, hasn't it? Give me a break.
Show me: where that's worked, where the gov't has had sufficient inspection resources, where the previous fines (hello, Logan airport) for non-compliance of existing security requirements caused your blameless private sector to do its job.
Your sainted private sector (do I smell a Limbaugh corporate apologist?) couldn't care less about its duty and responsibility to the flying public. In charge of security, they whine, campaign donations in hand, to Al Gore about costs. Gore ensures his safety commissions recommendations are toothless. Nothing gets done, they take no action on their own and continue to shrug off federal fines.
Ask the women assaulted by that jerk congressman at the security checkpoint, how much she likes her job. Airport security is thankless. It has a extraordinarily high turn-over rate and pays nothing.
Your sainted private sector, openly admitted by Boeing, even includes *one* lock on all cabin doors. Brilliant.
Do I need to mention this same sainted "private sector" has just taken possession of it's first taxpayer bailout dollars?
I say we give W's plan a chance to work.
If they dropped all security altogether, you would still be safer flying than driving. There are a heck of a lot more bad drivers than terrorists.
That's why we're here to begin with. I despise biggov/police state as much as the next guy. However, I have seen this from the inside.
The free market has absolutely failed in this function. By delegating their responsibility to the airlines, the FAA created the situation where low bid contractors hire minimum wage illiterates at a rate outpaced by the desertion of hiree's predecessors. A 100% PER MONTH turnover is not unheard of. Why? Having spent a lot of time at checkpoints in all the CatX and most Cat1 airports, I have come to the regretable conclusion that most of our fellow American's are insufferable pr*cks, (or at least become pr*cks when they enter the airport). The abuse of checkpoint personnel by the travling public is astounding.
Do you feel safer now that Bush and the feds have given the right, to mid-level airforce Generals, to shoot down American passanger planes flying in American air space. I don't. I would not fly now, even if it were free.
"The UN shall soon declare Zionism to be racism...affirm that settlements are a crime against humanity and equate the Jewish people with the likes of Hitler and Stalin...When the war breaks out, Moslems will riot in the US, and Jews, trying to go to Israel, for any reason, including bringing funds to aid the besieged state, will be arrested at the airports.
"All the above information was relayed to me by a Field Grade US military officer, a US Army LTC and a USAF Major."
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