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Statement
Of Monte R. Belger, Acting Deputy Administrator, Federal Aviation
Administration
Before The Senate Committee On Governmental Affairs
On Aviation Security Measures, Including The Screening Of
Passengers And Property.
September 25, 2001.
Chairman Lieberman, Chairman
Durbin, Senator Thompson, Senator Voinovich, Members of the
Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity
to speak with you today on the enhanced security measures that the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has adopted in the aftermath
of the terrorist attack on September 11th.
As a nation, we have suffered horrific losses, but we are
resolved not to allow those losses to overwhelm us.
We can be proud of America’s response to this crisis; the
stories of heroism, generosity, and patriotism are countless and
compelling. We must
gain strength from these examples as we face the many challenges
that lie ahead of us. On
behalf of the FAA and its employees, some of whom have suffered
their own devastating losses, I would like to extend my sympathies
to the many thousands of Americans who were victimized by the
terrorists’ actions. I
assure you that all 48,425 employees of the FAA will continue to
work night and day to make the air transportation system safe,
secure, and ready to meet the needs of our travelling public.
We are committed to meeting the challenges that the tragic
events of September 11th present.
Our energies are focused on maintaining a safe National
Airspace System (NAS).
The nature of the threat
facing America has changed. What
we faced on September 11th was a new
phenomenon--hijackers taking over commercial flights for the sole
purpose of turning them into human-guided terrorist bombs of
massive explosive power. Given
the events of last week, assumptions underlying aviation security
have fundamentally changed.
We are currently working with
others in government to develop a full picture of what happened on
September 11th, and while our investigation continues,
we have already put new security measures in place.
While I understand that the focus of today’s hearing is
on the security screening programs at our Nation's airports, I
would first like to provide an overview of new security measures
that we have implemented since September 11th.
None of these actions lessen
the need to take a comprehensive look at how airport screening is
undertaken from workforce, technology, and procedure standpoints.
The Administration is looking at all options and has not
ruled out any alternative at this time.
In
response to these unprecedented attacks, the FAA substantially
increased security measures for U.S. airports and U.S. air
carriers, and foreign air carriers with flights to the U.S.
These measures were implemented immediately.
Some are visible to the public, others are not. As
you know, before we allowed our airports to reopen and air
carriers to resume operations last week, airports and carriers had
to meet these stringent new security measures through a
certification process. I
must tell you that we have had an unprecedented level of
cooperation between the Federal government and the airport
operators and carriers to implement these procedures so quickly
and effectively.
Although the investigation of
how the hijackers were able to gain control of the aircraft and
what means they used to do so is still ongoing, it is apparent
that enhanced security measures are essential to ensuring the
security and safety of the U.S. travelling public.
Following the attacks, the FAA ordered all airport
terminals evacuated and required a thorough physical search for
explosives and other dangerous weapons or objects in the terminal,
using airport personnel and FAA certified K-9 teams where they
were available. Similarly, all aircraft were thoroughly inspected.
Before the airports reopened (except for Reagan National
Airport) and air carriers returned to the skies, new security
requirements were in place.
Passengers will now find they
have to adjust to new restrictions and go through more steps
before boarding an aircraft—and they must adjust their arrival
times at airports accordingly.
Vehicles near terminals are now monitored more closely, and
unauthorized vehicles near the terminal area will be removed.
We have ordered the discontinuance of curbside check-in and
all off-airport check-in locations.
We can no longer allow passengers to check in for their
flights at hotels or other locations.
Instead, we ask that all passengers with luggage go to the
ticket counters to check in.
Passengers not checking luggage can check in at the gate,
but are required to show a ticket or e-ticket printed receipt to
pass through security checkpoints.
Only ticketed passengers and authorized persons will be
allowed to proceed past airport screeners to board their flights.
The only exceptions are for those with a demonstrated need
to be inside the sterile area, such as parents meeting a child who
is traveling unaccompanied or passengers with special needs.
At all airports, increased
numbers of uniformed and plainclothes security, law enforcement
officers, and canine officers have been deployed to provide
greater deterrence, surveillance, and response in the case of an
emergency. Access
points to secured areas of airports have been reduced to the
operational minimum, and airports have increased random security
checks and ID checks throughout their entire terminal areas.
All cutting instruments, including knives, box cutters,
scissors, and straight-edged razors, are banned from carry-on
luggage and may no longer be sold in the "sterile"
terminal areas--those areas beyond the security checkpoints.
Although initially no cargo or mail was permitted on
passenger flights, we have now allowed an air carrier to accept
cargo from shipping companies with well-documented, established
relationships with the air carrier, or from freight forwarders
with FAA-approved security programs.
Letter class mail, certified as such by the U.S. Postal
Service, is also being accepted for transport on passenger
flights.
Because the focus of this
hearing is on security screening, a little background may be
helpful. Since the
early 1970s, the FAA has required the screening of passengers and
property carried on board an aircraft to ensure that no unlawful
or dangerous weapons, explosives, or other destructive substances
are carried aboard. Screening
is conducted at the initial passenger checkpoints of people and
property entering the "sterile" terminal areas.
In most airports, these checkpoints are located at the
entry point of airport concourses.
We are all familiar with these checkpoints, with their
metal detectors and x-ray machines, where carry-on bags are placed
on a conveyor belt and examined as they pass through the machine.
Screeners are a critical
link in the performance security chain.
We can all agree that properly trained and qualified people
who are on the job longer tend to perform better.
Concerns over low pay, high turnover rates, and boredom on
the job have spurred efforts to improve the standards for screener
training and job performance.
The government can indirectly influence private sector pay
through higher performance standards that require more training,
and more investment in individuals who do it well.
Under current law, the FAA
sets the standards for screener selection, training and testing,
and the airlines implement those requirements, usually through
contracting with security screening companies.
Before they are hired, security screeners and their
supervisors are subject to an employment investigation and, in
some cases, a criminal history background check (i.e. an FBI
fingerprint check). Last
year, under the Airport Security Improvement Act of 2000 (Security
Act), Congress expanded the requirement for a fingerprint check to
all new screeners, to be phased in first at major airports, which
has already been done, and then to all other regulated airports by
November 2003.
Among other security measures,
the Security Act directed the FAA to accelerate its rulemaking on
the certification of screening companies and set a minimum of 40
hours of classroom instruction or its equivalent, 40 hours of
on-the-job training, and passage of a written and practical,
on-the-job exam. Our
rule will not only incorporate those requirements, it will also
give FAA direct oversight of screening companies; provide uniform
standards of testing of security screeners; and track the ability
of screening companies at checkpoints to meet performance
criteria. Although
this rule is now ready to be published, in light of recent events,
action on the rule has been temporarily suspended as part of an
ongoing evaluation of what further security measures are needed.
For effective performance,
screeners must be given the best tools available to do the job,
and must be trained to use them properly.
In addition to the conventional screening tools, hand-held
and walk-through metal detectors and the x-ray system, screeners
now have Explosives Trace Detection (ETD) devices, that can detect
the presence of explosive materials in a passenger's carry-on
items. Currently, 778
of these devices are in use at 170 airports.
Explosives Detection Systems
(EDS) is another available tool to screen checked baggage.
It detects, without human intervention, the amounts and
types of explosives likely to be used by terrorists to cause
catastrophic damage to commercial aircraft.
Currently, EDS is used to screen checked
bags belonging to persons identified by the Computer Assisted
Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS).
CAPPS allows the air carrier to focus EDS screening on a
manageable number of passengers -- those who we cannot discount as
potential threats to civil aviation, based on parameters developed
within the counter-terrorism community and reviewed by the
Department of Justice to ensure the methods of passenger selection
are non-discriminatory. CAPPS
also selects a certain percentage of passengers on a random basis
for additional screening.
One of the new means of
testing and measuring screener proficiency is software technology
known as the Threat Image Projection (TIP) system, installed on
conventional x-ray machines. TIP electronically inserts images of possible threats (e.g.,
a gun, a knife or an explosive device) on x-ray and explosives
detection system monitors as if they were within a bag being
screened. Its purpose is to provide training, keep screeners alert, and
measure screener performance.
High scores in detecting TIP images equate to a high
probability of detecting actual bombs and dangerous weapons.
Not only can TIP data be potentially used to assess
screener performance over time, but the results can also be used
to analyze any correlation between performance and experience.
New images will be added to the FAA-approved TIP library
being installed on the x-ray machines at the checkpoints to
improve screener vigilance and training. As of September 16th,
678 x-ray units at airports across the country were equipped with
TIP.
In the immediate aftermath of
the terrorist attack, the steps we took to strengthen security at
our airports included, as I noted above, enhanced screening
procedures at passenger security checkpoints.
We have also required the constant use of hand wands by
screeners. Previously,
hand wands were primarily used when an individual set off the
alarm when passing through a metal detector.
Now, screeners will use the hand wands not only in those
instances, but also for continuous random checks of people moving
through the checkpoints. Also,
all items must now be x-rayed or physically inspected.
No item may be passed around a metal detector.
In addition, CAPPS has also been adjusted and we are
exploring the potential for CAPPS to be used in conjunction with
checkpoint screening.
Again, only persons with
tickets (or evidence showing an electronic ticket) and authorized
persons such as those accompanying passengers with special needs
or a minor traveling alone will be screened and allowed through
security checkpoints. Generally,
family and friends must stay behind.
This action greatly reduces the number of persons being
screened, thereby focusing the attention of screeners where it
truly belongs--on passengers boarding aircraft.
As we make these changes and
strive to improve the quality of our passenger screening system,
we want to assure everyone that their rights will be respected.
Also, people are asking if they are now going to be frisked
before boarding. Some
may have to be, but no one will be frisked unless that person is
unable to clear screening another way and agrees to be frisked.
Of course, a person who is not cleared will not be
permitted on the aircraft.
It has only been a few days
since the FAA's enhanced security measures were put in place by
airports and carriers. Admittedly,
travelers have had to adjust their travel plans to arrive at
airports earlier to allow for more time in getting to their gates.
As air carrier operations gradually increase and the system
is brought back to a more normal level of activity, we will
continuously monitor the effectiveness of these measures and work
with airports and carriers to refine them, and expand them, if
necessary. At the
same time, we recognize that there are still lessons to be learned
from the events of September 11th.
We know that, in addition to the steps we took immediately
following the attacks, we also need a more deliberative
examination of what we have done and what we still can do to
provide all Americans with the highest possible levels of safety
and security. To that
end, on September 16th, Secretary Mineta created two
Rapid Response Teams to provide in the near term other
recommendations for improving security in the national aviation
system. Working with
senior DOT and FAA experts will be eight national leaders from the
aviation and law enforcement communities.
One Team will focus on increasing security at the
nation’s airports; the other will examine security on board
aircraft, with particular attention to cockpit access.
Ways of improving security screening are certainly part of
the aviation security effort.
We look forward to the Team recommendations, which are due
no later than October 1st.
Mr.
Chairman, I want to assure you that the Secretary, the
Administrator and I are doing everything in our power to bring the
Nation's air transportation system back into full operation with
the highest levels of safety possible.
Working together--Government, industry and American
citizens--we will do it. In
a democracy, there is always a balance between freedom and
security. Our
transportation systems, reflecting the value of our society, have
always operated in an open and accessible manner. And, they will do so again.
That
concludes my prepared remarks.
I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
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