• Law Enforcement Officers Association Supports - Leave All Blades Behind Act
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Arthur Lester, Public Information Officer
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association PO Box 326
Lewisberry, P A 17339
(505) 402-0052 alester@fleoa.org

The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association Supports
S. 2083 and H.R. 4452 "Leave All Blades Behind Act"

Lewisberry, PA - February 20, 2006 - The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), representing over 24,000 Federal law enforcement officers fully supports S.2083 and H.R. 4452, "Leave All Blades Behind Act".

In December of 2005, TSA changed the "Prohibited Item List" to allow certain dangerous and potentially life threatening items back onboard aircraft, which had been banned since September 11, 2001. Unfortunately, we believe that this decision was made by TSA without consulting law enforcement and could aid terrorists in future aircraft hijackings.

Currently Federal Air Marshals (FAMS) and thousands of other Federal law enforcement officers fly armed aboard aircraft every day. Unfortunately, current TSA procedures at airports force these agents to identify themselves in front of the flying public at various locations throughout the airport. At this juncture, there is no way for these law enforcement personnel to fly anonymously; therefore we believe that terrorists could identify these individuals at various locations in the airport prior to boarding the plane.

Once terrorists have identified armed Federal Air Marshals or other armed Federal agents on the aircraft, the newly allowed screw drivers and scissors could be used as a weapon against these law enforcement personnel. The terrorists can then take out (kill) these law enforcement officers, disarm them and use their firearms to shoot their way into the cockpit and takeover the aircraft.

Why do passengers need to bring scissors, screwdrivers, pliers and other such items onboard the aircraft? Since September 11, 2001, the vast majority of the flying public has been trained not to bring these items aboard aircraft and place them in their checked baggage.

We support TSA's decision to focus more on screening for explosives, but such efforts should not lead to allowing potentially dangerous items back onboard aircraft. There should not be a trade-off between the two.

We should never forget that the "9/11 hijackers" simply used box cutters to bring down four aircraft and attack our nation. They did not attempt to get explosives aboard aircraft.
The hijackers simply brought items (box cutters) with them that were allowed aboard aircraft at that time. Maybe next time they will use 4 inch scissors and 7 inch screwdrivers to hijack an aircraft since they are currently allowed aboard aircraft.

We fully support this legislation to freeze the "Prohibited Item List" for aircraft back to where it was, prior to the recent change made by TSA. We would also ask that matches be banned on aircraft, since lighters are already banned. "Richard Reid type shoe bombers" could easily use matches to ignite their explosive devices. It makes no sense to ban lighters and not matches.

The safety of Federal law enforcement officers who fly armed to prevent terrorist attacks should never be compromised. The safety of the flight crew and the flying public is of paramount importance to all of us.

The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) was founded in 1977 and is the largest nonpartisan professional association today representing exclusively over 24,000 active and retired federal law enforcement officers. www.FLEOA.org

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