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American Morning

Republican Version of Aviation Security Bill Passes House Vote

Aired November 02, 2001 - 09:17   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the issue of airline safety. President Bush is calling for fast action on a final version of the Aviation Security Bill. Last night, the House approved a Republican backed measure. Now it has to work out differences with the Senate over who should screen airport baggage. Congressional Correspondent Kate Snow joins us from the Hill with word of that political battle ahead. How vicious will it get, Kate?

KATE SNOW, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it could get pretty contentious, and it could take some time. As you mentioned, Paula, last night, the U.S. House delivering a very big victory for President Bush. They passed the bill ultimately by a vote of 286 to 139, but that was after an earlier vote that was much closer. An earlier vote the House Republicans defeating what the Democrats wanted to do, which was the Senate version of this bill. And that vote was just a margin of 4 votes that defeated the Democratic version. And the House bill will provide federal oversight of security screening, but it would allow a new transportation department to decide -- a new agency of the transportation department -- to decide whether or not those that do the screening ought to be federal employees, or indeed whether it could be contracted out to private companies. Last night, House Republicans were rejoicing over their victory. They held a news conference, last evening. The man who convinced many Republicans to go ahead and back the president on this one, speaking to reporters, and talked about the measures sponsored by a two colleagues, Congressman Young and Mica.

REP. TOM DELAY (R), MAJORITY WHIP: When the Senate asked -- acted in haste and acted in such a way that they wrote a flawed bill, these two men stayed the course, they understood what was needed for the flying public in this country and they wrote a bill to provide that security. For the flying public.

SNOW: Now, Democrats spent most of yesterday vehemently arguing against the Republican version of this bill. Democrats saying the only reason the Republicans want out is because of some serious pressure put on their members.

REP. PETER DEFAZIO (D), OREGON: Presidential arm-twisting and so-called "hammer," Tom Delay. He said two weeks ago he wasn't going to allow the bill to come up because he would not yet get the right result. The right result was what happened last night. Took him a couple of weeks. I think that's a -- you know, credible effort on their part, but it isn't good policy. SNOW: Both sides do agree on a lot of the core principles in this bill. Stronger cockpit doors, air marshals aboard planes, screening for checked baggage. The bill also calls for background checks for flight training at flight schools, and it allows pilots to carry firearms under certain conditions with the proper training, and the proper authority. Now, to pay for it all, passengers would see a fee on their ticket of $2.50, per one way trip. But, as you mentioned, Paula, all of this now has to be reconciled with what already passed the Senate. Of course, that version providing federal employees to do the security screening, this version not providing that. So they're going to have to work out the differences in what they call a conference committee before they can send the president a bill. Paula.

ZAHN: Tell you one thing, Kate, I've talked with a lot of people who travel on their job, and they are saying they just want to know that by Thanksgiving and that big rush of holiday travel, that this stuff will be settled. Do you think it will be, is that -- could that potentially be a deadline?

SNOW: Well, it's really hard to say how long it is going to take. I mean, Democrats will tell you they think that the Republicans are bound to stall in the conference, but Republicans will tell you they really want to work at making, in their view, in their Senate bill better than it was, and they really want to get the president a bill. So, there is definitely a sense of, on both sides, among many members, that they've got to get something done before Thanksgiving, before the traveling season really hits.

ZAHN: All right, thanks Kate. Appreciate it. You can find out more about aviation security and some of the breaches being detected at the nation's airports. Just log on to CNN.com for our special report, "Flight Risk."

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