Law would check all plane cargo

Citing the “Dubai ports crisis” as a similar security breach, New York politicians called for Congress to improve transportation safety - by making the government scan cargo transported on passenger planes for explosives or other dangerous materials.
“This is an unacceptable danger. If a bomb like the one that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 were shipped aboard one of the jets taking off this morning, we most likely wouldn’t know until it was too late,” said Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney.
On Tuesday April 4, 2006, Maloney and Congressman Anthony Weiner called for the House of Representatives to pass the Safe Skies Cargo Inspection Act (HR 4373), which would force the Department of Homeland Security to check all plane cargo.
Currently only limited cargo on passenger planes is searched for explosives, while all passenger bags are screened for such materials. For cargo, airlines use the “Known Shipper” program, which excludes packages shipped by companies that have shipped with the same carrier more than 24 times since September 1, 1999.
Although there is no estimated cost for the scanning, proponents said that the technology is available and would be as easy to install as passenger baggage screening.
The bill, introduced by Congressman Ed Markey from Massachusetts in November 2005, would call for the percentage of cargo to be inspected to go up incrementally over a two-and-a-half year period, leading up to all cargo being screened by the end of fiscal year 2008. In November, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.