However, when the TWA hijacking had occurred, since we had already discussed with them what we felt they needed to do, we felt we could go forward on the advisory. Mr. MICA. I did not mean to get into questions now. I just must have missed that part. Oftentimes when we get testimony there is something left out from what was given to us the day before. It is an area I would like to look at. But you apparently did cover that so I will just leave that for now and come back to it. Ambassador BORG. I did not go into this in more detail when I was reading this because I was trying to keep it brief and because this is an area for discussion also among my colleagues here. Mr. MICA. I will pick up on that during questions. Thank you very much. Mr. Shane, would you please proceed? STATEMENT OF JEFFREY N. SHANE, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORTATION AFFAIRS, BUREAU OF ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF STATE Mr. SHANE. Thank you very much Mr. Chairman. I represent that part of the Department of State which works directly with foreign governments specifically in the area of civil aviation. And so what I want to offer this afternoon is just a brief statement complementing that of Ambassador Borg, specifically in the area with which we deal. ICAO ACTIONS We have launched both multilateral and bilateral initiatives on this important front, airport and aviation security. Most significantly, the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, recently completed a far-reaching revision of annex 17 to the Chicago Convention, strengthening and expanding the international standards and recommended practices promulgated by ICAO in the area of aviation security. This revision, which Assistant Secretary Scocozza of DOT will be addressing in greater detail in just a few moments, was achieved as a direct result of strong U.S. leadership, including, first, personal appeals by Secretary Dole, both to ICAO in Montreal and in letters to her counterparts in key countries; second, the coordinated daily efforts of our representative to ICAO, Edmund Stohr, and, third, through the impressive work of dozens of our Embassies to bring this issue to the attention of key foreign government officials at a high level. Along with its efforts to revise annex 17, ICAO developed a model aviation security_article to be inserted into aviation agreements between states. That is to say between governments. Since ICAO has no enforcement powers, states must adopt such language bilaterally to give teeth to the recommended standards which ICAO develops. This draft article commits each party to follow the provisions of international antihijacking agreements, to observe the other party's security regulations, and to provide assistance to help end any threats that do arise. It includes an enforcement clause that could lead to the revocation of airline operating rights for failure to ensure adequate security. The Department of State, in coordination with the Department of Transportation and other Government agencies, is now taking steps to secure the widespread adoption of a security article closely paralleling the ICAO model. We have already succeeded in including such an article in the bilateral aviation agreement just reached with the Soviet Union in November, and signed on February 13. Incorporation of our model text will be a major goal in all future aviation negotiations. We are not waiting for the expiration of current bilaterals to raise the security issue with our aviation partners, but have requested our Embassies in some 80 countries with which we have an aviation relationship to propose to host governments that our existing agreements be amended to include the model article. We have received many positive initial comments and expect to reach agreement with several countries in the near future. ROLE OF US. EMBASSIES Both from my vantage point as a former DOT official until a few months ago, and now from where I sit at the Department of State, I cannot stress too much the value of the on-the-spot work carried out by our Embassies overseas in our efforts to improve aviation security. Our ambassadors have presented our security article to the very highest levels of foreign governments. Literally hundreds of visits by Embassy officers have paved the way for the FAA's trips to evaluate foreign airport security and for the Federal Air Marshal Program. Likewise, while annex 17 was being revised, embassy officials presented Secretary Dole's letter on aviation security to foreign transportation ministers in countries on the ICAO council, made numerous demarches to senior aviation policy and security policy officials, and otherwise kept the heat on governments to take some concrete action in the wake of the TWA flight 847 hijacking. That concludes my prepared remarks, Mr. Chairman, And I will be prepared to answer questions as well when all of the remarks are concluded. [Mr. Shane's prepared statement follows:] 61-593 0 - 86 - 2 PREPARED STATEMENT OF JEFFREY N. SHANE, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORTATION AFFAIRS, Department of STATE Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to discuss our progress in initiatives on this important front. Most significantly, As a part of its effort to revise Annex 17, ICAO developed a model aviation security article to be inserted into aviation agreements between States. Since ICAO has no enforcement powers, States must adopt such language bilaterally L to give teeth to the recommended standards ICAO develops. This draft article commits each party to follow the provisions of international anti-hijacking agreements, to observe the other party's security regulations, and to provide assistance to help end any threats that do arise. It includes an enforcement clause that could lead to the revocation of airline operating rights for failure to ensure adequate security. coordination with the The Department of State, in Department of Transportation and other government agencies, is now taking steps to secure the widespread adoption of a security article closely paralleling the ICAO model; we have already succeeded in including such an article in the bilateral aviation agreement reached with the Soviet Union in November and signed on February 13, and the government of Aruba has recently agreed to our security language. Incorporation of our model text will be a major goal in all future aviation negotiations. We are not waiting for the expiration of current bilaterals to raise the security issue with our aviation partners, but have requested our Embassies in some 80 countries with which we have an aviation relationship to propose to host governments that our existing agreements be amended to include the model article. We have received many positive initial comments and expect to reach agreement with several countries in the near future. Both from my vantage point as a DOT official, until a few months ago, and now from where I sit at the Department of State, I cannot stress too much the value of the on-the-spot work carried out by our Embassies overseas in our efforts to improve aviation security. Our Ambassadors have presented our security article to the very highest levels of foreign governments; literally hundreds of visits by Embassy officers have paved the way for the FAA's trips to evaluate foreign airport security and for the Federal Air Marshal program. Likewise, while Annex 17 was being revised, Embassy officials presented Secretary Dole's letter on aviation security to foreign transportation ministers in countries on the ICAO council, made numerous demarches to senior aviation policy and security policy officials, and otherwise "kept the heat on" governments to take some concrete action in the wake of the TWA 847 hijacking. This concludes my prepared statement; I will be pleased to address any questions you may have regarding this critical subject. |