Posted on 11/18/2010 10:40:16 AM PST by grundle
Mr. Speaker, today I introduce legislation to protect Americans from physical and emotional abuse by federal Transportation Security Administration employees conducting screenings at the nation’s airports. We have seen the videos of terrified children being grabbed and probed by airport screeners. We have read the stories of Americans being subjected to humiliating body imaging machines and/or forced to have the most intimate parts of their bodies poked and fondled. We do not know the potentially harmful effects of the radiation emitted by the new millimeter wave machines.
In one recent well-publicized case, a TSA official is recorded during an attempted body search saying, “By buying your ticket you gave up a lot of rights.” I strongly disagree and am sure I am not alone in believing that we Americans should never give up our rights in order to travel. As our Declaration of Independence states, our rights are inalienable. This TSA version of our rights looks more like the “rights” granted in the old Soviet Constitutions, where freedoms were granted to Soviet citizens -- right up to the moment the state decided to remove those freedoms.
The incident of the so-called “underwear bomber” last Christmas is given as justification for the billions of dollars the federal government is spending on the new full-body imaging machines, but a Government Accountability Office study earlier this year concluded that had these scanners been in use they may not have detected the explosive material that was allegedly brought onto the airplane. Additionally, there have been recent press reports calling into question the accuracy and adequacy of these potentially dangerous machines.
My legislation is simple. It establishes that airport security screeners are not immune from any US law regarding physical contact with another person, making images of another person, or causing physical harm through the use of radiation-emitting machinery on another person. It means they are subject to the same laws as the rest of us.
Imagine if the political elites in our country were forced to endure the same conditions at the airport as business travelers, families, senior citizens, and the rest of us. Perhaps this problem could be quickly resolved if every cabinet secretary, every member of Congress, and every department head in the Obama administration were forced to submit to the same degrading screening process as the people who pay their salaries.
I warned at the time of the creation of the TSA that an unaccountable government entity in control of airport security would provide neither security nor defend our basic freedom to travel. Yet the vast majority of both Republicans and Democrats then in Congress willingly voted to create another unaccountable, bullying agency-- in a simple-minded and unprincipled attempt to appease public passion in the wake of 9-11. Sadly, as we see with the steady TSA encroachment on our freedom and dignity, my fears in 2001 were justified.
The solution to the need for security at US airports is not a government bureaucracy. The solution is to allow the private sector, preferably the airlines themselves, to provide for the security of their property. As a recent article in Forbes magazine eloquently stated, “The airlines have enormous sums of money riding on passenger safety, and the notion that a government bureaucracy has better incentives to provide safe travels than airlines with billions of dollars worth of capital and goodwill on the line strains credibility.” In the meantime, I hope we can pass this legislation and protect Americans from harm and humiliation when they choose to travel.
“We do not know the potentially harmful effects of the radiation emitted by the new millimeter wave machines.”
Aren’t most of the machines in use so far actually of the back-scatter x-ray type? X-rays, being ionizing radiation, worry me a lot more than non-ionizing millimeter (wavelength) radiation.
This kind of filing and publicity is EXACTLY what is needed. Be the Party of Let’s Fix Things and let the others be the Party of No, Let’s Not.
I missed the post yesterday, and am glad it is reposted.
Although I’m NOT a big fan of Ron Paul’s, I agree with his assessment 100%, and have posted similar thoughts in previous discussions here at FR.
Call your elected and demand SIMILARITIES instead of Profiling be used and TSA be turned over to private companies....cargo be scanned as well....look for terrorists - political correctness has no place in an Air Port....
“Introducing the American Traveler Dignity Act”
So government takes away our God given rights and they government wants to give some back.
This is all bad.
I hear ya...its ridiculous! The salt in the wound is whats given back are scraps. Must be good to be both the problem creator and solver. Seems a full employment sort of gig.
TSA bookmark.
back in 1990 i flew on a commercial airline for the first time. i was en route to germany from indianapolis. first we went to chicago for a 3 hour layover at ohare. while we sat in the boarding area, just waiting and chatting, a lady from the airline came over and sat down with my aunt and i. she asked us all sorts of questions about our luggage being packed by us, did anyone give us anything to take with us, anyone we did not know try to get us to take something on the plane, etc. after about twenty minutes of this nice friendly lady politely asking questions and explaining why she was asking (for security reasons) she thanked us for our cooperation and moved on to talk to some other passengers who had arrived in the boarding area. she and 2 other people talked to every single person who was waiting to board that plane. i know this for certain because my aunt and i were trying to guess which airline employee would talk to which passenger and who would be next. we were bored after 3 hours of nothing better to do.
my question is this: why did the airline stop doing this and when?
Big Sister Janet must go.
IF we are going to allow Muslims to live among us and IF we are going to allow them to travel by air without profiling and active physical screenings, then screenings like this are necessary.
Addressing the fourth amendment violations without addressing the insanity of hostile aliens roaming around the country is closing the barn door after the horse is out.
I just heard about this today!!! Why isn’t this being discussed on FR?
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-6416
It’s sad that we need this, but this needs to be voted on BEFORE Thanksgiving! Or are we even in session?
That’s a lot of IFs that the American people do not want. We need profiling. Behavioral profiling.
Ping
If you believe that I’ve got some land in FL to sell you. Real nice waterfront property.
Do a google search on concerns about these scanners. That they are safe is not a given. There are legitimate concerns by scientists about these.
What if one of them malfunctions? What about people who’ve had radiation treatments for cancer?
We should not be forced to expose ourselves to any kind fo radiation emitting device just to travel.
The people operating these are not professionals.
If I have to get yearly X-rays at the dentist and wear a heavy lead vest to be safe and the machine is operated remotely by someone who has years or training, i don’t exactly trust a TSA agent with a week or two of training to operate the machine or interpret the results.
Can you imagine the levels of radiation THEY’RE being exposed to?
I guess the FOURTH AMENDMENT is not enough?!?!
Where are all the cowards and idiots who will not stand up for the fourth amendment?
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