[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 516 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 516
To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow the arming of pilots of
cargo aircraft, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 5, 2003
Mr. Bunning (for himself, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Craig, Mr. Allen,
Mr. Nickles, Mr. Burns, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Thomas, Ms. Snowe, Mr.
Miller, Mr. Campbell, and Mr. Sessions) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow the arming of pilots of
cargo aircraft, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Arming Cargo Pilots Against
Terrorism Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) During the 107th Congress, both the Senate and the
House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed measures that
would have armed pilots of cargo aircraft.
(2) Cargo aircraft do not have Federal air marshals,
trained cabin crew, or determined passengers to subdue
terrorists.
(3) Cockpit doors on cargo aircraft, if present at all,
largely do not meet the security standards required for
commercial passenger aircraft.
(4) Cargo aircraft vary in size and many are larger and
carry larger amounts of fuel than the aircraft hijacked on
September 11, 2001.
(5) Aircraft cargo frequently contains hazardous material
and can contain deadly biological and chemical agents and
quantities of agents that cause communicable diseases.
(6) Approximately 12,000 of the nation's 90,000 commercial
pilots serve as pilots and flight engineers on cargo aircraft.
(7) There are approximately 2,000 cargo flights per day in
the United States, many of which are loaded with fuel for
outbound international travel or are inbound from foreign
airports not secured by the Transportation Security
Administration.
(8) Aircraft transporting cargo pose a serious risk as
potential terrorist targets that could be used as weapons of
mass destruction.
(9) Pilots of cargo aircraft deserve the same ability to
protect themselves and the aircraft they pilot as other
commercial airline pilots.
(10) Permitting pilots of cargo aircraft to carry firearms
creates an important last line of defense against a terrorist
effort to commandeer a cargo aircraft.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that a member
of a flight deck crew of a cargo aircraft should be armed with a
firearm to defend the cargo aircraft against an attack by terrorists
that could result in the use of the aircraft as a weapon of mass
destruction or for other terrorist purposes.
SEC. 3. ARMING CARGO PILOTS AGAINST TERRORISM.
Section 44921 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``passenger'' each place
that it appears; and
(2) in subsection (k)--
(A) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by striking ``or,'' and all that
follows; and
(ii) by inserting ``or any other flight
deck crew member.''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(3) All-cargo air transportation.--For the purposes of
this section, the term air transportation includes all-cargo
air transportation.''.
SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION.
(a) Time for Implementation.--The training of pilots as Federal
flight deck officers required in the amendments made by section 3 shall
begin as soon as practicable and no later than 90 days after the date
of enactment of this Act.
(b) Effect on Other Laws.--The requirements of subsection (a) shall
have no effect on the deadlines for implementation contained in section
44921 of title 49, United States Code, as in effect on the day before
the date of enactment of this Act.
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