"A Dangerous Retreat on Security"

Sunday, July 11, 2004

Editorial
A Dangerous Retreat on Security
The New York (NY) Times

 
Bashing federal bureaucracies is a favorite sport among Republicans on
Capitol Hill, but their fun should not come at the expense of national
security. That is what is likely to happen if airport security
checkpoints are once again turned over to profit-driven private
contractors. Under a little-noticed provision of the post-9/11 aviation
security law that would undoubtedly shock most travelers, airports may
soon have that option.

Air travelers find it reassuring that federal employees now guard the
front lines in the war on terror, which makes it all the more surreal
that a Sept. 10 mind-set could still persist on Capitol Hill. The Bush
administration and House Republican leaders initially opposed the
creation of the federal Transportation Security Administration after the
2001 terrorist attacks, arguing that private contractors should continue
screening passengers. They gave in to the public demand for a federal
takeover, but they made sure to plant the seeds of the effort's
rollback. They set an arbitrary cap on the number of federal screeners
and set up a pilot program of five airports that would continue being
served by private companies, though their screeners have to meet the
agency's standards and are paid the same. 

Republican leaders are loath to see the federal government grow on their
watch, and security industry lobbyists are eager to get a larger slice
of the billions being spent to protect air travelers. So both want to
see the pilot program expanded. Under the 2001 law, individual airports
will be able to apply to opt out of the federal system later this year,
and rely on private contractors overseen by the T.S.A. 

None of this makes any sense. It has taken a herculean effort to deploy
the agency's tens of thousands of officers at more than 400 airports in
two years. The agency has vastly improved airport security, without
perfecting it, and is still making progress. 

It's true that the security provided by private firms at San Francisco
and four lesser airports is a far cry from the lax pre-9/11 standard.
Studies claim it is no better or worse than the security provided by the
T.S.A. But that has been in a period when the federal agency was just
getting up to speed, and when companies knew they were essentially on
probation.

To privatize security at a time of growing complacency would be a
dangerous step back. Air travelers do not want to see airports
compromise security for the sake of convenience, or federal standards
for the sake of profit margins.


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