Security Briefs Feb. 19-26
The Latest Headlines:
- DOT Agencies to Move to DHS
- U.S. Businesses Not Buying Terror Insurance, Paper Says
- U.S. Airlines Want 'Tax Holiday,' Security Aid in Event of War
- U.S. Businesses Not Buying Terror Insurance, Paper Says
DOT Agencies to Move to DHS
The Department of Transportation will send control over the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, DOT said in a pair of press releases.Secretaries Norman Mineta and Tom Ridge were on hand Tuesday at a ceremony to mark the change in command over the Coast Guard. The “Change of Watch” ceremony formally recognized the change in civilian leadership over a military organization, DOT said.
TSA Administrator James Loy said that the agency was grateful for the assistance it received from Mineta while under the charge of DOT, but that the agency was ready to join its new partners at the Department of Homeland Security in "fighting – and winning – the war on terror." Transport Topics
U.S. Businesses Not Buying Terror Insurance, Paper Says
Many U.S. businesses are not purchasing terrorism insurance coverage, mostly because they feel it isn’t necessary, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.Under a law signed by President Bush in November, insurers are required to provide terrorism insurance to commercial policyholders, the paper said.
One major insurer, Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., said that only 15% of its largest customers have purchased the additional coverage, the Post reported.
Aon Risk Services, another insurance provider, told the Post that most of its customers have also eschewed terrorism insurance. Transport Topics
U.S. Airlines Want 'Tax Holiday,' Security Aid in Event of War
The Air Transport Association, the main trade group for U.S. airlines, said that its members are seeking a “tax holiday,” security aid and a release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to prevent bankruptcies in the industry, Bloomberg reported Monday.The chief executive officer of the association, James May, said that he plans to meet with lawmakers this week to push the airlines’ case, Bloomberg reported.
May told Bloomberg that the industry needs to see some short-term relief and if it comes too late after the start of a war, it could be too late to prevent some carriers form going under.
Cargo carriers like UPS Inc. and FedEx Corp. are both members of the Air Transport Association, as well as are many passenger carriers that also haul airfreight on their planes. Transport Topics
