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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 28, 2004 SCHUMER FINDS FED’S PROPOSED NEW CARGO SCREENING RULES STILL LEAVE GAPING HOLE IN NY's AIR SECURITY 9.6 million New York passengers a year at risk of bombs in cargo on planes – new FAA Inspector General Report Friday said current HAZMAT enforcement “too little too late” Schumer analysis finds draft TSA cargo plan still leaves most of the 848,000 tons of passenger air cargo passing through New York airports unscreened – and proposal doesn't even mention explosive detection devices for cargo Schumer fix to invest nearly $1 billion in new screening technology being held up in House as part of Post-9/11 Intelligence Reform – Schumer asks President to throw full weight of White House behind moving badly-needed legislation As thousands of New Yorkers take to the air on the busiest travel weekend of the year, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today released a new analysis showing that the Transportation Security Administration's proposed new cargo screening rules would still leave gaping holes in New York's air security and put almost 10 million passengers who fly into or out of New York area airports on jetliners carrying unscreened cargo at risk. Schumer today asked President Bush to put the full weight of his office behind passing the bipartisan Post-9/11 Intelligence Reform bill that is stalled in the House of Representatives in part because of members of his cabinet oppose shifting large parts of the federal budget out of their agencies – noting that a bipartisan amendment that Schumer and other Senators added to that bill would provide as much as $1 billion in new investment in cargo screening technology. The Schumer study also shows that under the proposed new rules, most of the 848,000 tons of passenger air cargo passing through New York airports would remain unscreened. “The holidays aren’t just the busiest travel time of
the year - they are the busiest shipping time of the year, too,”
Schumer said. “But even as people getting into planes this
weekend see strong new precautions at the gate, the cargo and mail
flying in the belly of the plane is still virtually unexamined.
It took the TSA a year and a half to come up with new cargo rules
that are a day late and a dollar short and ignore the 9/11 Commission’s
findings. The good news is that Republicans and Democrats in the
Senate got together to put a billion dollars of air screening fixes
in the Intelligence Bill. Now all we need is the President to lean
on his staff and his friends in the House to get the bill passed.” Schumer noted that these figures are a conservative estimate because they only count the top 11 passenger carriers that carry air cargo in New York. A report from the Federal Aviation Administration’s independent Inspector General released Friday found that agency’s campaign to keep hazardous materials off airplanes, begun after an improper shipment caused a crash in the Florida Everglades that killed 110 people eight years ago, has resulted in enforcement actions that are often too little, too late. The report said that although penalties had been collected, they had ''little, if any, deterrent value against the violators' noncompliance'' because they were often ''assessed too long after the incident and in reduced amounts no longer commensurate with the severity of the infraction.'' Schumer and security experts have been pushing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to tighten rules on air cargo for a year and a half. This month, the TSA finally proposed new rules for air cargo screening that would expand security measures already in place for both domestic and international passenger and cargo flights. These rules are open to public comment until January 10. The TSA will publish the final rule change shortly after the public comment period ends, and the rules will go into effect ninety days later, which could be as late as May 2005. A new Schumer analysis of the new TSA rules shows that it falls far short of protecting New York's skies. Specifically, Schumer's analysis found that under the proposed new rules, because they: • Screen only a "portion of air cargo" on passenger and all cargo flights. Under the new screening plan, the TSA has officially ruled out screening 100% of cargo because it would lead to "significant economic impact on passenger operations." Schumer said there is no reason any cargo, especially foreign cargo, should go on a passenger air craft without being inspected, whether its part of the known shipper program or not. • Open a loophole allowing Unknown Shippers to put cargo on passenger flights. In the proposed rule, the TSA says it will "consider" including unknown shipper cargo on passenger flights. The TSA’s Known Shipper Program is a system used to prequalify shippers as safe and secure and only Known Shippers are currently allowed to add freight to passenger airlines. According to an October 15 report by the Congressional Research Service, very little investigation actually occurs to ensure shippers are following security guidelines and have adequate security measures in place to protect cargo on the ground and in the air. While the proposed new rules do call for some technological improvements to the Known Shipper Program it does not mandate that all shippers participate and would require industry-wide use of a database of Known Shippers. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that such a database would cost only $10 million per year to maintain. Schumer said that the primary focus should be tightening and expanding the Known Shipper Program and said that any consideration given to opening up passenger cargo for use by companies not cleared as that part of the program would represent a giant step backward in air security. • Don’t check fingerprints for cargo handlers. Schumer's analysis showed that while the rule does require more airport personal to be subject to criminal background checks and a check against terrorist databases, it does not require fingerprint (biometric identifier) based background checks for handlers. If there is no identifier, there is no way to ensure that the person is who they say they are. Schumer said that the people who put bags and boxes on planes are our last line of defense against an air attack and questioned the logic of the TSA in not employing the latest in technology to verify the handler's identity. • Don’t mention Explosive Detection System for cargo. In 1997, the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security specifically recommended that certain packages be screened by Explosive Detection Systems. This recommendation has yet to be implemented and is not even discussed in the proposed rule, and EDS equipment is not used for air-cargo. This year terrorists used explosives strapped to the bodies of suicide bombers to destroy two Russian planes killing hundreds of people, bringing a new importance to explosive detection in every facet of air security. • Ignore 9/11 Commission recommendations on hardened cargo containers on all jets. The 9/11 Commission recommended that every passenger aircraft have at least one hardened container in which questionable or suspicious cargo can be shipped to reduce or eliminate the risk to passengers in case of explosion. Unfortunately, the TSA proposed rules do nothing to implement nor enforce this measure. Schumer said that rule changes alone will never be able to go far enough to safeguard air cargo without the proper investment in security technology and detailed his provision included in the Post-9/11 Intelligence Reform bill that would invest nearly $1 billion in security technology for air cargo screening. Pursuant to a general 9/11 Commission recommendation to improve air cargo security, Schumer and a bipartisan group of legislators including Senators Rockefeller, Hollings, Snowe, and Lautenberg included an amendment that requires the TSA to develop better technologies for air cargo security, authorizes funding for equipment and research and development, requires the Department finalize its air cargo regulations within 8 months, and requires a pilot program to evaluate the use of currently available and next generation blast-resistant containers. Specifically, Schumer's measure would authorize $600 million over the next three years to improve current air cargo security, and another $300 million for research and development over better and more effective security technology. The amendment also directs the Department of Homeland Security to establish an air cargo security grant program, similar to Schumer's port security grant program, that will give grants to encourage the development of new air cargo security technology. The Secretary will also be required to submit to Congress a report on the vulnerabilities of the air cargo industry. The Intelligence Reform bill is currently being held up in the House of Representatives because of opposition there and because some Cabinet Secretaries have balked at giving up control of billions of dollars in budget authority to centralize and streamline intelligence functions. Schumer today wrote to the President, who has publicly stated his support for the bill, to put the full weight of the White House behind moving the legislation which would implement many of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. “Mr. President, you and I agree that in order to win the
War on Terror we need both a strong offense and a smart defense.
While restructuring our intelligence systems will vastly strengthen
our nation’s offensive abilities, and the air security provision
including in the Intelligence Reform Bill would be a key component
in strengthening our defense as well,” Schumer wrote to President
Bush. How Much Cargo is Processed at New York Area Airports every year?* A copy of Schumer’s letter to the President is attached. |
