Editorial: Don’t mess with airline security

Monday, Jan. 7, 2002 | 8:36 a.m.

President Bush's nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration, a new federal agency created to take control of airline security, shouldn't be having any trouble getting confirmed by the Senate. John Magaw, the former director of both the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, wants to take the bull by the horns. The airline industry wanted to delay by one month the Jan. 18 deadline that will require checked baggage to be screened. But Magaw, during last month's Senate confirmation hearing, said the airline industry must meet the new deadline, a refreshing change since the Department of Transportation has had a cozy relationship with the industry in the past.

Magaw should be a shoo-in, but his nomination has hit a snag. The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Tom Harkin, is using a parliamentary maneuver to prevent the Senate from taking action on Magaw's nomination. Harkin has placed a hold on the nomination, according to a report last week by the Associated Press, because the Iowa Democrat is upset that Republicans blocked the Senate from voting on Democratic legislation that would have reauthorized farm programs through 2006. It is bad enough that Harkin is preventing a vote on a transportation matter that doesn't have anything to do with agriculture, but it simply is incredible that in the aftermath of Sept. 11, and the security breaches that have occurred since then, that Harkin in any way would delay the confirmation of the man who will be in charge of U.S. airline security.

The president does have an option of getting around Harkin's obstruction, however. Bush can make a recess appointment, which would allow Magaw to go to work while the Senate considers his nomination. Such a move, though, could upset senators who might view this as a way to circumvent their constitutional responsibility of confirming presidential appointees. But this is an instance where the president should make a recess appointment. The Transportation Security Administration assumes control of airline security by Feb. 19 and Magaw should be in the job now so that the new agency will hit the ground running.