5 December 2001

BY O. MAX GARDNER III

Webster's Dictionary, on the other hand, defines "déjà vu" as "the illusion that one has previously had an experience that is actually new to one."  Whatever the term really means one thing is clear:  Although we still have many illusions about the state of air safety in America, the 1996 Report by prepared by Vice President Albert Gore on "Aviation Safety and Security" is not one of them.  Rather than an illusion, this Report is a clear, concise, and compelling statement of fact.

The history of this Report begins on July 25, 1996 when President Clinton created the White House Commission on Aviation and Security to address the following questions:  to look at the changing security threat, and how we can address it; to examine changes in the aviation industry, and how government should adapt its regulation to it; and to look at the technological changes coming to air traffic control, and what should be done to take best advantage of them. 

In the wake of concerns over the crash of Trans World Airlines Flight 800, President Clinton asked the Commission to focus its attention on the first issue of security.  He asked for an initial report on aviation security within 45 days, including an action plan to deploy new high technology machines to detect the most sophisticated explosives. 

Vice President Gore was named as Chairperson of this Commission and in late July of 1996 the Vice President led a site visit to Dulles International Airport, where he and other Commissioners saw airport and airlines operations first-hand, and discussed issues with front line workers.  The Commission conducted many other on-site investigations and established a homepage on the Internet (http://www.aviationcommission.gov).  On September 9, 1996, move than five years ago, the Commission submitted its initial report to the President.  It is this report and the lack of an appropriate Congressional response that raises extremely difficult and troublesome questions in light of the events of September 11, 2001.

President Clinton's orders to this Commission on the issue of Aviation Security were clear and concise:  "We know we cannot make the world risk-free, but we can reduce the risks we face and we have to take the fight to the terrorist.  If we have the will, we can find the means."

In responding to this Presidential directive, the Commission advised the President that the "Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence sources have been warning that the threat of terrorism is changing in two important ways.  First, it is no longer just an overseas threat from foreign terrorists.  People and places in the United States have joined the list of targets, and Americans have joined the ranks of terrorists.  The bombings of the World Trade Center in New York and the Federal Building in Oklahoma City are clear examples of this shift, as is the conviction of Ramzi Yousef for attempting to bomb twelve American airlines out of the sky over the Pacific Ocean.  The second change is that in addition to well-known, established terrorist groups, it is becoming more common to find terrorists working alone or in ad-hoc groups, some of whom are not afraid to die in carrying out their designs."

These are not the only chilling words from the Report of Vice President Gore's Commission.  The introduction to the report makes one almost devoid of sensation and feeling in light of September 11.  The Report begins with the following:

"When terrorists attack an American airliner, they are attacking the United States.  They have so little respect for our values-so little regard for human life or the principles of justice that are the foundation of American society-that they would destroy innocent children and devoted mothers and fathers completely at random.  This cannot be tolerated, or allowed to intimidate free societies.  There must be a concerted national will to fight terrorism.  There must be a willingness to apply sustained economic, political and commercial pressure on countries sponsoring terrorists.  There must be an unwavering commitment to pursuing terrorists and bringing them to justice.  There must be the resolve to punish those who would violate sanctions imposed against terrorist states."  . . . The terrorist threat is changing and growing.  Therefore, it is important to improve security not just against familiar threats, such as explosives in checked baggage, but also to explore means of assessing and countering emerging threats, such as the use of biological or chemical agents, or the use of missiles. . . . The Commission believes that aviation security should be a system of systems, layered, integrated, and working together to produce the highest possible levels of protection."

The words quoted from the Report of Vice President Gore alarmingly sound just like the words we hear today from President Bush, from the Secretary of Defense, and from the Attorney General.  What happened to the recommendations of the Vice President's Commission?  What happened to the Report?  How did the Republican Congress respond to these warnings?  Was somebody asleep at the switch or did somebody simply fail to even activate the switch?  Was the ball dropped or was the ball never picked up in the first place?  In short, what is wrong with this picture?

Before answering these highly disturbing questions, it is necessary to review some of the most relevant specific safety recommendations submitted to President Clinton by the Commission.  Those recommendations were as follows:

1.  The imposition of an aviation user security surcharge and of additional local security fees to pay for the improvement of airport security and to make the issue of aviation security a "national security issue" to be supervised by the federal government.

2.  To eliminate curb-side check-in, electronic ticketing, advance boarding passes, and other measures so as to improve that all passengers are positively identified and subjected to increased security procedures before they board aircraft.

3.  To create programs and to anticipate and plan for the possible use of chemical and biological weapons as tools of terrorism with respect to the aviation travel industry.

4.  To create a nationwide non-profit security corporation to ensure that those charged with providing security for the 500 million passengers a year in the United States are the best qualified and trained in the industry.

5.  To require the FAA to work with other federal agencies to promote the professionalism of security personnel through a program that would include licensing and performance standards; adequate, common and recurrent training that considers human factors; emphasis on reducing turnover rates; rewards for performance; opportunities for advancement; a national rank and grade structure to permit employees to find opportunities in other areas; regional and national competitions to identify highly skilled teams; and, an agreement among users to hire based on performance, not just cost.

6.  To develop comprehensive and effective means by which to secure aircraft and other controlled areas from unauthorized intrusion; to use radio frequency transponders to track the location of people and objects in airport controlled areas, including aircraft.

7.  To direct the officials responsible for oversight of security procedures at the nation's 450 commercial airports to convene relevant aviation and law enforcement entities for the purpose of implementing the Commission's recommendations and further improving aviation safety and security and to develop a procedure to intercept and limit the funds used by these new terrorists.

Vice President Gore and his Commission recognized that one of the most potent weapons of Osama bin Laden type terrorist groups was their financial resources and the means to move money secretly from one cell to another.  Succinctly stated, it was recognized that it takes a man with means to fight a nation of means.  During his administration, President Clinton attempted to implement portions of the Report by granting to the Secretary of the Treasury broad powers to ban foreign nations and banks for accessing American financial markets.  This proposed legislation was killed by Phil Gramm, the Republican Senator from the State of Texas.