ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 10, 1996 TAG: 9609100048
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
NOTE: Lede
Promising safer skies, President Clinton issued orders Monday to tighten airport security and challenged Congress to support a $1.1 billion anti-terrorism crackdown. ``Terrorists don't wait,'' the president said. ``And neither should we.''
Clinton unveiled the proposals in an Oval Office ceremony designed to reassure jittery Americans after last year's Oklahoma City bombing and the explosion of TWA Flight 800 less than two months ago.
``As a result of these steps, not only will the American people feel safer, they will be safer,'' the president declared of the proposal.
The White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, which unveiled its recommendations last week, formally presented them to the president Monday. In embracing the report, Clinton:
*Ordered immediate criminal background checks of airline workers with access to secure areas.
*Ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to set up a system in selected airports to match each piece of luggage with a passenger.
*Promised to sign an executive order making the National Transportation Safety Board the point agency to help families of plane crash victims.
*Announced that the U.S. military will provide several dozen specially trained dogs for security at key airports.
While promising to work with Clinton, Republicans said the action was unnecessary: The president signed a GOP-backed $1 billion anti-terrorism bill in April.
``The administration would be wise to utilize the resources Congress has already provided before it requests additional funding,'' said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Also included in the commission recommendations were the purchase of 54 explosive detection systems to screen baggage, 410 trace detectors to screen carry-on items and 114 new canine teams at U.S. airports.
A $10 million computer system to track passengers with suspicious travel patterns and $31 million to bolster inspection of outbound international air cargo were also proposed.
And the report called for increased FBI staffing to expand investigations of domestic terrorist groups such as right-wing militias at a cost of $92 million.
Some of the ideas are old. The report calls for $21.3 million for a study of markers - called taggants - that can be placed in explosive material. The Republican Congress has repeatedly blocked the Clinton-backed measure.
Vice President Al Gore, who was chairman of the commission, warned against expecting too much.
``There is no silver bullet, or single magic answer,'' he said. ``So we're presenting a combination of approaches - some high-tech, some low-tech, even some no-tech.''
Though terrorism is suspected in the July 17 TWA crash, Clinton did not speculate about its cause. ``We don't have an answer for you,'' he said.
The airport safety recommendations would cost $429.4 million. On top of that, Clinton proposed $667.4 million in anti-terrorism measures that are not solely aimed at airport security. They included:
*$436.9 million to improve security at U.S. facilities, in America and around the world. That includes $122.6 million to relocate troops and improve security at military installations in the Persian Gulf after the June bombing that killed 19 American airmen in Saudi Arabia.
*$114 million to expand and strengthen federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
*$117 million to protect Americans in the aftermath of terrorists acts, including $93 million to the Pentagon so it can train soldiers about the tactics of terrorists and how to use physical protection equipment.
About one third of the $1.1 billion package will be covered by a supplemental spending bill the administration will send to Congress, the Office of Management and Budget said.
Requesting swift action from Congress, Clinton said, ``We need these laws and we need them now before Congress recesses for the year.''
Administration officials said the rest of the money would come from current budgets, though they did not say what programs would be cut to pay for the anti-terrorism plans. With an election approaching, it was unclear whether the spending bill had much chance in the GOP Congress.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 linesby CNB