WASHINGTON -- Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee have served notice that the Transportation Security Administration will establish a system to screen all cargo carried on passenger aircraft that includes flights arriving from foreign countries.

The letter, signed by Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and the Democratic members of the subcommittee on transportation security, asks TSA for a legal analysis interpreting a provision of the 2007 Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act that calls for 100 percent screening of passenger aircraft cargo by August 2010.

In a hearing two weeks ago, John Sammon, TSA's director of air-cargo security, told the committee that TSA's interpretation of the law was that the agency's jurisdiction was limited to cargo loaded in the United States. Sammon's comment sparked a sharp response from Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., the principal author of the 100-percent screening plan.

Thompson called the interpretation "inconsistent with the plain language of the law," and leaves doubt that TSA can meet the 2010 deadline.

The letter states, "We believe there is no question that [the law] requires TSA to screen all air cargo transported on passenger aircraft in the United States, regardless of whether such cargo originates from, or is bound for, the United States."

Click here to read the full text of the letter.

R.G. Edmonson, The Journal of Commerce