*EPF511 05/09/2003
Senate Passes Bill to Ensure Air Cargo Security
(Measure to allow cargo pilots to carry handguns) (350)

By Andrzej Zwaniecki
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The Senate has passed a bill aimed at ensuring that all cargo transported by air is screened and inspected.

The bill passed May 8 by voice vote would require the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to develop a strategic plan for screening air cargo and inspecting both cargo itself and cargo shipping facilities, according to news reports.

It calls for the establishment of a database of shippers and a training program for personnel handling cargo as well as security plans at cargo companies.

Cargo in airline holds and air cargo planes were not covered by the aviation security bill passed by Congress in 2001 following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

For the bill to become law requires that both the Senate and House of Representatives pass the same version of it and for the president to sign it.

"Since September 11, we have made great strides in aviation security with improved screenings and checked baggage inspections, " said Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican from Texas who co-sponsored the bill. "But air cargo continues to fly under radar."

The bill would require the TSA to establish guidelines for verifying passenger identification and the Homeland Security secretary to report to Congress on the impact on privacy of the new Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, knows as CAPPS II, which aims to prevent terrorists from boarding commercial airplanes.

Parliamentarians and privacy groups in both the United States and Europe have expressed concern about the adequacy of passenger data protection in the U.S. airline security regime, including CAPPS II.

Another provision of the bill would allow trained air cargo pilots to carry handguns after special training. A bill approved May 8 by a House Transportation subcommittee contains a similar provision, according to news reports.

In the 2002 homeland security legislation Congress mandated the TSA to train commercial pilots who would volunteer to carry guns. In April the TSA announced swearing in the first batch of pilots as federal flight deck officers authorized to carry guns.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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