March 16, 2005
"We will act, whenever it is necessary, to protect the lives and the liberty of the American people."
Airports are pushing the federal government to spend $5 billion on a new luggage screening system that could more accurately check for bombs, speed up passenger lines and save taxpayers billions of dollars.
But the Bush administration has cut back drastically on funding the new system. It says airports should pay for it themselves. More than 50 airports want to install the new equipment but haven't received federal money, even though a government audit says the system could pay for itself in just over a year.
"They are not without the resources to do some of these projects on their own," says Transportation Security Administration (TSA) associate administrator Tom Blank. He says airports could fund the projects by borrowing money and raising fees on airlines.
Posted by Eddie Tews at March 16, 2005 03:04 PM
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