Dem lawmaker wants markup of flight school security bill

A Democratic lawmaker is calling on Republicans to allow a markup of a bill to close a loophole in flight training he filed after a report said this month that potential terrorists could be allowed to train in the United States.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Monday that the Republican-led panel should quickly schedule a hearing to consider his bill, H.R. 6159, which has been dubbed the "Flight School Security Act of 2012."

The legislation was filed after lawmakers received a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report report showing that it was possible for foreign flight students to be cleared for flying lessons earlier than they would be cleared to fly commercially on U.S. airlines.

Thompson said Monday that it was important for Congress to act quickly to change that.

"H.R. 6159 would require all person seeking flight training to be checked against the terrorist watchlist before they receive training," he said in a letter to Homeland Security Transportation Security Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers.  

"I was interested to hear you say during a recent appearance on the Fox Business Network that you 'don't see how anybody could defend somebody who is on the no-fly list being allowed to learn how to fly a plane,'" Thompson, who is the ranking Democrat on the panel, continued.  "For this measure to come before the full House, H.R. 6159 must first be acted upon by you as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation."

Under current rules, flight students are certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before they are checked against the national “No Fly” list.

Lawmakers grilled TSA officials about the possibility of another instance of a potential airplane hijacking receiving flight training in a U.S. school.

"Moussaoui was actually flying the same simulators I flew at Northwest Airlines, so this is kind of a personal issue for me," Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.) said during a July 18 hearing in a reference to Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen who was convicted of conspiring to take part in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks after taking flight lessons in Oklahoma.  
 
Thompson said Monday that his bill could help prevent that, if it gets consideration in the Republican-led House.

"If enacted, the Flight School Security Act of 2012 could help prevent persons on the no-fly list from obtaining the skill necessary to operate an aircraft with potentially deadly consequences," he said.

The transportation security panel has three hearings scheduled this week, including an investigation about "misconduct" among TSA employees, but as of Monday, Thompson's flight school security had not been scheduled for a markup.

Lawmakers are expected to begin their traditional August recess next week.

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