Rush Holt Steps Up For TSA Sanity
By Art Gallagher
It’s not often that you will see New Jersey’s most conservative state legislator, Senator Mike Doherty, and our most liberal member of Congress, Rush Holt, on the same side of an issue.
The disgraceful security procedures deployed by TSA are such an issue.
Holt has written to John Pistole, the administrator of TSE, questioning the veracity of the agency’s claims regarding the radiation safety of the full-body scanners, whether the scanners are effective in detecting concealed weapons, weather the intimate images created by the scanners are indeed deleted once a passenger is cleared, and declaring that our airport security system is broken as evidenced by three year-old children being aggressively patted down by TSA screeners.
Holt praised Israel’s methods of airport security:
I’ve visited Israel many times in my life, including this fall. I have been impressed by how effective-and minimally intrusive-their airline passenger screening system is, particularly given the daily terrorist threat to Israel’s citizens. Clearly, our government would learn much from their system. If a country as small and threatened as Israel can effectively protect their flying public, there is no reason why American children and their parents cannot be protected using the same layered, common sense-based system employed by Israel.
The Congressman requested a meeting with Pistole to discuss the following questions:
1) Any reports from independent entities that have validated the effectiveness of the AIT systems currently being fielded to detect the full range of explosive threats known or anticipated to be employed by potential terrorists.
2) Whether any independent entity has verified that the AIT machines have been modified so as to ensure that no permanent record of a passenger scan is retained, retransmitted, or otherwise copied either directly from the AIT machine itself or by TSA or other personnel utilizing any form of videorecording technology.
3) The measures TSA has taken to address GAO’s concerns and recommendations regarding the employment, cost-benefit analysis, and expected over all costs of fielding these AIT systems.
4) The measures TSA has taken to improve and validate its Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program, as discussed in GAO’s May 2010 report on the program.
5) Why TSA does not systematically use watch list-derived intelligence information to screen passengers more selectively via AIT systems and the SPOT program.
6) Whether or not TSA has sought or received recommendations from the government of Israel about how TSA could improve its screening programs without invading the privacy of passengers.
Hat tip to BlueJersey’s Rosi Efthim for publishing Holt’s letter.
I’m with Rush on this one.
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While brave men and women die in Afghanistan to keep us safe we whine and complain about xrays and pat downs.
America has become a bunch of whiny little crybabies. How Pathetic.
And the Politicians? As usual they pander.
There is a Youtube video, which has been hailed by your side of the aisle, in which Chris Christie, when faced with a teacher who talked about her low compensation, said, “You don’t have to do it”. I gather you would call this kind of statement, “Classic Christie”. Well, can’t the same be said for you and the other bellyachers about the body scanners? You don’t have to fly- take the train, or a slow boat. I just love simple minded advice, don’t you?
@TR..or while or troops risk their lives overseas to protect our freedom, the sheep at home blindly surrender that freedom to a government that is incrementally eliminating it.
I don’t often use strong language but I believe it is appropriate in this case.
Bull shit Art
Those troops are not trying to protect our Freedom. the Taliban and Al Queda are incapable of taking that. They are protecting our safety and our economic well being.
The sacrifices that Americans made during WWII pale in comparision to what we are being asked for today.
Go through the dam scanners and stop being a bunch of pansey assed pussies and whiners.
TR, you are betraying your nameshake. The real Teddy was no sheep.
When its determined at suicide bombers are hiding explosives inside their bodies, like drug mules hide drugs, I’m sure you’ll be the first to volunteer yourself and your family for the cavity searches and welcome the events being photographed.
There has not been a domestically originated successful airline related terror attempt, that we know of, since 9-11. The metal detectors and wands were working.
Rush Holt is right. We should use the Israeli methods of security, including profiling. The current invasion is a freedom grab and a money grab in the name of safety, which it does not enhance and political correctness which is itself a freedom grab.
Israeli security is staffed by college graduates with extensive training, while the US requires no more than high school equivalence and minimal training. As in all things, you get what you pay for. The scanners are much less effective than competent personnel using their judgment, but Israel has a commitment to educating its population – not bottom lining it to death. You can’t just peel off the good stuff and apply it here- half of our country is too busy trying to “take it back” to be bothered with such things.
Rush Holt is a pandering disgrace to reference the Israeli airport security. The Israelis use extensive passenger profiling and their most powerful tool is to pull people out of line and pepper them with 20 questions in rapid succession. Exactly what we would be doing if people like Holt didn’t stand in the way.