The rapid US revamp of airport security legislation has become bogged down by a fight between the Democrat-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives over whether to turn baggage screeners into federal employees.
The Senate, without dissent, had passed a bill allowing for as many as 28,000 workers employed in the private sector to become government employees. But the House bill takes a different tack, giving President Bush the final say on whether screeners should be public or private employees.
House Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young says he will fight the Senate, setting the stage for gridlock in a measure that was one of the cornerstones in a drive to improve lax airport security. The dispute, combined with the anthrax scare that has shut parts of the Capitol, suggests that the measure's fast track has been sidelined.
Source: Flight International