Fri, Sep 10, 2004
Urges Members To Oppose "Outrageous" House Bill
The EAA wants all aviation
enthusiasts to contact their Congressional representatives and
strongly oppose a newly introduced bill by Rep. Anthony Weiner
(D-NY).
H.R. 5035 would require the Department of Homeland Security to
create a method of screening all passengers and property on each
flight of all passenger aircraft in the US, including general
aviation aircraft of all types. It would also prohibit any
non-airline aircraft from flying within 1,500 feet of any structure
or building, and prohibit non-airline aircraft from flying over any
US city with a population of 1 million or more. It would
further require that pilots of all aircraft in US airspace remain
in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration, presumably by
radio, regardless of altitude or location.
"The extreme shortsightedness of this bill speaks for itself and
completely counters the government's own security experts, who have
continually stated that general aviation does not pose a
significant security threat to the US," said Doug Macnair, EAA's
vice president of government relations. "It's sad that the solemn
anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks is being used to
introduce this bill, which does nothing to enhance security and
smacks of election-year grandstanding."
With 17,000 landing facilities and nearly 200,000 aircraft in
the United States, EAA maintains that it is inconceivable that the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FAA could ever fund and
administer such a plan. DHS and the Transportation Security
Administration have repeatedly indicated that general aviation does
not warrant such levels of security when compared to other
transportation modes and threats.
"We as a nation need to focus our limited resources on the most
serious vulnerabilities and threats to our security," Macnair
added. "TSA has made extensive studies of those threats and nowhere
has that agency ever suggested such Draconian measures as those
proposed in this bill."
FMI: www.house.gov, www.eaa.org
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