FAA chief calls for greater federal role in aviation security

The federal government must have greater authority to manage the workers who screen passengers at the nation's airports, Jane Garvey, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, said in a speech at the National Press Club Wednesday. "We have to move as quickly as we can to direct management and control," Garvey said. She added that a new agency should be created in the Transportation Department to oversee security for all modes of transportation, including aviation, railways and highways. The FAA is housed within the Transportation Department. Garvey declined to say whether these security personnel should be federalized or made part of a private-public corporation modeled on Amtrak or the Postal Service. Congress is debating what the federal government's role in ensuring the security of commercial aviation and other modes of transportation should be in light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Senate last week unanimously passed legislation that would federalize all airport screeners by placing them under the Justice Department's jurisdiction. Meanwhile, the House has expressed concerns about expanding government payrolls but has, at the same time, called for increased oversight of airport screeners. Currently, airlines are responsible for seeing that passengers and baggage are screened. Garvey announced that all employees of airlines and airports with access to secure areas would undergo criminal background checks as soon as possible. Legislation passed last year required background checks for new airport employees. Garvey said the FBI and the Office of Personnel Management would assist in the effort and that federal dollars would pay for it. The FAA also announced recently that all screening companies at airports are being reviewed to ensure they have completed required background and training checks of security personnel. Argenbright Security Inc., which handles screening at several large airports, including Washington's Dulles International Airport, is facing a criminal investigation and a $1 million fine for falsifying training records and hiring employees with criminal backgrounds. Garvey also called for improved sharing of information across federal agencies. Since the attacks, law enforcement officials and the FAA have been constantly sharing information, she said. "Still the longer term challenge is a central database against which passengers and employees can be checked," she added. A "vastly expanded" federal marshals program will be a key part of expanded security measures, Garvey said. She declined to say how many new marshals would be in the air, but said federal law enforcement officers from the Justice and Treasury departments were already in the air after completing a four-day FAA air security training course. The FAA has consulted with the FBI to determine which flights should carry marshals. Asked who was to blame for the Sept. 11 hijackings, Garvey called it a "collective failure" among agencies, but also praised the efforts on air traffic controllers for guiding 2,800 air planes to the ground within 54 minutes. Those efforts thwarted other hijackings from taking place, she said.