Ron Paul: Cut out this Soviet-style nonsense

WorldNetDaily ^ | 11/17/2010 | Joe Kovacs

[speciallybland]

With a week to go until the Thanksgiving travel peak and Americans' anger continuing to rise over heightened airport-security measures, a U.S. congressman launched legislation today to end what he calls Soviet-style searches by the American government.

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, introduced the Air Traveler Dignity Act 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," Paul said.

"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."

Paul's legislation, H.R. 6416, is just two sentences long, stating:

No law of the United States shall be construed to confer any immunity for a federal employee or agency or any individual or entity that receives federal funds, who subjects an individual to any physical contact (including contact with any clothing the individual is wearing), X-rays, or millimeter waves, or aids in the creation of or views a representation of any part of a individual's body covered by clothing as a condition for such individual to be in an airport or to fly in an aircraft. The preceding sentence shall apply even if the individual or the individual's parent, guardian, or any other individual gives consent.

[nathanbedford]

I wish to express a note of caution which no doubt will draw considerable criticism from my conservative colleagues. I think we must be careful on this issue that we do not find ourselves at the end of the day on the wrong side of the national security issue. There is nothing the Rats would like more than to tear the mantle from our shoulders and drape themselves with this cloak of being right on national security.

The problem is that asymmetrical warfare has driven the nation to the point where we are almost turning on our own. In this, the terrorists have succeeded beyond their dreams. We are now in a place where domestic and international flying has become a nightmare well beyond the difficulties associated with jet lag, bad weather and bad schedules and has assumed the dimensions of fear, suspicion, humiliation, delay, indignities, absurdities, and ineffectual policies foisted upon us by political correctness. The conundrum of the terrorists asymmetrical threat is bad enough, and expensive enough God knows, without we Americans turning ourselves and committing political correctness upon ourselves.

The problem is that we cannot simply dismiss these security measures because there is always another underpants bomber waiting to board the next plane. It is true, we must be right 100% of the time and they need only one lucky hit. It is also true that if we think that we can rationalize the process by refraining from patting down nuns and three-year-olds, it will take the terrorists about five minutes to realize that they can smuggle explosives onto aircraft by women disguised as nuns or in their own babies diapers. Profiling, racial or ethnic or otherwise, is a necessary tool but it is insufficient. The fact that we do not profile is a withering indictments of our politically correct culture and politics. But even if we profiled without regard to the sensitivities of CAIR, they would infiltrate around the profile parameters. I do not think that we can adopt the Israeli system which contemplates long interviews of people who trigger their profiles. We are flying too many people to undertake this procedure as the only method in the absence of technology. Yet, the method ought to be adopted on a selective basis just as profiling should be adopted. Again, necessary but not sufficient. We must remember that one successful explosion of one aircraft will cost tens of billions of dollars in ripple effect and devastate the air industry. We must also understand that there are a sufficient number of suicide bombers who would offer themselves up to achieve this end so there is virtually no deterrent effect in catching these people by the Israeli method. So that brings us back to technology. It is always a temptation to permit oneself to be seduced by technology. That is likely to occur if one seeks the silver bullet but of one deploys technology in a coordinated fashion with other techniques one develops a layered effect which is probably the most effective shield against this kind of asymmetrical warfare. I think the machines which see through clothes are indispensable. Certainly, if conservatives succeed in having them eliminated and an airplane is blown out of the sky killing hundreds of Americans and crippling the airline industry, the political damage will be great. It is fundamental that privacy must be preserved and I think I the whole we will find that it is. It should not require much oversight to assure American people that their privacy is in fact being preserved.

It seems to me that we need to have a privatized system, adopting much of the Israeli approach, but using technology as much as possible. The passenger should be permitted to prove his bona fides once and for all and be issued a certification, combined with fingerprints and eye print which will enable him to go through security virtually unexamined. The same is, of course, true for airline personnel. Is the occasional traveler who cannot afford or who is not forewarned enough before his flight who must undergo the rigors of examination.

We could reduce the agony by reducing the time it line. The absence of the passengers who are certified will shorten the line. Certainly, extra isles and more personnel can move the lines along faster. I would be willing to pay another dollar or two per flight to pay for this.

At all costs the effort to unionize the government employees must be stopped. The operation should be privatized and the airlines should carry the responsibility and the risk as much as possible, subject to close government oversight, because it is the airlines who have the most to lose in a pecuniary sense.

Eventually, the bad guys are going to get one of our planes. We have to prepare for the economic impact in advance.

It is all well and good to rail against lunacies of the administration at Janet Napolitano, but it is also necessary to understand that these are the prices we unavoidably must pay in asymmetrical warfare. The point is not to stack on costs through political correctness.

[Iron Munro]

[jd777]

So you’re willing to trade away our constitutional rights for the ILLUSION of safety.

[mirkwood]

No law of the United States shall be construed to confer any immunity for a federal employee or agency or any individual or entity that receives federal funds, who subjects an AMERICAN to any physical contact (including contact with any clothing the individual is wearing), X-rays, or millimeter waves, or aids in the creation of or views a representation of any part of a AMERICAN’s body covered by clothing as a condition for such AMERICAN to be in an airport or to fly in an aircraft. The preceding sentence shall apply even if the AMERICAN or the AMERICAN’s parent, guardian, or any other AMERICAN gives consent.

[nathanbedford]

what constitutional right?

[ari-freedom]

Right, I am more interested in ending the political correctness that prevents us from using all tools, including profiling. I have no problem with scanning as long as the scans are promptly deleted. It is simply unacceptable that scans were leaked to the public.
Anyone that can’t go through a scanner can be interviewed. But all of this groping is just dehumanizing and I don’t think it makes us safer.
Privatization: We’d want someone from the government to watch every private scanner. The government is more likely to give someone else a hard time for abuse than their own if they were completely in charge.

[ari-freedom]

Groping gives the illusion of safety but Israeli airports really are safe.

[jd777]

the 4th amendment.

[Ronin]

The first time some Oba-san gets groped at Honolulu International, Hawaii can kiss off a huge amount of tourist yen.

I do not see Japanese tourists putting up with this feces.

[jd777]

what constitutional right?

This is what passes for conservatism these days.

[timetostand]

Groping gives the illusion of safety but Israeli airports really are safe.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

I agree Israel is the security model!

[Blueflag]

The punctured balloon threat is a COMPLETE myth.

An airliner holed by a bullet, or a rock, or a small meteorite or a small bird, whatever, WILL NOT ‘explode’/ peel open/ disintegrate/ spiral toward the ground/ or similar.

A [bullet] hole made in a pressurized aircraft in-flight will cause it to slowly depressurize, as opposed to what’s called ‘explosive decompression’ that occurs when a large hole is made — like when a cargo door opens up.

And yes, I am a pilot.

FWIW, FAMs (Federal Air Marshals) carry sidearms. Pilots used to. Firearms on a plane are no more a threat to the innocent than they are in any other crowded public space.

p.s. GOOGLE frangible bullets or frangible ammo

[ari-freedom]

He said he was for a privatized system. Since the government wouldn’t be the one searching, it wouldn’t pose a problem for the 4th amendment.

[who knows what evil?]

I agree Israel is the security model!

Beck and an Israeli official suggested this very idea yesterday...that we model our security after that of El Al, and that we use men and women from the military as staff. Perfect.

[wastedyears]

Now that’s how long federal bills should be. Not two pages, not 2000, but two sentences.

Likewise, the Second Amendment, taking into consideration today’s climate and lack of understanding of original intent (see the 14th Amendment), should be amended to simply say “The Right of the People to keep and bear arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.” (emphasis mine for those control-freaks in government)

[AmericanInTokyo]

You got it!

Word will spread like wildfire, and they will take their hundreds of millions of Tourist Yen ELSEWHERE.

It is just a matter of time.

Japanese tourists are already tired of the first thing they see in the USA upon landing being intimidating TSA officials and Custom Agents yelling at the top of their voices and barking all kind of nazi -like unclear, confusing commands. I only saw this once before, in Macao, and maybe in one other third world place I forget, but it was a crap hole. Most places dont do this as a first impression to the foreigners (and their tourist money), but America certainly does. Something is way out of whack.

[wastedyears]

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think we could stop a gamma ray blast from scorching the Earth.

[ari-freedom]

yeah I hate the wording of the 2nd amendment. I’m sorry, but I had to say it.

[jd777]

The Constitution is the LAW. You can not assign a police power to a private force and then circumvent the law. You wouldn’t accept a private security force taking away your right to free speech or the right to practice your religion. (1st amendment) - Or would you?

[wastedyears]

For those that don’t live in TX and keep up with Ron Paul, could you post some information/clarification on this whole shrimp thing please?