Monday October 1, 2001

WASHINGTON - Two top Bush administration officials said yesterday that they favor reopening Reagan National Airport with enhanced security.

White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said President Bush wants to reopen National, the only commercial airport still closed following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he's hopeful security measures can be implemented that would allow such a move.

National has remained closed because of its proximity to key government buildings, including the White House, Capitol and Pentagon. Local government officials in Virginia and Washington, D.C., say the closure has devastated the local economy. They want the airport reopened quickly.

The airport, located just across the Potomac River in Virginia, is minutes from downtown Washington. It offers easy access for tourists and is the airport of choice for members of Congress who fly home on weekends.

Some lawmakers have said they expected the White House to announce this week that the airport would reopen. But Card, who is scheduled to meet today with Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore and the state's congressional delegation, said

there was no timetable for a decision. "I'm optimistic that we can find the right balance between security and economic opportunity that is necessary through the opening of Ronald Reagan Airport," Card said on "Fox News Sunday." "I'm confident that we can address the challenge and that Ronald Reagan Airport will

be open. The question is how quickly and under what circumstances."

Rumsfeld said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that security on the ground has to be

tightened because there is little time to act once a plane is in the air.

"It is a relatively minor course correction to wind up crashing into one of those buildings," Rumsfeld said, referring to the White House, Capitol and Pentagon. "I think the way to deal with that is by proper training of people on the ground - protection of aircraft, air marshals.

"I personally am hopeful that Washington National will be opened. I think that it would be a shame if we had to alter our behavior. When we do that to any great extent, the terrorists win."

Capt. Duane Woerth, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said National can be safely opened. "National Airport should be opened at the earliest possible time," Woerth said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said keeping the airport closed runs counter to the Bush administration's efforts to get the public flying again.

"A closed National Airport," Norton said, "sends a strong message to the flying

public that it's not safe to fly."