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S.E. Wood Closing the loopholes Last week's article dealt with what might
have been, had recommendations on airline security been implemented.
But that was then, and now is now. There is still a lot of unfinished
business for Congress to address. Here are just a few of the
more obvious areas that need immediate attention. The case of Zacarias Moussaoui: You've seen
his mug shot in recent TV news programs as being an alleged accomplice
in the Sept. 11 tragedy. He was arrested this past Aug. 17 for
immigration violations. He came under suspicion after a flight
school in Eagan, MN, notified authorities that Moussaoui had
paid $8,000 in cash for instructions to steer a Boeing 747, even
though he had never flown solo in a single-engine plane. He even
commented that he wasn't interested in learning how to take off
or land, just steer. On Sept. 1, the FBI was informed by French
intelligence that Moussaoui had spent two months in Pakistan
just before coming to the U.S. The French cable also noted that
Pakistan is the site for several of Osama bin Laden's terrorist
training camps. With this cause for suspicion, the FBI sought
permission from the Justice Department to seek a warrant to pursue
what they believed to be a criminal conspiracy or terrorist planning.
Their request was turned down as being in violation of protections
offered aliens under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,
a law enacted in 1978 as the result of hearings conducted by
U.S. Sen. Frank Church, D-ID, intended to "increase respect
for civil liberties" - even those of illegal aliens. So
Moussaoui was set free just before the Sept. 11 attack. This
law needs to be revised or repealed NOW! Immigration encouragement: The U.S. State
Department has a program designed to encourage immigration from
all seven of the countries on the Department's own terrorist
watch list! The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, Section 203(c)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act, sponsored by U.S. Sen.
Ted Kennedy, D-MA, has a goal of issuing permanent resident visas
to 50,000 foreign nationals to "increase the diversity of
the U.S. immigration pool." These are in addition to the
usual employment and family-based visas granted each year. Under this program, permanent resident visas
are granted to immigrants from all seven of the countries listed
as "state sponsors of international terrorism" - Iran,
Iraq, Syria, Libya, Cuba, North Korea and the Sudan. There are
13 million applicants for this year's 50,000 person quota. U.S.
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-CO, had already introduced legislation to
abolish this program prior to the Sept. 11 incident. He plans
to reintroduce it in the current Congressional session, but he
expects that it will be difficult to get it to the House Floor
for a vote. Airport Surveillance: More than 80 percent
of the airport screeners at Washington's Dulles International
Airport are not U.S. citizens. So testified Kenneth Mead, inspector
general of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The highjacked
American Airlines flight that crashed into the Pentagon originated
at Dulles. Mead further testified that knives and other items
were found hidden in the cushions of planes that were grounded
the week after Sept. 11. It was his opinion that these knives, and
the weapons actually used by the terrorists, could well have
been planted by baggage handlers and other airport workers who
had bypassed security checks. But what can we expect when airport
security in 46 U.S. airports is under contract with a British
firm, Argenbright Security, which also furnishes 40 percent of
all the nation's airport security personnel? This same firm was
recently fined $1 million and placed on 36-month probation for
"failing to conduct background checks on its airport-security
employees at the Philadelphia airport." But how about the
other 45 airport locations? These are just a few national security areas
that need attention. Surely there are many more. If ever the
climate is right for correcting these political blunders, the
time is now. Contact your Congressional representatives! · · · |