Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

12 • AIR TRAVEL SECURITYbut these are relatively expensive and do not reliably detect Semtex, asophisticated pliable explosive developed by the former CommunistCzechoslovakian regime, which sold massive quantities of it to theLibyan regime of Muammar Qaddafi.Following the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, President George H. W.Bush established a White House Commission on Aviation Safety andSecurity, charged with evaluating weaknesses in air travel security andmaking recommendations for improving air travel security. Two reportswere issued, the first in May 1990 and the second in September 1996.While the Commission recommended increased funding for airlinesecurity by $430 million when the Federal Aviation ReauthorizationAct of 1996 (Public Law 104-264) was signed into law by PresidentBill Clinton on 9 October 1996, it actually authorized $1.097 billion forvarious antiterrorist security measures, of which $190 million would goto the Federal Aviation Administration for upgrading airport security.The following international conventions and treaties pertain toterrorist and other threats to air travel security: the 1944 ChicagoConvention on International Civil Aviation, Annex 17, which setinternational standards for safeguarding civil aircraft; the 1963 TokyoConvention on Offenses and Certain Other Acts Committed OnBoard Aircraft; the 1970 Hague Convention for the Unlawful Seizureof Aircraft, which has become the basis for antihijacking laws passedin the United States and other nations; the 1971 Montreal Conventionfor the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety ofAircraft; and the 1988 Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Actsof Violence at Airports Serving International Aviation, which supplementsthe 1971 Montreal Convention.After the worst hijacking incident yet, involving the simultaneoushijacking of four U.S. passenger flights that were used in thesuicide attacks against the World Trade Center and Pentagon onSeptember 11, 2001, President George W. Bush announced on 27September 2001 that 4,000 National Guard troops would be mobilizedto assist in security at the 420 commercial airports within theUnited States. He also proposed plans to increase federal oversight oftraining, performance, and job benefits for the 28,000 workers whoscreen passengers and baggage. On 19 November 2001 the U.S. Congresspassed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (PublicLaw 107-71, U.S. Code Title 49, Chapter 1, sec. 114-145) that createdthe Transportation Security Administration (TSA), responsible