US lawmaker seeks boost in aviation security funds

WASHINGTON, Jan 7, 2010 (AFP) - A key US lawmaker has called for the US Department of Homeland Security to get more funding to upgrade its aviation security screening efforts after the thwarted Christmas Day plane bombing.

Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee, head of the House Homeland Security subcommittee charged with transportation, security and infrastructure, said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano obtained Thursday that she would introduce legislation to do so.


Jackson-Lee said she would push for "funding to install more sophisticated passenger-screening systems and ensure that DHS has the authority and funding necessary to assess the behavior of suspected terrorists."

"In short, there must be a system that allows persons with suspected terrorist behavior to be moved expeditiously from watch lists to no-fly lists," she said in the letter, which was dated Wednesday.

Jackson-Lee has not settled on a dollar figure, said spokeswoman Pamela Brogan.

US lawmakers have called for improved security measures after a young Nigerian man allegedly tried to blow up a US-bound Northwest Airlines jet carrying 290 people using explosives sown into his underwear.



(c) 2010 AFP