mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time . 
i know we all have strong feelings about a lot of things , and sometimes someone could say we may not be right but we are never in doubt . 
i want to say i am not in doubt on this issue , and i think i am right . 
i think it is an outrage that we do not inspect the cargo that is in the belly of a passenger aircraft . 
and i think it is an outrage , frankly , that the gentleman from massachusetts ' ( mr. markey ) xz4002530 amendment was not made in order so we could at least debate this . 
if one disagrees with the issue , that is one thing . 
but not to even allow for a debate and have the american people begin to understand the evolution that has taken place is unfortunate . 
first , we started to inspect the carry-on luggage , and americans thought we must be checking baggage on the belly of an aircraft . 
i did , until the gentleman from washington ( mr. inslee ) xz4001930 came to me and said we are not , do i want to sponsor an amendment . 
and we worked on an amendment , and we put and got in the bill a few years ago that there had to be deadlines for eventually inspecting all baggage that went in the belly of an aircraft . 
we had a deadline and we finally did it . 
so then i was thinking , well , we have done our job . 
and the gentleman from massachusetts ( mr. markey ) xz4002530 informs me , and i did not know it , that 22 percent of what is in the belly of an aircraft is cargo uninspected . 
uninspected , and yet we are not willing to have a debate about this . 
i think it is amazing , and i think it is wrong ; and i think if the public knew it , they would be outraged . 
if the argument is that we do not have the technology , which we do , or we do not have enough of the technology , which is right , we allowed under the gentleman from massachusetts ' ( mr. markey ) xz4002530 amendment for a 3-year phase-in : 35 percent the first year , 65 in the second , and then 100 percent in the third year . 
but if one still did not want to vote for that bill , we asked for another amendment to be made in order . 
the amendment was quite simple . 
it simply said to tell the passenger that the cargo on this plane has not been inspected . 
even that amendment was not made in order . 
vote against it if one does not like it . 
but to not even allow a debate on the floor of the house about this issue ? 
i had a constituent who was on pan am 103 . 
i got the call at 11 in the morning that said she thinks her daughter was on this aircraft but 30 kids were not , 30 people were not ; and she hoped and prayed her daughter was one who could not get on it . 
i was at her home that evening about 11 : 30 that night when she got the call that said her daughter was on that plane . 
admittedly , that was baggage . 
but if we now inspect the carry-on baggage and we inspect the baggage that is given at the ticket counter , what are terrorists going to do ? 
they are just going to link it up with cargo and blow up a plane , a passenger plane , because the cargo has not been inspected . 
i really believe we need this amendment . 
i salute both sides of the aisle for this bill . 
i salute the committee on rules for allowing for 25 amendments . 
but this is an amendment that should have been allowed . 
