U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to reinstate the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, a panel of which President Donald Trump eliminated all members of a day after coming into office.

Members of the committee received a memo on Jan. 21 saying the membership of all advisory committees was being eliminated as part of a “commitment to eliminating the misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our national security.”

The committee was mandated by Congress after the 1988 PanAm 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 259 people in the air and 11 on the ground, including 35 Syracuse University students flying home for Christmas after a semester abroad. The group included representatives of all the key groups in the industry — including the airlines and major unions — as well as members of a group associated with the victims of the PanAm 103 bombing.

“This unwise, unjustified and dangerous move risks the safety of our skies by taking away a key tool to strengthen aviation security, and it possibly violated the law. Beyond that, it is deeply insulting to the memory of those lost that day, including the 35 precious students from Syracuse University,” Schumer said in a statement.

Schumer sent a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

At this time, the committee technically continues to exist but it doesn’t have any members to carry out the work of examining safety issues at airlines and airports.

“Dismantling the aviation security committee inspired by Pan Am Flight 103, and the awful loss of the 35 Syracuse University students and other Americans murdered that day, is callous and risks airline safety. For decades, nonpartisan members of the Committee, including family members of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103, have made life-saving recommendations to the federal government to enhance aviation security. Now all that work will cease. It makes absolutely no sense. The Department of Homeland Security needs to immediately right this wrong,” Schumer said.

Kara Weipz is the president of Victims of Pan Am Flight 103. Her brother, Rick Monetti, was an SU student onboard.

“This action by the Trump Administration will undermine aviation security in the United States and across the globe,” said Weipz.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.