White House Is Close to a Decision On the Future of Reagan Airport

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is nearing a decision on the future of Reagan National Airport, with several advisers and the president himself apparently favoring a reopening, but some security officials raising concerns in opposition.

The airport, located just minutes from the White House, Pentagon and Capitol Hill, got a show of support Sunday from White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, who said President Bush wanted it reopened, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who said he, too, hoped it would reopen after ground security is tightened.

"We want to do what is right rather than do it fast. And so we'll be working to address the challenge," Mr. Card said on Fox News television. "I'm confident that we can address the challenge and that Ronald Reagan Airport will be open. The question is how quickly and under what circumstances."

Even if the airport is reopened, supporters of such a move say it would probably be done gradually, with restrictions on flight patterns around the facility that sits across the Potomac River in northern Virginia. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said the administration also might require new security measures, such as stationing armed air marshals on every flight into and out of the airport.

The administration is expected to announce a decision on the airport's future as early as Tuesday. While some of President Bush's advisers, such as Mr. Mineta, have expressed support for reopening National, others may be resisting the move out of concern over the airport's proximity to vital government buildings. One such adviser, according to an administration official familiar with the discussions, is the counterterrorism chief of the National Security Council, Richard Clarke. Mr. Clarke couldn't be reached for comment.

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