U.S. Customs wants airline passenger lists

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The head of the U.S. Customs Service is calling on Congress to require that his agency have access to airline passenger lists to help screen for terrorists, officials said Monday.

Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner said he wants all international flights bound for the United States to provide passenger information or be denied permission to land. About 85 percent of international flights already provide the information voluntarily, but carriers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan and Egypt do not, officials said.

Bonner is urging Congress to mandate that airlines turn over passenger lists for domestic flights as well.

For international flights, the information includes names, birth dates, nationality and visa and passport numbers. The information is fed into a Customs Service computer database, officials said.