Katko legislation aims to protect passengers, improve airline safety

U.S. Representative John Katko (R-NY) introduced the Securing Aviation from Foreign Entry Points and Guarding Airports through Enhanced Security Act, H.R. 4698, on Wednesday.

The act aims to to protect passengers and improve airline safety at last point of departure (LPD) airports or foreign airports that have direct flights to the United States.

Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA) joined Katko in introducing this legislation.

“In my role as chairman of the Transportation Security subcommittee, I’ve looked extensively at insider threats at airports both domestically and abroad,” Katko said. “In order to keep our country safe, we must ensure that individuals traveling from last point of departure airports are held to the same scrutiny as individuals within our country. Today’s legislation is a result of tremendous bipartisan efforts on the House Homeland Security Committee to improve airport access controls and employee vetting both throughout the United States and at foreign airports that have direct flights to the United States.”

Some of the measures included in the act direct the TSA to conduct and implement a security coordination enhancement plan to improve passenger and airline safety at airports that have direct flights to the United States, as well as authorizing the Transportation Security Administration to donate security equipment to foreign LPD airports.