Posted on 12/11/2001 1:15:34 PM PST by SUSSA
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration announced Monday that it would nominate former Secret Service director John W. Magaw to run the new Transportation Security Administration.
If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Magaw will oversee an agency that must hire and train 28,000 airport security screeners, purchase and install billions of dollars' worth of explosives-detection equipment, and perform other demanding tasks under tight deadlines.
Mr. Magaw, 66, also served as director of the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms following the Branch Davidian siege near Waco in 1993. He is currently acting executive director of the Office of National Preparedness within the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"If I could have designed an individual for this job, it would have been John Magaw," Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said at a news conference. "In today's world of ever-present threats, John Magaw is a man whose unprecedented career in law enforcement will ensure that the United States continues to provide all Americans with the highest levels of safety and security."
The secretary said that Mr. Magaw would bring both "quiet competence" and "steely determination" to the agency, created by Congress last month. The agency will be responsible for the security of aviation and other modes of transportation.
"I will dedicate my efforts every day to the memory of those who lost their lives in the tragic events of September 11th," Mr. Magaw said. He said he wanted to devise a system that combines the "highest degree of safety" with the "least amount of disruption" for travelers.
Mr. Magaw's impending nomination met with approval Monday among several people who have participated in the post-attack debate over aviation security – historically provided by the airlines, under the supervision of the Federal Aviation Administration.
"His background is just what we're looking for," said Pat Friend, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants. "I'm anxious for him to go to work."
Stephen Push, whose wife died in the Pentagon crash and who serves as treasurer of an advocacy group called Families of September 11, said that Mr. Magaw had "the kind of background we were hoping the nominee would have. We need somebody who is from outside the Department of Transportation and can change the culture. The culture has been one of accommodation of the airlines, at the expense of security."
Mr. Magaw, who declined to answer questions, joined the Secret Service in 1967, advancing through various posts to become its director in 1992. He assumed control of the ATF in late 1993, following the bureau's much-criticized raid on the Branch Davidian compound, in which four agents and six sect members died. At least 80 more Branch Davidians died in a fire that started during a subsequent raid by the FBI.
At the time, the ATF "was pretty much decimated, both in terms of organization and morale, and he pretty much turned that agency around," Mr. Mineta said.
As ATF director, Mr. Magaw had a major role in the investigations into the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996, and the bombing at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta the same year. He joined FEMA as a senior adviser for terrorism preparedness in December 1999.
Mr. Mineta said Monday that the Transportation Security Administration would do "everything humanly possible" to meet two critical deadlines under the new law.
By mid-January, all checked baggage is to be screened for explosives through whatever means are available, including hand searches and bomb-sniffing dogs. By the end of 2002, all bags are to be screened with sophisticated scanning devices.
When will Bush ever get rid of the Clinton scum? Watch the Senate give this guy a big wet kiss and put him in power. There will be no stalling on this appointment.
I gotta look up a site for the inquire within POC. The widget buisness is getting boring......... Stay Safe !
Sell it. That's what I do when I get bored.
When you find out let me know, and if they are paying by the pound maybe us pudgy guys can get over.
Anyone who has paid attention at an event attended by the president over the past 30+ years knows that the USSS are serious and they play for keeps. They control everything, plan for everything, practice everything and know all that they need to know to keep their protectees safe.
It seems the only time something bad happens is when their advice isn't taken.
The Secret Service is one of the last respectable federal police forces around, in addition to the Postal Police and maybe the US Marshals. It should be no surprise that they are handling lots of high profile security now, like taking over security at the Superbowl and at Reagan National airport.
Given that their prime missions are protective and proactive, instead of simply re-active and responsive to events that happen, they fit well with the needs of our people right now.
The Secret Service was politicized under Clinton. It seems to have suffered less than other federal departments but it isn't the same as it was before Clinton started making the promotions.
The point here is the other things this guy was in charge of, like the BATF cover up of the murder of Pastor Koresh and his parishioners. This guy should not be rewarded for covering up a crime.
This guy was also in charge of the BATF when they held the infamous "Good-ol-boy's Round- up." That was covered up too. No BATF thugs were punished for that either.
This guy is Clinton scum.
"I will dedicate my efforts every day to the memory of those who lost their lives in the tragic events of September 11th," Mr. Magaw said.Translation: The only acceptable deaths due to terrorism are ones caused by government terrorists.
Much like anti-gun physicians, apparently the only deaths that Mr. Magaw accepts are the ones his side causes. Is there a "government caused" equivalent word to iatrogenic?
To be fair to the USSS, however, the messes that you bring up Mr. Magaw overseeing were BATF messes.
I feel all Hopeful, don't you?
(P.S. Mineta must be the guy I remember correcting the talking head with "or some combination" of passengers' overcoming the terrorist and the PA flight's being shot down.)
AGREED!! I had no intention of putting the USSS in the same category as the BATF.
However, I have to assume that this guy was one of the very few bad apples in the USSS or Clinton would not have given him the big promotions, or trusted him to head up the BATF after Waco.
LMAO!!!!
I feel all Hopeful, don't you?
I feel something...but I think I have some baking soda around here somewhere...
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