Senator Clinton to Offer Amendment to Continue TSA Ban on Butane Lighters Aboard Aircraft

Press Release

Senator Clinton to Offer Amendment to Continue TSA Ban on Butane Lighters Aboard Aircraft

Clinton's Amendment Comes Amid New Reports of Heightened Security and Possible Terrorist Activity at Our Nation's Airports

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that she plans to offer an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill, which is being considered on the Senate floor this week, which would effectively continue the ban on disposable butane lighters from being carried aboard aircraft. The Senator's amendment to ban the lighters comes in response to the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) recent announcement that disposable lighters would be allowed back on air flights as early as next month.

Senator Clinton's amendment would mandate the TSA to place disposable butane lighters on the TSA prohibited items list not allowed into airport sterile areas or onboard an aircraft until TSA provides to Congress a report identifying all anticipated security benefits and any possible vulnerabilities with lifting the ban on butane lighters and the GAO provides an assessment of TSA's report.

"I find the TSA's relaxation on their ban on lighters troubling because it would seem to be a step backward in our efforts to provide the flying public with the highest level of safety and security possible," said Senator Clinton. "Not only does this policy directly contradict TSA's stance of 2005 in which they stated that, ‘the threat posed by lighters on board is valid,' but the FBI has reported that if the ‘Shoe Bomber' had been carrying a butane lighter, he would likely have been successful in detonating his bomb."

"There is absolutely no reason to rush to lift this ban, and since smoking is not permitted on U.S. flights, there is no legitimate use for butane lighters onboard aircraft. While I fully support our continued efforts to reassess the threats posed to airline safety and security, until we are provided with a substantive report detailing what if any security benefits would be achieved from the relaxation of this policy, the TSA should not be so hasty to allow butane lighters on board planes again."

The TSA recently announced that on August 4, 2007 they will lift the ban on disposable butane lighters. The original ban on these lighters was included in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 after Richard Reid, also known as the "Shoe Bomber", attempted to murder 197 people on board an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, when he unsuccessfully tried to set off explosives hidden in his shoes, using a box of matches. According to FBI and other law enforcement officials, Reid likely would have been successful had he used a butane lighter. The TSA based its recent decision to lift the ban on the argument that Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) could spend more time looking for high threat items like bombs or bomb parts. However, the TSA made a similar claim when they attempted to lift the ban on items such as small knives, six-inch tools, scissors, and other items back onboard aircraft that were banned after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Last year, Senator Clinton successfully sponsored an amendment that required the Comptroller General of the GAO to investigate the impact on public safety and the effectiveness of screening operations resulting from the TSA's decision. As a result of its investigation, the GAO concluded that TSOs spent on average, less than 1 percent of their time searching for those items that they had removed from the list and it may not have been accurate for the TSA to assume that lifting the ban would significantly free up TSOs' resources. The GAO report also stated that it was not clear whether the change had any impact on the ability of TSOs to detect explosives - the key and stated goal of TSA's policy change.

Last week Senator Clinton criticized the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) for their decision to allow disposable butane lighters on board air flights starting next month. In a letter to the TSA, Senator Clinton questioned the decision and asked why, at a time of heightened security, the agency would be relaxing their ban on flammable cigarette lighters. Senator Clinton expressed her serious concerns about the decision and called on the TSA to reconsider it immediately.

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