House easily approves arming airline pilots

On July 10, by a vote of 310 to 113, the House passed a bill (HR 4635) allowing airline pilots who first undergo training in self-defense to be armed on commercial aircraft. The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) would be required to begin training pilots within two months of the bill's becoming law. The vote was more than enough to override any presidential veto, which puts pressure on the administration to drop its opposition to the measure.

The bill originally called for allowing only 2% of the pilots to be armed, but prior to final passage the House approved, 250 to 175, an amendment by Peter DeFazio (D.-Ore.) that eliminated the 2% cap and made the program permanent. Rep. James Oberstar (D.-Minn.) was so upset he called for another vote on the DeFazio amendment, but again It prevailed, 251 to 172.

Speaking In favor of both the bill itself and the DeFazio amendments, Rep. Duke Cunningham (R.-Calif.)--a decorated fighter pilot in Vietnam-imagined himself in the shoes of a pilot whose plane has been hijacked to explain why he supported guns in the cockpits.

"As a pilot, I would want to feel a last line of defense," said Cunningham. "I hope they stop it In all the other places. I hope a marshal, which I support flying with the airplanes, would stop It. I hope a Kevlar door would stop it, but once that falls, if we have got a pilot inside that airplane that is armed, It Is going to deter, as a last line of defense. Or even if those guys overtake the airplane and they are using an ax to get through that door, we know that airplane is not going to be used against New York or any other target."

Rep. Don Young (R.-Alaska) also supported the legislation. "Do we really think that 9-11 would have happened If our pilots had been armed as they should have been armed, as they were armed In 1984?" said Young. "Do we think that those terrorists would have had a chance if they knew those pilots would have been armed and the pilots were trained, as they are under this bill, in knowing how to respond in case of an attack on the cockpit?"

Rep. James McGovern (D.-Mass.) opposed the bill, arguing that Congress should let the TSA independently decide the best way to combat terrorism onboard aircraft. "We are talking about how best to provide security to the flying public, the pilots and the flight crew, and how to avoid reoccurrence of September 11. We need to got this right and do what works. We need to be thoughtful and thorough.," said McGovern. "Patchwork approaches that do little to reassure the flying public may compromise our ability to provide the best possible security for passengers and flight crews."

Although the bill probably has the support of a majority of senators, It may take some parliamentary maneuvering to bring it to the floor since It is opposed by Sen. Ernest Hollings (D.-- S.C), chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, who has kept a similar measure bottled up.

A "yes" vote on the bill was a vote in favor of allowing specialty trained commercial airline pilots to be armed. A "no" vote was against allowing pilots to carry guns.

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Jul 22, 2002
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