William McGuire is president of Global Security Associates, a New York-based security firm that handles, among other details, airline security operations. SecurityInfoWatch.com caught up with McGuire by phone in the midst of a New York security detail to talk about what how House legislation for 100 percent air cargo screening would impact the security operations of airlines and airports.

Kip Hawley has come out fairly negatively against 100 percent screening of air cargo that would go on passenger planes. Having worked in that industry, do you agree with his assessment?

I don't believe that 100 percent screening is exactly the way to go. And the reason I say that is that there needs to be a little more thought involved. It seems to be "all or nothing" -- either we screen everything or we don't screen anything.

There are certain things that travel through air cargo that don't necessarily have to be screened. Right now they have the known and unknown shipper program, not necessarily the best option, but it was the best option at the time 10 years ago when they implemented it.

You should almost do profiling of cargo. We should ask, what is the cargo being shipped and where is it being shipped to? You have the banking industry that's shipping money all the time. Does that need to be screened every time? No. You have the artwork industry and museums - do their shipments always need to be screened? I'd say no. But you have the guy who shows up at the counter with his package and he's going to ship it to somebody oversees, and does that need to be screened? Yes, absolutely.

In terms of the cargo that is going on planes, how much is coming from counter deliveries? Is that a small or large percentage?

It's a small percentage. Airlines that are shipping cargo, they typically don't accept cargo at the counter. You have to go through a broker, someone who is a known shipper to an airline. But I can go up to any freight loader and ship something through them.

Would this screening need to be done at the airport before it is loaded onto the plane?

Yes, that's the idea.

Do we have really have the secured facilities to do a proper cargo screening and do we have enough screening technology available now to go with this 100 percent procedure that's being suggested?

The simple and quickest answer is "Yes.".