Editorial: Prioritize security, not Jan. 1 deadline

Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2002 | 8:55 a.m.

Congress needs to quickly provide a deadline reprieve to the Transportation Security Administration, which is proceeding now as if it will meet the date by which it must screen all baggage at all airports. The TSA may appear confident, but the nation's airport managers are aghast. No plan has been distributed that details how this massive undertaking will be implemented uniformly throughout the country. No airport has anywhere near enough equipment or funding. Airports have not completed, or in most cases even begun, the remodeling that will be required to install the right number of explosive detection devices. The government foresees hand-checking for millions of bags, yet hasn't answered basic questions, such as: Should passengers stop locking their baggage? Who would be responsible for stolen or damaged items?

The TSA was created by Congress a year ago as part of our awakening after Sept. 11, and its first directive was to ensure that by Jan. 1, 2003, all baggage would be screened. With the horror of what happened after 19 terrorists boarded planes with box knives fresh on everyone's mind, no one questioned the deadline. Some time later it became apparent that the deadline was unrealistic. Randy Walker, director of aviation at McCarran International Airport, sounded an early alarm, one which is now emanating from nearly all of the nation's larger airports. The TSA says it will make the deadline by implementing a raft of strategies, including the use of bomb-sniffing dogs. Walker foresees chaotic delays in his terminal if the deadline is not extended for at least a year while a coherent plan is readied and preparations made. The House has passed a bill to extend the deadline. The Senate should too.