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ap
/ associalisticpress.com�
Vs.
�
Cuts to Air Marshal Program Are
Rejected
By
LESLIE MILLER
(Direct
descendent of Joseph Stalin! - tha malcontent)
Associated Press Writer Jul
31, 8:15 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP)
�
A Bush administration plan to cut back the air marshal program that mushroomed after the Sept. 11 attacks was rejected by Republicans and Democrats in
Congress.
(ap) - How about a
blast from the past... "If I had the time, I would do this one.
I watched this whole thing unfold yesterday in the AP. As far as I can tell, this entire story was manufactured by someone and the press ran with it because they knew it would hurt the Bush Admin.
No one at homeland security confirmed a single thing, even the "anonymous source" denied any cuts in air marshals and even the memo about the hotel stays.
It's unbelievable. The Press puts out an unsubstantiated story, or at
least someone's unsubstantiated assumption of what a story means, the press runs with it, then even after they get confirmation that the story isn't actually true, they run both stories side by
side, the unsubstantiated claims, the counter-statements by the admin, together, overloading it to their side, then call it a news story. That my friend, is 'crazy'."
What more can be said about this, than what "thebug"
has just said so eloquently... It's good to hear from you again my Brotha!
And as you can see, you did have the time to do this one after all!
Looking forward to more in the future, time permitting of course! - tha
malcontent)
Democratic senators on Wednesday denounced the plan as "crazy" and "mindboggling" in light of a new warning that al-Qaida may try more suicide
hijackings.
(I
guess there is one more thing that can be said... It's "mind boggling"
to me that the Editorial staff at the AP cannot catch the most basic of
mistakes... It's two words AP, get it? - tha malcontent)
That warning prompted an order from the Transportation Security Administration directing U.S. airlines to immediately begin more intensive screening of travelers flying out of a foreign airport into the United States, then connecting to another foreign destination.
As for the marshals program, a key Republican said he was adamantly opposed to any effort to shift money away from it.
"It is foolish to even consider cutting back the number of air marshals on commercial flights," said Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that handles the Homeland Security Department's budget.
It's unclear how many of the estimated several thousand air marshal jobs could be affected by the proposed cuts.
Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Wednesday that the proposed budget cut actually is $74 million because the air marshals had $30 million left over from last year. That would mean the cuts would apply only to an increase in support staff and some advanced training, he said. There are no plans right now to cut air marshal jobs, he said.
Separately, the department was to announce plans Thursday to begin testing a program to assign a threat level to all airline passengers. Privacy advocates had criticized the passenger screening program, fearing it could lead to unconstitutional invasions of privacy and database mix-ups that could brand innocent people as security risks.
The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System was ordered by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. As originally conceived, it was to develop a nationwide computer system that would check such things as credit reports and consumer transactions and compare passenger names with those on government watch lists.
But Nuala O'Connor Kelly, Homeland Security's chief privacy officer, said Wednesday the program would be narrowed to exclude credit history or medical records. It will use government data on people as well as information from commercial databases.
People will have a right to write or call in to find out what's in the database about them, Kelly said. The program will be tested using the names and addresses of real people for several months at a secure government location.
The Transportation Security Administration asked Congress last Friday for permission to cut $104 million, or about 20 percent, of the funding for the air marshals program to help offset the agency's $900 million budget deficit.
The next day, Homeland Security, the TSA's parent agency, sent an advisory to airlines and law enforcement agencies warning that al-Qaida may try more suicide hijackings.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and other lawmakers also were upset by reports that air marshals had received a directive saying they would no longer be allowed to fly missions requiring overnight stays to save money on hotel bills. Such a move would reduce the number of cross-country and international flights with marshals on board.
A Homeland Security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no directive was sent by the agency. It was not clear whether the idea has been abandoned.
Asa Hutchison, undersecretary for border and transportation security, sent a memo on Wednesday authorizing other federal law enforcement agencies to augment the air marshals.
Still, Democrats accused the administration of scrimping on resources needed to defend Americans against terrorists.
"They don't have enough money to do the job for homeland security," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said. "This sorry episode won't be the last. Every time there's a problem in one place they pull money out of another."
There were only 32 armed, undercover marshals on mostly international flights on the day of the Sept. 11 attacks. Afterward, thousands were rushed into service, though the exact number is kept secret for security reasons.
About 5 percent of the marshals quit or were fired in the past year, according to TSA spokesman Brian Turmail. He would not say whether those positions had been filled.
Wisconsin Rep. David Obey, ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, tried unsuccessfully last week to add $50 million to a spending bill to keep the air marshals at full strength this year. His proposal was defeated 32-21 by the committee, voting along party lines.
With an average of 35,000 flights in the United States every day, the marshals can't fly on every plane. But the possibility that they might be on a flight is a deterrence, most agree.
___
On the Net:
TSA: http://www.tsa.gov
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redistributed.
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