"Congress Bans Lighters From Airliners"

Thursday, December 9, 2004

Congress Bans Lighters From Airliners
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Passengers already are barred from smoking on commercial
flights. Now they won't be allowed to bring their butane lighters on board
either.

As part of the intelligence reform bill passed Wednesday, Congress added the
lighters to the long list of items, including scissors, pen knives and box
cutters, that passengers are barred from carrying on to planes. The ban does
not apply to checked luggage.

Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota had
pushed for the change for more than a year after learning the Transportation
Security Administration allowed them on planes.

``When I found out that they had explicitly, in their rule, said you could
take two butane lighters and four books of matches on board, I thought,
'What have they been drinking?''' Dorgan said. Matches still are allowed.

Dorgan cited FBI reports that would-be ``shoe-bomber'' Richard Reid would
have been able to ignite his explosive and blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner
three years ago if he'd brought a butane lighter with him.

Wyden and Dorgan were so persistent in their campaign against the incendiary
devices that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., joked earlier this year that he
never thought butane lighters would get so much attention.

``This is probably not the biggest thing in the world,'' Dorgan said. ``But
it's one of those areas where a big government agency couldn't develop a
little bit of common sense about something so obvious.''

The ban takes effect 60 days after President Bush signs the intelligence
reform bill into law.

On the Net:

Transportation Security Administration: http://www.tsa.gov


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