U.S. Senate Arrives At Deal To Enhance Airport Security

Even as news of bombings and airplane hijackings hit the headlines, the U.S. Senate talked about such incidents in the U.S. and drew up plans to enhance travel security at airports.

It was a deal between Senate Republicans and Democrats, after the Brussels airport and subway bombing of March 22, which left 35 dead and 300 injured.

A source said that lawmakers have agreed to amend a Federal Aviation bill with provisions in order to increase the screening of airport employees who have access to secure areas, and also enable the Transportation Security Administration to give equipment to foreign airports, which have flights coming directly entering the U.S.

The reason for this is that officials have figured out that easy access makes attacks easier. The TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger explains  that anyone with easy access to a U.S. airport can easily make bomb attacks.

There would also be a new U.S.assessment of foreign cargo security programs, according to the source, in order for the security to be able to check the cargo before flights.

Hence, this would reduce the chances of bomb attacks, such as the one last October, when ISIS managed to push a bomb onboard a Russian Metrojet, blowing up over Egypt.

Negotiations are still ongoing. Having been brokered by Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, Republican chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, they are still working on seeing which security items could be included, such as federal grant money to train state and local law enforcement to react to armed attacks.