Senators angered by Mineta statement on baggage inspections

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., said Wednesday he was disappointed in Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta's disclosure Tuesday that the department would be unable to meet the 60-day deadline to screen all checked bags in the freshly signed aviation security law.

However, Hollings said he has no immediate plans to bring Mineta before the committee to discuss the issue or to offer any public suggestions on whom the President should choose to fill the new deputy secretary position the new law creates for security.

"The ball is in the President's court. We've got to get a can- do person in there," Hollings said.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said it was "extraordinary" that the secretary had said he would be unable to comply, and added that he suspects the President is "not happy" about the compliance announcement Mineta made.

However, the White House Wednesday sought to deflect criticism, blaming Congress instead.

"In the course of the discussions on the legislation, the administration made it plain to the Congress that they could set a 60-day deadline if they sought, but that was not realistic-- that it may not be able to be done," White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said. Nevertheless, Fleischer added that the administration would "make every effort" to meet the deadline.

But Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said the announcement was "not acceptable to Congress."

"They [the administration] begged for Transportation to have it," said Hollings, who noted that the Senate bill would have given the Justice Department oversight, "and now they've said, by the way, we're not going to comply."

Mineta told reporters after a speech on transportation security Tuesday that there were not enough employees, bomb- sniffing dogs or explosive-detecting machines to screen all checked bags within 60 days, but that security personnel would try to screen as many as possible.

DOT had previously said it could screen all bags by 2014, but members of Congress were adamant that the deadline be moved up during debate over the bill in the last month.

The landmark aviation security bill signed into law before Thanksgiving would put the federal government in charge of security at nearly all airports, as well as significantly increase the standards security personnel would have to meet.

It would also speed up requirements for checking all bags, secure cockpit doors, and increase the number of air marshals on planes.

Hollings conceded that it would be difficult to meet the screening deadline, but pointed out that the final bill's language would give the administration much flexibility in meeting the screening deadline, including requiring the FAA to set goals and for DOT to use current bomb detection technology.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, said on the floor Wednesday that he was hopeful the administration would meet the deadline, but noted it would be difficult.

The House bill originally called for all checked bags to be screened by 2003, which is "much more realistic," an aide to Young said, given the difficulties faced with technology and personnel shortfalls the new force is expected to encounter.

Keith Koffler contributed to this report.