Republican lawmakers sound the alarm over Cuba flights

Two GOP lawmakers are making a final push before the summer recess to sound the alarm over resuming scheduled air service with Cuba for the first time in 50 years.

With daily flights to Cuba scheduled to begin as early as September — and American Airlines already selling tickets — Reps. John Katko (R-N.Y.) and Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) urged the Department of Transportation (DOT) on Thursday to halt service until the U.S. can verify that Cuba meets certain security standards.

{mosads}In a letter to DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx, the lawmakers expressed concern that they still don’t know whether Cuba has adequate body scanners, explosive detection systems, technology for detecting fake passports or a strong employee vetting process.

They said they were denied visas to travel to the island and assess that critical information themselves.

“These questions must be answered in order to provide certainty to the American public that their security will not be jeopardized by these new flights,” wrote Hudson and Katko, who chairs the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security. “After all, Cuba has been a safe haven for terrorists and was just removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.”

Commercial flights to Cuba are part of an effort by the Obama administration to normalize relations with its formal Cold War rival. The Transportation and State departments signed an agreement in February to reestablish scheduled air service between the two countries.

The DOT tentatively approved 20 daily flights to Havana and 151 weekly flights to other cities on the island.

Even though travel is still restricted for tourists, supporters of Cuban air travel have applauded the changes as a key step toward normalized relations.

They have also tried to allay security concerns by pointing out that charter services have been offering flights between the U.S. and Cuba for years without terrorism incidents.

Airports already must comply with a set of international standards, and Cuba has long been a top travel destination for other parts of the world.

But Hudson and Katko say the U.S. has a greater target on its back, and worry that the high volume of commercial flights will create more opportunities for terrorists to attack or sneak into the country.

Hudson and Katko are backing legislation that would block flights until the Transportation Security Administration conducts a thorough review of the security measures in place at all of Cuba’s 10 airports.

The measure, which could face resistance in the Senate and from the White House, would require an agreement that allows TSA agents to inspect Cuban airports, while permitting federal air marshals on flights between the U.S. and Cuba.

Such an agreement has not yet been made with Cuba, they said.

“This is of obvious concern,” the lawmakers wrote.