DURANGO, Colo.—Rural airports in Durango and Gunnison could get more funding for security equipment under a bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives after some of their equipment was given to other airports because of the federal budget crisis and problems with newer scanning equipment.
Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, of Cortez, added an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security spending bill on Thursday that would transfer $4 million from the Transportation Security Administration’s administration budget to the agency’s security screening budget.
Tipton spokesman Josh Green said security is more important than administrators.
“It’s good to prioritize those dollars to the mission of the agency, and that’s passenger safety,” Green said.
According to the Durango Herald ( ), the total $40 billion spending bill far under the White House’s recommended budget for the programs, and the Obama administration has threatened a veto.
The new appropriation would allow the return of airport body-screening devices that produce a cartoon-shaped image of the passenger after another scanner failed to meet a congressionally mandated deadline.
The old machines, dubbed “Gumby” for their appearance, were replaced with the more invasive Rapiscan units, which produced a more detailed image of the passenger’s body. That process made many travelers uncomfortable and are being dismantled.
To cope with the loss of the new machines, the older scanners were transferred from smaller airports, such as Yampa Valley and Durango-La Plata Airport, to larger airports.
“Smaller airports were left high and dry,” Green said.
Instead of body-scanning, passengers at Durango got the old-fashioned pat-down and metal-detector wand scan. In March, Durango’s interim airport director, Gary Suiter, reported no delays following the loss of the working scanner, but at least 20 passengers missed their flights the month before because of security-line congestion.
David Ruppel, director of the Yampa Valley Airport, said he also suspected delays following the loss of their Gumby scanner in February.
Yampa also resorted to pat-downs, which prompted complaints.
“No one likes a pat-down,” Ruppel said.
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Information from: Durango Herald,
