Editorial: GOP just can’t stand government

Friday, Nov. 2, 2001 | 5:02 a.m.

At one point last week the Bush administration suggested that the president might sign into law legislation that would federalize airport security. But the hint of compromise vanished quickly as the White House and GOP House leaders put on a full-court press to rein in wavering Republican congressmen who wanted to end the privatization of 28,000 airport security employees.

In the end, Bush secured a narrow win in the House as the Senate's federalization plan was rejected. But Bush scored a Pyrrhic victory, because even if the House bill were to become law -- and that's not certain given the Senate's bipartisan, unanimous support of federalization -- it will result in the continuation of badly paid, poorly trained airport security workers. Airline travel has dipped significantly amid concerns about inadequate security, a drop that has hurt the economy. Public confidence must be restored in airport security, but neither airline safety nor the economy will improve under the House bill.

The vote in the House was the first major ideological split between Republicans and Democrats since Sept. 11, a divide that defies logic. Airport security, especially after the September terrorist attacks, should be considered a law enforcement responsibility. Minimum-wage employees, with little training, aren't adequately equipped to screen for terrorists and explosives. Police officers, customs agents, immigration officials and members of the armed forces all share one thing in common: they're government employees, which is exactly the way it should be with airport security personnel. House Republicans showed that they're obsessed with privatization, but their government-be-damned philosophy is wrong. They fail to understand that the U.S. government isn't the enemy in the war on terrorism.