Beefed-up security sought at U.S. airports
Heinrich joins other Dems in seeking more search teams, training
WASHINGTON — Democratic senators including Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said Tuesday that the Brussels airport bombing that killed more than 35 people and injured hundreds more last month was “a wake-up call” that should prompt the U.S. government to beef up security at perimeter areas of airports, train stations and other transportation hubs.
Heinrich joined Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Senate Democrats at a news conference Tuesday to unveil a series of security-related amendments they hope to attach to a Federal Aviation Administration funding bill under consideration on the Senate floor this week.
The proposals include doubling from 30 to 60 the number of government “viper teams” that stop and search suspicious passengers in public areas before screening, often using bomb-sniffing dogs. They also want more federal grants to train law enforcement officers in how to prepare for and respond to mass shootings at vulnerable transportation areas.
“These are common-sense approaches that say we are going to respond to this terrorist threat and we’re going to protect Americans and we are never going to give in,” Heinrich told a Capitol Hill news conference. “Americans enjoy every day traveling around this country, visiting their grandkids, engaging in commerce, going on vacation — we need to protect that, and that is what this proposal really does.”
The Democratic proposals are in addition to a bipartisan measure also under consideration in the Senate that would tighten the screening of workers who have access to airport
restricted areas.
On March 22, 35 people — including three suicide bombers — were killed and 300 injured in bombings at a Brussels airport and subway station. In October, a charter flight operated by a Russian airline, Metrojet, exploded after departure from Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport in Egypt, killing all 224 people aboard. U.S. authorities suspect the cause was a bomb.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell didn’t commit to supporting the Democratic measures Wednesday but indicated they would be considered. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who joined Democrats at the news conference, endorsed the proposals. He said that the U.S. has no intelligence to indicate violent extremists are plotting a Brussels-style attack in the U.S., but that it is important to remain vigilant against “self-radicalized lone actors” at public places and events.
However, civil libertarians raised concerns about the Democratic initiatives, including proposals to expand the viper teams that aim to identify suspicious actors before they enter security areas. Peter Simonson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said the strategy is “not smart security” and appears to violate Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
“Roving bands of agents randomly searching and detaining travelers at a handful of transit stations, absent credible evidence of an impending attack, is simply harassment with no real security benefit,” Simonson told the Journal in an email.
Simonson noted that federal courts “have carved out an exception to the probable cause requirement where airports are concerned,” but that the viper teams have extended that exception “to all transit contexts, detain- ing and searching travelers at railroad stations, bus stations, ferries, car tunnels, ports, subways, truck weigh stations, rest areas, and special events.
“This is a significant expansion of authority that we don’t believe meets constitutional requirements,” he said.
Schumer suggested that the changes, if approved by Congress, could be implemented at airports across the country.
“We need to tighten security in vulnerable areas in our biggest airports so the tragedy that struck Brussels doesn’t land on our doorstep,” Schumer said. “We have to have all air security be better at all airports big and small.”
Daniel Jiron, spokesman for the Albuquerque International Sunport, said the airport is generally supportive of security upgrades, but that airport officials would want to see details and cost estimates before endorsing the Democratic proposals.
“Anything that’s going to enhance security and safety at our airport in general we’d be supportive of,” Jiron said.
James Fuller, a Roswell native and former aide to former Republican Sen. Pete Domenici, served as chief of staff of the Transportation Security Administration in Washington from 2004 to 2005. Fuller said the Democratic senators’ proposals unveiled Wednesday make sense.
“I think the senators’ proposal is timely,” Fuller said. “It’s something we struggled with when we first started putting forward a higher level of security in all of the transportation hubs. The softest and most concerning location in an airport … is at the baggage terminal, because it’s unsecure and it’s hightraffic. There are plenty of opportunities to hide a very large weapon. The challenge you have is the balance you have to maintain between facilitating transportation and commerce and securing that environment as best as possible.”