More Than 100 D.C.-Area Airport Workers Arrested

— -- Feds Arrest 104 D.C.-Area Airport Workers

April 23 — Federal investigators cracked down on airport workers today, charging nearly 100 with lying about their identities to get airport security clearances at two Washington, D.C.-area airports, and arresting another 10 at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

"Federal officials completed the arrest of 94 employees at Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan [Washington National] Airport on charges of widespread fraud in obtaining restricted access airport security badges," Attorney General John Ashcroft said at an Alexandria, Va., news conference before the Maryland arrests.

The workers were accused of lying on security documents that gave them access to secure areas of the airports, and some were charged with Social Security fraud and various immigration violations, Ashcroft said.

Since Sept. 11, federal, state and local agencies have been running background checks of airport employees with access to secure areas of airports, netting hundreds of people with allegedly false documentation.

Including today's arrests, more than 350 people have been charged at 14 airports, according to the Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General. Of those, 105 have pleaded guilty or had plea agreements pending, and 73 have been deported or are awaiting deportation proceedings.

The Washington-area operation is the most intense of the efforts so far, involving investigators from at least 11 different agencies who pored over the records of tens of thousands airport workers, Ashcroft said.

"What this investigation uncovered should be a wake-up call for every airport in America," the attorney general said. "Sixty-eight individuals employed at Dulles and 26 individuals employed at Reagan National have been arrested."

Ashcroft pointed out that Dulles was one of the airports where Sept. 11 hijackers boarded planes that were crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

"Our response has been to weave a web of terrorism prevention that brings together all agencies of justice at every level of government," he said. "Let me be clear: there will be zero tolerance of security breaches at our nation's airports."

If convicted, those arrested face penalties ranging from two to 10 years in prison, fines up to $250,000, and deportation.

Officials said that dozens of other individuals were wanted in the the sweep, and that by Wednesday, they hoped to have arrested at least 138 airport workers. Officials said none of those arrested had any known links to terrorism or to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Among previous crackdowns, 28 workers were arrested at Phoenix's international airport on April 18. More than 60 workers were indicted at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in North Carolina on March 8, and nearly 70 were indicted at Salt Lake City Airport before the Winter Olympics.

Airport union officials criticized the sweeps, saying federal officials were targeting a group of immigrants unable to defend themselves.

"It's scapegoating," Eliseo Medina, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, told The Associated Press. "It's intended to distract attention from the failure of the INS. After they issued visas to terrorists, they came in for a lot of criticism. This is an effort to distract public attention from the problems that they face."

— ABCNEWS.com

Gay Man Sues for 9/11 Benefits

N E W Y O R K, April 23 — A gay man who lost his partner in the World Trade Center is asking the state workers' compensation board to consider him as the man's spouse and grant him benefits.

Larry Courtney, 57, whose partner, Eugene Clark, worked on the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center's south tower, has filed a claim seeking coverage under New York's Workers' Compensation Law, which grants surviving spouses of those killed on the job up to $400 per week for life or until remarriage.

At a news conference Monday, he was overcome with emotion and could not read his prepared remarks. He wept into a handkerchief as Adam Aronson, staff attorney at Lambda Legal, which is representing Courtney, read the statement.

"Just like other married couples, Gene and I were a partnership in every way emotionally, financially, legally and in our day-to-day lives," Courtney's statement said. "I know that Gene would want me to seek the protections that we should have as a married couple, because we always believed we were a married couple."

Aronson said Courtney's is the first case brought by a gay partner seeking workers' compensation coverage in New York.

Courtney, who works for a brokerage firm, was with Clark, an administrative assistant at Aon Consulting, for 13 years.

Aronson said Courtney's hearing before the workers' compensation board, set for today, follows a decision by CNA Insurance in March that declared Courtney ineligible to receive workers' compensation benefits granted to spouses.

Katrina Parker, a spokeswoman for CNA Insurance, said the company had no comment.

Jon Sullivan, a spokesman for the New York State Workers' Compensation Board, said the board would decide the case "based on existing statutes."

"The law covers legal spouses and does not apply to partners, regardless of whether it's a heterosexual or homosexual relationship," Sullivan said.

— The Associated Press

Court Declares 7 Firefighters Dead

N E W Y O R K, April 23 — Seven firefighters lost in the collapse of the World Trade Center, including a high-ranking member of the department, have been formally declared dead by a court.

On the list was Ray Downey, 63, chief of special operations command and the city's most decorated firefighter.

Downey was an expert on urban search-and-rescue, and led a team of New York City firefighters who responded to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

The State Supreme Court of Manhattan has issued 1,721 death certificates for Sept. 11 victims whose remains have not been recovered.

Some families have not applied for death certificates, which are needed to obtain life insurance, process wills and access bank accounts.

Also declared dead by the court Monday were firefighters Vincent Brunton, 43, Patrick Byrne, 39; Thomas J. Farino, 37; Robert Hamilton, 43; Edward J. Rall, 44; and Michael Otten, 42.

— The Associated Press

Many Hurt by Sept. 11 Get No Aid

N E W Y O R K, April 23 — An estimated 50,000 New York City workers lost their jobs as an indirect result of the terrorist attacks, but do not qualify for relief set aside for Sept. 11 victims, according to a study released today.

The report by the United Way of New York City highlights the dilemma facing many displaced workers who lost their livelihoods after the attacks, yet were left behind from charity aid because they did not live or work in Lower Manhattan.

The report also says the workers have placed added pressure on the city's social service providers at a time of looming budget cuts.

The report points out that 9,000 jobs were lost in the city's aviation industry, which it calls a direct effect of the attacks. However, because most airline and airport employees worked in Queens, they were not eligible for help.

"The Sept. 11 attack and its aftermath have affected the need for human services in the City, the public and private resources available to meet those needs, and the conditions under which human service providers operate," the report said.

The report said service organizations were likely to see significant increases in the need for rent assistance, other housing needs, and mental health services.

— The Associated Press