WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee, this evening responded to reports that airport employees at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport are not consistently enforcing screening requirements for those entering the secure area of the airport late at night.

Rep. Markey said, “There is no excuse for letting down our guard, even in the dead of night. The involvement of a former air cargo handler in the foiled plot at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York demonstrates that terrorists are already attempted to infiltrate the workforces at airports. Flashing a badge is no substitute for the physical checks that every passenger, airline employee and airport worker should go through for access to the secure areas of airports.”

In February 2004, Rep. Markey introduced H.R. 3798, the Secure Existing Aviation Loopholes (SEAL) Act, which included, among other aviation security measures, new screening requirements for airport workers so that all airport employees with access to secure areas of airports are checked for dangerous objects and undergo background checks.
 

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