"Airport Employee Access Control Bill Returns to Capitol Hill"

Thursday, June 30, 2005

Employee Access Control Bill Returns to Capitol Hill
Airport Security Report


Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and four of her Democratic colleagues in the House
have re-introduced legislation that aims have 100 percent of all airport
workers go through a physical screening of their persons and bags every time
they enter airports' secure areas. 

Actually, the measure, which was first introduced in the last session of
Congress in October 2004, would phase in that goal with random physical
screenings, which would have to start within 120 days of the bill's
enactment. The measure, H.R. 2688, does not say how much additional federal
funding would be provided, but authorizes the hiring of more screeners. It
also raises several issues that stick in the craw of airport officials and
CEOs of supplier firms. 

Because of such issues, the bill is not likely "to get any traction" on
Capitol Hill, said Ian Redhead, vice president of airport facilities and
services for Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA). Some of
those issues include the feeling that the most efficient technologies are
not yet available or affordable and that solutions need to be individualized
because every U.S. airport is structurally unique, he explained. 

In Lowey's bill, the Department of Homeland Security would have to develop
national screening standards and complete an assessment of available
technology by Jan. 31, 2006. 

Then there are facilities, like Washington Dulles International Airport
(IAD) in northern Virginia near D.C., where employees who work at far-flung
concourses across the airport grounds would be burdened by having to return
each time through checkpoints in the main terminal, he added. Lowey's bill
would also subject all workers to thorough background checks consisting of
national and local criminal histories, previous employment and a check
against government terrorist watch lists. 

Worker screening is also addressed in bill from Democrat Rep. Pete Markey
(Mass.), which has bipartisan support. 

Contact: 
Rep. Nita Lowey's office, (202) 225-6506


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