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CNN Live At Daybreak
Interview With Representative Robert Andrews (D) of New Jersey
Aired October 31, 2001 - 06:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta is calling on officials to plug security holes. He says the ongoing problems are intolerable. More on that in just a moment.
New Jersey Congressman Robert Andrews is a co-sponsor of the House version of a bill that aims to beef up airline security, and he joins us from our Washington bureau.
Congressman, good morning -- good to have you with us this morning.
REP. ROBERT ANDREWS (D), NEW JERSEY: Good morning, Daryn. Happy Halloween.
KAGAN: Well, thank you so much. One place Americans don't want to be scared, and that is...
ANDREWS: Right.
KAGAN: ... to get on airplanes. And so, I think a lot of people agree that something has to be done. And I think you see in the House and in the Senate a lot of agreement on certain things, and if I understand this correctly, strengthening cockpit doors, more air marshals, improved scanning passenger luggage and a passenger fee -- a small passenger fee to cover all of that. The big area of debate is those baggage screeners, and should they be federal employees.
What do you think?
ANDREWS: They should be. When someone...
KAGAN: You think they should be?
ANDREWS: Sure. When someone comes to the Capitol this morning and walks in the door, they're going to be screened and scanned by a trained police officer. I think the people traveling on our airplanes deserve no less than we have in the United States Capitol. Of course, they should be trained law enforcement officers.
KAGAN: I'm sure it is not news to you that President Bush is pushing another bill that says, no, the federal government should not be in this business. Yes, it should be involved and it should be setting standards. But why put 28,000 people on the federal payroll? ANDREWS: Because you need trained law enforcement officers to do this job. This is not an administrative function. You know, we don't have department store security guards sitting, guarding the Capitol, or we don't call a department store security guard if somebody is breaking into our home. We call a police officer. This is a national...
KAGAN: But, Congressman Andrews, he points...
ANDREWS: ... this is a national security function.
KAGAN: The president points to other places that have, frankly, figured out airport security better than we've been able to do it here in the U.S. Places like Israel and other European countries -- well, European countries that point out, they don't -- their government -- their fellow governments are not in that business. They might have somebody, a supervisor on staff that is supervising what's going on or actually setting the standards, but not the actual baggage screeners. That's just something that the federal government should not be involved in.
ANDREWS: With all due respect, in most of those places in Europe, it's not really private people. It is trained law enforcement people. Where there are private people involved, in places like Israel, they are people whose health benefits and pension benefits are paid by the government. So they're really government-funded employees, just under another name.
What the Republican bill calls for in the House is really business as usual. It calls for the lowest bidder to get the job of guarding the airports and I think that this is too important to entrust it to the lowest bidder. And that's why, Daryn, 100 senators -- 100, voted for our bill in the Senate.
And all Greg Ganske and I, a Republican from Iowa, are asking for is to bring that very same bill, word for word, to the House floor tomorrow, put it up for a vote. And if it passes, which I believe it will, it will be on President Bush's desk by the end of the week, and we can get this problem behind us.
KAGAN: And if it doesn't -- if it doesn't, it's going to be even more time. We're six weeks plus past the date of September 11. Americans are still not flying in the numbers that they used to. Americans are still scared and pointing to Congress and saying, come on, guys, where's the action? What are you doing to make these skies safer? Why no action so far?
ANDREWS: I agree, and I don't understand why there hasn't been any action in the House. The Senate did the right thing, and by a vote of 100 to nothing -- 100 to nothing -- passed our bill. What Greg Ganske and I are saying, John McCain is saying, Dick Gephardt is saying, Jim Oberstar, a lot of other people, is let's get this bill to the House floor. Let's get it on the president's desk this week. No more delay, no more politics. Let's get this problem behind us.
KAGAN: The vote is tomorrow. What are you predicting? Not what you're wanting, what are you predicting?
ANDREWS: I think we're going to win, because I think Republicans from around the country are hearing what Democrats are hearing, which is enough of this nonsense of fighting with each other. Do what 100 senators did and pass this bill.
KAGAN: And just quickly, tell us, what would that passenger fee be, about 2.50 a ticket -- $2.50?
ANDREWS: It is $2.50 a ticket, so if you took a round-trip flight to California, it would be $5.00 on your ticket to know that there is an air marshal on the plane, a cockpit door that can't be opened, and a trained law enforcement person screening your bags at the gate. I think people would pay five bucks for that.
KAGAN: Plenty of Americans looking to get back to the skies. Congressman Andrews from New Jersey, thanks for joining us today, sir.
ANDREWS: Thank you, Daryn.
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