9-28-01, WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government should be in complete control of airport security, congressional Democrats declared on Thursday, saying President Bush's proposals to make aviation more secure did not go far enough.

For the price of an upmarket cup of coffee at the airport, Americans could have professional federal employees screening their bags, said Rep. James Oberstar, Democrat of Minnesota.

In the Senate, where Democrats have a one-vote majority, Sen. Ernest Hollings said he would still press for''federalizing'' airport security in the wake of the September 11 hijacked airliner attacks on New York and Washington.

Hollings, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said his staff would be working with the Bush administration over the weekend to try to reach agreement on the issue and bring it to a vote next week.

Bush announced several measures earlier on Thursday aimed at tightening airline security, including federal oversight of airport inspections.

But the president's proposals, which appeared to rely on a mix of government and private workers running airport security, did not go far enough for many lawmakers.

``It is no longer acceptable to allow private, profit-margin interests to conflict with public safety needs. No one would think of a private corporation running the FBI,'' Hollings said in a statement.

``We're going to insist on progress in airline and airport security through federalization,'' he said.

Oberstar, the ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he thought the cost of federalized screening would be about $2.50 per airline ticket.

He said that is ``about the price of a Starbucks cappuccino grande in any of the nation' airports. I think people are willing to pay that in order to know that they can arrive alive.''

HEAVYWEIGHT REPUBLICANS ON SIDE

Hollings' aides noted that there were several heavyweight Republicans -- including Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska -- who have co-sponsored a bill with Hollings to federalize airport security.

But the bill's fate could be affected by proposals to help airline workers laid off after the hijacked airliner attacks.

Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle, who is also a co-sponsor of Holling's bill, indicated on Thursday he still wanted to link airline security and worker benefits.

``At the same time that we are addressing security, we should also be helping the thousands of airline employees and their families who are hurting because of layoffs that took place after the attacks,'' Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, said.

``I look forward to working with the president and my colleagues in Congress to improve airline security and provide unemployment compensation, health care and job training to the families who have been affected by layoffs in the airlines and related industries,'' Daschle said.

Administration officials said on Thursday they expected to work with Congress to move a security package quickly, but sidestepped questions about workers' benefits, which Bush did not mention.