WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to bolster travel
security in the wake of the Brussels attacks with measures that include
doubling the number of transportation security teams with bomb-sniffing dogs at
domestic airports and other transit hubs.

Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to add security measures to a
separate bill that calls for renewing the programs of the Federal Aviation
Administration through September 2017. The FAA bill is expected to come up for
a final vote later this month.

After Republicans and Democrats reached a deal on security
measures earlier in the day, lawmakers voted to raise the number of Visible
Intermodal Prevention Response, or VIPER, teams within the Transportation
Security Administration from 31 to 60. VIPER teams, which are intended as a
visible deterrent to attacks, can be deployed at airports and train or bus
stations.

Other measures would bolster the vetting of airport employees,
add security to vulnerable check-in and baggage claim areas and authorize the TSA
to donate security equipment to foreign airports with direct flights to the
United States.

The approved provisions would also order a new U.S. assessment
of foreign cargo security programs and provide grant money to train state,
local and foreign authorities in how to respond to mass-casualty and
“active shooter” incidents.

It is unclear what kind of reception the FAA bill, if passed by
the Senate, might receive in the House of Representatives.

House
lawmakers have been considering their own FAA legislation. That bill also calls
for the privatization of the U.S. air traffic control system, a measure that is
not in the Senate’s legislation.