Recall old, flawed screening? It seems lawmakers don't.


An obscure provision in a bill President Bush is scheduled to sign Tuesday will make it easier for airports to dump federal screeners in favor of private companies - exposed as utterly inept after 9/11. It exempts airports from being sued for failings of private screeners in the event of a terrorist attack.

This is a triumph of ideological rigidity and political scheming over common sense.

It's hard to imagine a level of incompetence greater than that shown by the private companies. In the bright, post-9/11 spotlight, one report after another found low pay, high turnover, vague standards and low morale combining to make screening nearly useless. After weeks of debate, Congress created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and put it in charge of a new public workforce. Though the system has its flaws, few fliers would argue that the new screeners aren't more professional than the old.

Yet some Republican lawmakers cling to the past. They've been pushing to return to a variation on the old system, allowing airports to contract with private screeners, trained and supervised by the TSA.

That's about as smart as encouraging the FBI or local police to subcontract their law-enforcement duties, which is why Congress and the administration have nudged the changes along out of public view. That maneuvering, too, is reminiscent of the pre-9/11 era, when industries with clout, bungling federal agencies and a politically weak Congress let air security disintegrate.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20051017/cm_usatoday/recalloldflawedscreeningitseemslawmakersdont

Posted: Mon - October 17, 2005 at 02:56 PM          

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