HILL CONSIDERS WAYS TO BOOST AIRPORT SECURITY

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• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87B00858R000600940028-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
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• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
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• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: June 29, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Hill Considers Ways to Boost Airport Security
Responding to reports that many
foreign airports do not have adequate
security procedures, Congress is con-
sidering legislation encouraging a boy-
cott of those airports.
The flurry of congressional action
on the issue is the result of publicity
about airport security in the wake of a
rash of airplane hijacking and bomb-
ings overseas.
The hijacking of TWA flight 847,
and the subsequent hostage-taking of
40 passengers and crew, led the
United States to charge that the
Greek government had refused to
tighten security at the Athens airport,
where the hijackers boarded. (Weekly
Report p. 1200)
The House on June 19 passed a
bill (HR 2796) that required the
Transportation Department to notify
passengers of foreign airports that
have inadequate security. It also re-
stated provisions of current law that
allowed the department to impose a
boycott on U.S. service to those air-
ports. (Box, p. 1253)
And the House Foreign Affairs
Committee on June 25 approved a bill
(HR 2822) that requires the adminis-
Hijack Crisis Spurs
Boycott Proposals
tration to impose a boycott on airports
with lax security, with some excep-
tions. That bill is now pending before
the Public Works and Transportation
Committee, which plans to consider
the issue following the July 4 recess.
The Senate Commerce Committee
also is planning action after the recess.
The administration has submit-
ted its own proposal (S 1343, HR
2827), which authorizes the secretaries
of state and transportation to study
the need for putting "sky marshals"
aboard international flights of U.S.
carriers. If the study found such a pro-
gram to be needed, the administration
would be authorized to implement it,
using money from the Transportation
Department's airport trust fund.
The administration proposal also
authorizes the Transportation Depart-
ment to suspend service with any for-
eign airport that represents a threat to
the safety of U.S. passengers, aircraft
or crew, and if the public interest re-
quires such a suspension.
Foreign Affairs Action
The House Foreign Affairs Com-
mittee approved HR 2822 on June 25
after strengthening some provisions
but weakening others. Committee
leaders had introduced what they
called a tough anti-hijacking bill, but
after hearing administration com-
plaints about some provisions, they
had second thoughts and agreed to
modify them.
As reported, the bill gave the
president discretion in deciding
whether to impose a U.S. boycott on
foreign airports that do not meet secu-
rity standards.
During debate on the bill, com-
mittee members mentioned only Ath-
ens airport as a potential target of the
PAGE 1252-June 29, 1985
legislation. However, administration:
officials have said many other air
ports, especially in Latin America, do
not meet U.S. security standards and:
potentially could be affected.
The basic provision of the bill re-
quired the secretary of state to deter-
A tale of two airports: A Shiite militiaman guards TWA jet in Beirut and Greeks react
to U.S. criticism of security at Athens airport, where hijackers had boarded. House bill
would pressure Greece and other countries to boycott Beirut airport.
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Foreign Policy
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mine which foreign airports fail to
meet minimum U.S. security stan-
dards and to publish a travel advisory
about those airports. Administration
officials have opposed the publication
requirement, saying it would give po-
tential terrorists a handy list of vul-
nerable airports.
If any airport failing to meet U.S.
standards has not been brought up to
the standards within 120 days of the
secretary making his determination,
the president must impose a total boy-
cott on U.S. air service to and from the
country where the aiport is located.
The president must also suspend any
U.S. foreign aid to that country.
As introduced, the bill allowed
the president to waive the required
boycott on humanitarian grounds or if
he determines that it would be in the
U.S. national security interest to do
so. At the request of the administra-
tion, the committee also voted to allow
the president to waive the foreign aid
cutoff for the same reasons.
The president also could lift an
airport boycott or foreign aid suspen-
sion once the airport meets the U.S.
standards, and after notifying Con-
gress.
As originally drafted, the bill re-
quired foreign airports to meet mini-
mum international standards. But
Daniel A. Mica, D-Fla., said the stan-
dards established by the International
Civil Aviation Organization "are noth-
ing; they're voluntary," and so the
panel decided instead to impose
stricter U.S. standards. Mica said, for
example, that the United States re-
quires that all baggage be screened by
X-rays; the international standards
merely recommend baggage examina-
tions.
The committee also approved an
amendment aimed at forcing other
countries to boycott Beirut Interna-
tional Airport.
Sponsored by Tom Lantos, D-
Calif., it would allow the president to
impose a boycott on air service with
any country that allows flights to or
from an airport that is not under "de
facto control" of a government.
Lantos said Beirut airport is a
"pirates' nest" under the effective
control of Shiite Moslem militias -
not the Lebanese government. The
provision, he said, would force Greece
and several other countries to make a
choice: either continue service with
? Beirut, or continue service with the
United States.
White House spokesman Larry
Speakes said on June 25 that the ad-
Foreign Policy - 2
Already dii'the Books .. .
The terrorist hijacking of a TWA airliner and hostage-taking of Ameri-
cans has prompted Congress to seek legislation aimed at deterring such
activity in the future. (Story, p. 1252)
But this is not the first time Congress has sought means to combat
terrorism. Laws directly relevant to the Beirut hostage crisis are already on
the books.
Just last year, Congress approved a comprehensive anti-crime package
that included several provisions aimed at terrorism and hostage-taking. The
crime provisions were enacted as part of the continuing fiscal 1985 appro-
priations resolution (PL 98-473). (1984 Almanac pp. 215. 221)
The new law gave the United States "extra-territorial jurisdiction" -
authority to prosecute terrorists for actions committed beyond the bound-
aries of this country. A key section required imprisonment for up to life for
taking hostages either inside or outside the United States in order to
compel a third person or government to do or abstain from a particular act
as a condition for releasing the hostages.
A prosecution by the United States under this section is allowed in
three instances: if the suspected offender or person held hostage is a U.S.
national, the suspect is found in the United States, or the U.S. government
is the one the suspect is seeking to influence.
Congressional staffers who worked on the legislation said it was de-
signed to provide the United States with a legal basis to prosecute someone
from another country who has committed a crime against the United
States. But they added that enforcement of the law would be difficult -
particularly in a volatile situation like Lebanon - because it requires
cooperation from the foreign government.
In 1974 Congress enacted a law (PL 93-366) designed to prevent
aircraft hijacking. The law was passed to implement the 1971 Hague inter-
national hijacking convention. Among other things, the law provided a
rtrandatory death penalty when a death resulted from the hijacking. This is
the only federal crime under current law that carries a death penalty
designed to comply with a 1972 Supreme Court ruling on capital punish-
ment. (1974 Almanac p. 275)
The law also authorized the president to suspend air service to and
from a foreign country if he determined that country was acting inconsis-
tently with the convention. And it authorized the secretary of transporta-
tion to withhold the authority for foreign airlines to operate in the United
States if they fail to meet the minimum standards for security set out in the
convention.
-By Nadine Cohodas
ministration was considering steps to
force a closing of Beirut airport; the
options ranged from an international
boycott to bombing the airport run-
ways.
Other provisions of the bill:
? Authorized a doubling, to $10 mil-
lion per year in fiscal 1986-87, of the
funds for the State Department's
Anti-Terrorism. Program, which pro-
vides training and equipment to help
foreign countries fight terrorists.
? Authorized an additional $5 mil-
lion for the Transportation Depart-
ment to conduct research on equip-
ment to detect explosive devices. An
official of the Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration said the United States al-
ready has spent $15 million to develop
experimental equipment that is "ex-
tremely effective."
Transportation Secretary Eliza-
beth Hanford Dole on. June 27 an-
nounced several steps aimed at curb-
ing the threat of hijackings and
sabotage in the United States.
Among the steps were: elimina-
tion of curb-side baggage check-in for
international flights; increased scru-
tiny of carry-on baggage, even after it
has been X-rayed; improved security
training for airline employees; and a
required 24-hour hold on all cargo and
mail on passenger planes unless it has
been screened.
Dole announced the steps at a
meeting of the International Civil Avi-
ation group.
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Threat of lrerj~lorist Attacks:
/er
foreign Policy - 4
r PaneHBacks $3.5 Billion to Protect Embassies
?
s
A high-level State Department
commission has recommended that
the United States replace or renovate
many of its embassies and other diplo-
matic buildings overseas because they
are vulnerable to terrorist attacks and
other security threats.
The cost would be about $3.5 bil-
lion over five years, according to the
secretary of state's Advisory Panel on
Overseas Security. Headed by retired
Adm. Bobby R. Inman, former deputy
director of the CIA, the panel issued
its report on June 25.
An unclassifed version was made
public; the commission also prepared
a classified report said to include in-
formation from intelligence agencies
detailing the vulnerabilities of U.S.
diplomatic posts to terrorist attacks.
One panel member, Rep. Daniel
A. Mica, D-Fla., predicted Congress
will provide whatever money is needed
to boost security at U.S. diplomatic
facilities - a cost he predicted will be
close to $5 billion. Congress may not
approve that full amount in one lump
sum, however.
"Unless we hit some obstacles, it
will move very quickly" in Congress,
he said. "There is domestic outrage at
the situation."
Mica chairs the House Foreign
Affairs Subcommittee on Interna-
tional Operations, which has jurisdic-
tion over the State Department bud-
get.
The panel also recommended a
reshuffling of the State Department
bureaucracy to streamline security
programs and an expansion of the de-
partment's security force.
Secretary of State George P.
Shultz formed the commission in the
wake of 1983 and 1984 bombing at-
tacks on U.S. Embassy buildings and
Marine headquarters in Lebanon.
(1984 Almanac p. 114; 1983 Almanac
p. 113)
Shultz immediately embraced the
commission's recommendations "in
principle" and said he would forward
specific requests to Congress.
The Senate Foreign Relations
Committee has planned hearings on
the report in mid-July. An aide said
no decision has yet been made on how
to handle Shultz' requests for imple-
menting the commission recommen-
dations. But the most likely approach,
he said, is to craft an omnibus piece of
legislation authorizing funds for the
buildings, along with organization
changes.
Although it frequently trims the
State Department's operating budget,
Congress traditionally has provided
whatever the administration requests
for security at U.S. diplomatic posts
overseas.
In 1984, following the Beirut
bombings, Congress authorized $356.3
million for improved security at 35-50
embassies, even though President
Reagan had requested immediate au-
thorization of only $110.2 million,
with the rest to be provided later.
Congress followed through with ap-
propriations of the $110.2 million in
1984, and is readying to appropriate
about $250 million in a supplemental
spending bill (HR 2577) that is await-
ing conference action. (1984 Almanac
p. 114; supplemental, p. 1277)
The Inman report was released
onlyFfour days after one of the most
serious security breaches in recent
years at the State Department's head-
quarters in Washington, D.C. On June
A bombing attack on the U.S. Embassy Annex in Beirut in 1984, in which scores
died or were hurt, was one of the incidents that prompted the commission's formation.
21 the son of a department staffer en-
tered the building using his depen-
dent's pass, went. to the seventh floor
and, using a rifle concealed in a bag,
shot and killed his mother and then
killed himself. The incident occurred a
little more than 100 feet from an office
where Shultz was working. Building
security was tightened immediately.
A Growing Threat
The Inman commission warned
that diplomats and other Americans
serving overseas in official capacities
will face increasing threats from "cal-
culated terror campaigns [and] psy-
chological conflict waged by nation or
sub-group against nation, with an ever
broadening range of targets, weapons
and tactics."
It cited a consensus among U.S.
officials "that terrorism will be with us
for a long time," with the threat great-
est in the Middle East, Europe and
Latin America. But it also said attacks
will increase in the United States, es-
pecially against senior government of-
ficials and public buildings.
The prospects for preventing ter-
rorist attacks "are not good," the com-
mission said, adding that "no amount
of money can guarantee complete pro-
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Foreign Policy - 5
Rep. Daniel A. Mica,
D-Fla., predicts that Con-
gress will "move very
quickly" to provide money
to boost embassy security.
tection against terrorism."
But the commission recom-
mended what it called "prudent
steps" to thwart attacks and to mini-
mize damage done when attacks occur.
New Buildings
The most expensive recommenda-
tion of the Inman panel was for the
replacement or renovation of 126 of
the State Department's 262 embassies
and other buildings overseas, along
with at least 210 buildings operated by
the Agency for International Develop-
ment, the U.S. Information Agency
and other agencies. A list of the vul-
nerable buildings was included in the
commission's classified report.
Of the State Department build-
ings, about 75 would be replaced.
The panel said there was an "in-
disputable requirement" to replace
the buildings because they do not
meet current security standards.
Location is the most common
problem, the commission said. Many
of the buildings could easily be at-
tacked by truck or car bombs, such as
those that destroyed the embassy
buildings in Beirut, or are vulnerable
to sniper attacks. In other cases, the
United States does not have full con-
trol over the buildings it occupies, ei-
ther because they share common walls
with other buildings or because the
United States rents space along with
other tenants
Manv of the security problems
are only "marginal," the report said.
But it warned that those problems
should be taken seriously because con-
ditions change: "The peaceful neigh-
borhood, city or country of yesterday
can be a hotbed of terrorism, insur-
gency or violence tomorrow."
The commission recommended
that Congress create a capital fund for
the building program so its completion
should be assured. It estimated that
the department's $3.5 billion program
to replace or rebuild the 126 buildings
would take seven years. The panel did
not give a cost estimate for replacing
buildings operated by the other agen-
cies.
Organizational Changes
The State Department's ability to
combat security threats has been ham-
pered by "overlapping and confusing
responsibility and a series of bureau-
cratic battles." the commission said.
Partly for bureaucratic reasons, it
added, other law enforcement agencies
believe that the State Department
"does not take its security responsibil-
ities very seriously."
In the wake of the Lebanon
bombings there were recriminations
about why the department did not
take more effective steps to guard
against terrorist attacks. The Inman
panel cited no specific bureaucratic
problems relating to Lebanon, but it
made clear that bureaucratic problems
contributed to the vulnerability of
U.S. installations there and elsewhere.
The panel called for a "major ef-
fort" to restructure security respon-
sibilities and to boost funding and
training of State Department employ-
ees to combat security threats.
Among the changes it recom-
mended were:
? Creation of a new Bureau of Dip-
lomatic Security, headed by an assis-
tant secretary of state, (the 15th assis-
tant secretary in the department). The
bureau would take over several exist-
ing offices, including the Emergency
Embassy location is
the most common problem.
Many of the buildings
could easily be attacked
by truck or car bombs or
are vulnerable to snipers.
COPYRIGHT 1985 CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY INC
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Secretary of State
George P. Shultz says he
plans to forward specific
requests for funding to
Congress.
Planning Program and the Anti-Ter-
rorism Program.
? Creation of a Diplomatic Security
Service, a counterpart to the Foreign
Service, that would include security
officers and would coordinate protec-
tion of posts in the United States and
overseas. The panel estimated a need
for 1,156 State Department security
officers, a net increase of 375 over cur-
rent and planned numbers, at an addi-
tional cost of about $30 million
The security service eventually
would take over the Secret Service'
function of protecting visiting foreign
dignitaries in the United States. Th
panel also recommended that the Se
cret Service expand its protection o .
foreign missions in the United States
if that agency cannot do so, the State
Department should take over thaI
function, the panel said. The panel also called for assign;
ment of Marine guards to all sensitive
posts overseas.
? Establishment of boards of in
quiry to conduct investigations int=
security failures involving future at
tacks on U.S. facilities overseas. Thi
could be done either through legisla
tion mandating creation of suct
boards or through the secretary
state's existing authority to do so.
Mica said he would recommend a
proval of all the organizational changes.
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Foreign Policy - 3
Families Also Would Benefit:
House Bills Would Compensate
U.S. Employees Taken Hostage
While Reagan administration of-
ficials negotiated a way to release 40
Americans taken hostage in Beirut,
the House moved to compensate U.S.
government officials held hostage by
terrorists, as well as their families.
The House June 26 by voice vote
passed an amendment to the defense
authorization bill (HR 1872) authoriz-
ing payment to members of the armed
forces who are subject to terrorist at-
tacks. (Defense bill, p. 1262; airport
security, p. 1252)
Earlier that day, the House Post
Office and Civil Service Committee by
voice vote approved a bill (HR 2851)
authorizing compensation to federal
workers who become hostages abroad
and at home and their families.
"It is painful to think we have to
do this," said Patricia Schroeder, D-
Colo., chairman of the Post Office
Subcommittee on Civil Service. "We
hope this legislation is never used."
Because it is limited to govern-
ment employees, HR 2851 would af-
fect few of the 40 Americans taken
hostage in Beirut. In fact, earlier ver-
sions of the bill were introduced in
April, well before TWA Flight 847 was
hijacked by Shiite Moslems.
But the incident has lent a special
urgency to the' legislation.
"Over the last two weeks, we have
been reminded that hijackings, bomb-
ings and hostage-takings are very
much with us," said Schroeder. She
sponsored the bill along with Mary
Rose Oakar, D-Ohio, chairman of the
Compensation and Employee Benefits
Subcommittee, and Daniel A. Mica,
D-Fla., chairman of the Foreign Af-
fairs International Operations Sub-
committee.
The bill has also been referred to
the Foreign Affairs Committee, which
has not yet scheduled action on it.
Hostage Benefits
HR 2851 would authorize agency
heads to place captive employees' sal-
aries in interest-bearing accounts, and
would authorize payments for time
held captive equal at least to the per-
diem allowance for government work-
-By Robert Rothman
ers in the region involved.
In addition, the measure would
grant medical and educational bene-
fits to the families of hostages, and
would entitle family members to com-
pensation for disability or death
caused by terrorist actions.
It would also suspend civil law-
suits and judgments against any em-
ployee held captive.
The bill was endorsed by four for-
mer hostages. who testified before
three House subcommittees June 24.
"It is morally right that the
American government provide such
assistance," said L. Bruce Laingen,
who was charge d'affaires at the U.S.
Embassy in Tehran, Iran, when it was
br 'laced in interest-bearing accounts.
\~,nd provided medical and educational
benefits to their families. In addition.
it exempted from taxation their earn-
ings while in captivity. (19800 Almanac
p. 351)
Subsequently, a presidential com-
mission determined that the Iranian
hostages should receive compensation
valued at $12.50 per day of captivity.
HR 2851 would express the sense
of Congress that $12.50 per day is un-
acceptable, and would grant $50,000
to each Iranian hostage.
Schroeder noted that the per-
diem allowance for Iran in 1979 was
$55, which would amount to $24,420
per hostage, and she said the hostages
had extraordinary expenses, for such
things as telephone calls and medical
treatment.
Laingen said June 24 that the
amount of compensation is less impor-
tant than the fact that the government
recognizes its responsibility. "It's the
principle involved that matters," he
said.
"It is painful to think we
have to do this.... We hope
this legislation is never used."
-Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo.
taken over in November 1979. He and
51 other embassy workers were held
for 444 days.
Diego C. Asencio, U.S. ambassa-
dor to Brazil, told the panels that
benefits for the families of hostages
would ease their ordeals. "Knowing
that one's family was provided for
would be the greatest benefit this
committee could provide," said
Asencio. In February 1980, while serv-
ing as ambassador to Colombia,
Asencio was kidnapped by terrorists
and held for 61 days.
Iranian Hostages
The measure is patterned after a
1980 law (PL 96-449), which autho-
rized benefits for the U.S. diplomats
held in Tehran from November 1979
to January 1981. The 1980 law autho-
rized the salaries of those diplomats to
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