In the wake of November’s deadly shooting at Los Angeles International Airport, the House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill to tighten security at the nation’s airports.
The measure, introduced by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), is named in honor of Gerardo Hernandez, the Transportation Security Administration screener who was shot to death Nov. 1 while on duty at LAX.
After Hernandez was attacked, two other TSA officials and a schoolteacher were wounded as a gunman with an assault-style rifle ran through a passenger screening area and went on a rampage inside Terminal 3.
The Gerardo Hernandez Airport Security Act requires the Department of Homeland Security to work with airports and verify that they have adequate emergency plans to deal with active shooters, terrorists and incidents that target security checkpoints like the one near the spot where Hernandez was killed.
The measure also requires the department to identify the best security practices that exist at the nation’s airports and develop ways to share those measures with other commercial aviation facilities.
The bill, which passed on a voice vote, now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Source: latimes.com