News from Congresswoman Jane Harman

Congresswoman Jane harman - Press Release

October 15, 2002

Harman Swears-in 450 Federal Screeners

Federal Passenger Screeners will take posts at LAX

LOS ANGELES -- Rep. Harman joined Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Security Director David Stone in swearing-in approximately 450 federal passenger screeners Sunday morning, including 70 private screeners who were rehired for the federal positions.

The group of screeners is the second of four to take charge at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) checkpoints over the next month. The group also included federalized screeners who will take their posts at Ontario International Airport.

In response to the September 11 attacks, Congress passed legislation last year to strengthen airline and airport security by requiring the federal government to take charge of screening efforts at the nation's 429 commercial airports. Commercial airports are required to have federal screeners at their posts no later than November 19, 2002.

During the official swearing-in, Harman offered her congratulations to the new federalized screeners, stating: "You are the front line of defense in securing LAX and Ontario International. When Congress voted last year to create a federal screening workforce, we made sure that qualified screeners got preference in hiring and that new screeners would be the best and the brightest available. You are terrific and I am proud of you!"

Those federal screeners who participated in the swearing-in ceremony successfully completed 40 hours of classroom instruction and will also undergo 60 hours of on the job training. A total of 1600 federalized screeners are expected to take their posts at LAX, along with an additional 1600 federal workers who will operate bomb detection equipment for baggage screening by the end of the year.

Harman called on the White House to focus on the need to pass Homeland Security Department legislation, stating: "This week a bipartisan Congress agreed on a plan to dismantle weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But Iraq is not our only security threat. My constituents are more concerned about the potential suicide bomber next door than about Saddam Hussein. Our nation desperately needs one integrated homeland security strategy and a team accountable for implementing it. Yet thirteen months after 9/11 we are getting nowhere. "

"I feel that security of the nation is important enough that we should be able to come to an agreement and I will see to it that as part of the federal workforce, you are protected," said Harman. "It is critical that we pass this legislation so that we can begin the monumental task of getting this Department up and running as soon as possible."

###