Posted on 12/31/2001 6:34:42 AM PST by 1 FELLOW FREEPER
FEDS LET AIRPORT SECURITY SLIDE By DAN MANGAN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ON GUARDIA: National Guardsmen yesterday keep and eye out for danger at La Guardia, where - as at airports nationwide - security workers will be able to get by on reduced education and citizenship requirements. - Elizabeth Lippman December 31, 2001 -- Fliers yesterday said they're stunned that the federal government has watered-down citizenship and education requirements for its new airline security force, partly so people who now work as screeners can keep their jobs. "It doesn't make a whole lot of sense," said Anthony Karlic, 28, a Los Angeles painter who was flying out of La Guardia Airport. "I thought the whole point of federalizing was to have trained people there. So, if you're bring in the same people, how is that going to help?" Currently, private companies are contracted by airlines to screen passengers and luggage for weapons or other threats. Screeners employed by the companies typically are paid minimum wage or barely more than that, and have a high turnover rate. The system drew heavy criticism after the Sept. 11 plane hijackings that resulted in the destruction of the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon. So a federal law was passed mandating that the government supervise aviation security directly, by federalizing the force - hiring workers who are more qualified and better educated than the current group of screeners. The new Transportation Security Administration will become responsible for airport screening in February. It has said that "screeners must be U.S. citizens, have a high-school diploma, and pass a standardized examination." Under the high-school diploma rule, a quarter of the 28,000 current screeners would not have been eligible to remain on the job after November 2002, their deadline for qualifying for the positions, for which they must reapply. But with an eye toward retaining those people, the TSA said it will accept work experience in place of a diploma, and also is speeding up the naturalization of non-U.S.-citizen screeners. Rebecca Brown, a 25-year-old city resident who was flying to Miami from La Guardia, said, "I think there should be some benchmarks for the people." If the government's goal is to retain "the people that they've been criticizing, what would be the point of changing the system?" Brown asked. Frederic Weiss, 58, a college professor from Texas, who was flying home, agreed. "I think they [screeners] need to meet the [higher] requirements." Law student Alex Brophy of New Rochelle said, "They should get rid of the people who can't" meet the requirements. "I don't think they should guarantee them a job, because that basically changes nothing except who's paying them," he said.
Bush may as well let it slide. Just like our borders and immigration policies. It aint no thing. LOL!
Rebecca, are you a FReeper?
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