Lawmakers ask travel companies to step up security ahead of inauguration
US lawmakers are asking for help from travel companies including bus operators, car rental companies and hotels to prevent an attack on the inauguration and investigate last week’s Capitol insurrection.
Washington, DC, and states across the country are heightening security and preparing reinforcements this week ahead of potential armed protests from Saturday until at least Inauguration Day on Wednesday.
The House Oversight Committee sent letters Thursday to more than two dozen operators of bus lines, rental car companies and hotels, asking for assistance “identifying and preventing the ongoing and extreme threat of further violent attacks” in Washington and elsewhere.
The request noted that the rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6 “relied on a range of companies and services to get them there and house them once they arrived.”
Airlines and the Transportation Security Agency have already announced security measures such as double screening at airports, suspending in-flight alcohol service and banning checked firearms on flights in and out of the US capital in the days surrounding the inauguration.
The letter asks the companies to increase security and screening of guests and keep business records available for future investigations, as well as provide Congress with records of any policies “currently in place or being developed to ensure that your services are not used to facilitate violence or domestic terrorism.”
The bus companies include:
- Greyhound
- Megabus
- BoltBus
- Lux Bus America
- Vamoose
- Jefferson Lines
- Peter Pan
- Flixbus
- RedCoach
The rental car operators include:
- Enterprise
- Hertz
- Avis
- National
- Alamo
- Budget
- Dollar
- Thrifty
The hotel and accommodation companies include:
- Expedia, owner of VRBO
- Intercontinental Hotels Group
- Accor Group
- Hyatt
- Hilton
- Choice Hotels
- Marriott
- Best Western International
- Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
- Extended Stay America
