Editorial: Technology falling behind

Thursday, Aug. 17, 2006 | 7:33 a.m.

Although air travelers have only recently been banned from bringing hand lotions, coffee drinks and other liquids aboard flights, members of Congress have long been concerned about the lack of technology for detecting liquid explosives.

In the wake of British officials recently thwarting a terrorist plot to blow up 10 U.S.-bound flights over the Atlantic, the Associated Press has reported that a Senate Appropriations Committee report in June characterized the Homeland Security Department's research division as "a rudderless ship" that has been impotent in developing long-term strategies and new technologies.

Among the department's missteps was a failure to spend $200 million in research and development funding, which had come with a use-it-or-lose-it caveat. Lawmakers had no choice but to rescind the unused money, AP reports.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., told USA Today that the government's failure to use bomb-specific screening methods to detect explosives on passengers or in carry-on luggage is "the greatest vulnerability that we have." Devices that can detect explosive substances on passengers exist, but the Transportation Security Administration, a division of Homeland Security, has been slow to install them, DeFazio said.

DeFazio, the ranking Democrat on the House Aviation Committee, and Rep. John Mica, a Florida Republican and the committee's chairman, said they have mentioned liquid bomb-detection weaknesses to U.S. authorities numerous times since 2001. Japan has been using a screening device that detects some liquid explosives and has offered such technology to the United States, AP reports. But Homeland Security has not used it.

Earlier this summer, the Bush administration proposed taking $6 million from Homeland Security's research division and using it to cover a funding shortage in the program that provides security for government buildings. Both the Senate and House rejected the proposal, but it is clear that even the White House undervalues such research.

For all the billions it has received, the Homeland Security Department has precious little to contribute toward improving technology that could protect American flights from attacks involving liquid explosives. This agency must develop strategies for such research and also take immediate steps to employ some of the detection technologies already available. Terrorists will continue finding ways to build a better bomb, and America's airports and airlines must be better prepared.