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30-Minute Airport Rule to Be Lifted
Customs and Border Protection agent Julian Barajas questions a motorist at the U.S.-Mexico crossing in San Ysidro, Calif. Chertoff has signaled a new emphasis on border security.
(By Sandy Huffaker -- Getty Images)
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News of the rule's demise was met with hurrahs by passengers, airport officials and airlines. "I certainly made sure I went to the restroom" before takeoff, said frequent flier Mary Jackson, who said she detested the rule.
Several members of Congress -- among the airport's most regular customers -- and the airline industry have pushed for the change. "It was just absurd to sit down when, in 10 minutes of flying, we'd pass over Dulles. Why didn't passengers at Dulles have to stay in their seats for 30 minutes? It made no sense, and it inconvenienced fliers, particularly the elderly and the disabled," said Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.).
Chertoff also signaled a new focus on border security, pledging more staff and new technology to "strengthen border security and interior enforcement, as well as improve our immigration system. We cannot have one approach without the other." He and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will soon announce plans to "ease the path" for students, tourists and business people seeking visas, he said.
In his speech and in remarks to Washington Post editors and reporters earlier in the day, Chertoff displayed a hands-on style. Promising to focus on the most catastrophic terrorist attacks, Chertoff praised Londoners for carrying on after last week's transit bombings and rebutted Democratic calls to increase funding for train security.
"We need to build into our concept of dealing with terrorism a resiliency," he said. "The fact of the matter is . . . a nuclear bomb or biological threat has a consequence of an order of magnitude that is well beyond something that occurs on a train. We had Bernard Goetz shoot, you know, people on a train," he said, referring to the 1984 New York subway incident. "That's a bad thing, but we survived that, the city survived, and the subway can survive."
Congressional Democrats said the Bush administration missed an opportunity to launch real changes. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said: "What we need now is risk-based homeland security action, not just risk-based bureaucratic shuffling."
Federal-worker unions reserved judgment until the release of details of the border security plans. "It is our fervent hope that, in plotting his 'new game plan,' the secretary will examine the overall morale of the officers," said Charles Showalter, president of the American Federation of Government Employees' homeland security council.
Staff writer Mary Beth Sheridan contributed to this report.
