A late-night agreement Tuesday guaranteed that so-called “John Doe” protection — to prevent airline passengers from being sued for reporting suspicious behavior — will get a floor vote in the House and Senate.
“This is a huge win — a hard-fought victory for House Republicans and, more importantly, for the American people,” said Peter T. King, New York Republican and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
The provision survived a contentious congressional process before a House-Senate conference committee agreed just before midnight to include the measure in the final draft of the September 11 commission bill.
The move ensures that the provision cannot be amended on the floor. It is expected to come to a vote in both houses of Congress before the August recess. If passed, the measure will nullify, in part, a lawsuit filed by six imams against US Airways and unnamed “John Doe” passengers. The legislation was initiated after the imams filed the suit in March, claiming that passengers and the airline violated their rights by removing them from the flight.
The suspicious activity included changing seats, moving about the cabin before takeoff, criticizing the Bush administration and the ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and asking for seat-belt extensions flight attendants said were not needed.
The lawsuit can still go forward against the airline under the proposed law, but the “John Doe” passengers cannot be sued for reporting their concerns to the flight crew.
“I’m pleased that Democratic leaders finally decided to do the right thing and agreed with Republicans that we should be encouraging Americans to report potential terrorist activity to the proper authorities,” said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican.
Democrats initially refused to vote on the language last week when congressional leaders met in the conference committee to draft the final recommendations of the September 11 commission. However, Mr. King pledged to work with leading conferee Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut independent, to insert the provision in the final written report.
Three sticking points in the conference committee were all resolved, said one aide close to the conference process. “We won on the outstanding issues. It was exactly what we were looking for,” the aide said.
The outstanding issues that were resolved include stripping the retroactive language that would have allowed the lawsuit to proceed against the “John Doe” passengers, restricting the reporting to terrorism and not other criminal activity, and limiting it to federal lawsuits. If passed, the law will become retroactive from Oct. 1, 2006.
Andrea Rader, spokeswoman for US Airways, said they have been following the legislative fight that began last week.
“Airline employees are well-trained in this area, but we believe strongly that an alert public is invaluable in the effort,” she said.
A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations declined to comment, and the imams’ attorney did not return a call for comment.
“Any person who, in good faith and based on objectively reasonable suspicion, makes or causes to be made, a voluntary report of covered activity to an authorized official shall be immune from civil liability under federal, state and local law for such report,” the conference language says.
The language now mirrors a stand-alone bill in the Senate, sponsored by Mr. Lieberman and Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Jon Kyl of Arizona. Mr. King also co-sponsored a similar bill in the House with Rep. Steve Pearce, New Mexico Republican.
The language also gives protection to “any employee or agent of a passenger-transportation system,” thus granting immunity to the airline captain also named in the suit.
“The American people shouldn’t have to think twice about alerting security and law enforcement to potential terrorist attacks,” Mr. Pearce said.
Miss Collins noted that a citizen’s tip led to the recent arrests in a plot to attack and kill U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J.
“Vigilant, watchful citizens are vital to America’s homeland security,” she said.
A White House spokesman last night said, “We are supportive of the language being in there” and that the White House will “review the lengthy bill in its entirety to make sure it strengthens the security of our nation.”
c Jon Ward contributed to this report.
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