Ron Paul’s Anti-TSA Legislation
Posted by
Lew Rockwell on November 17,
2010 05:13 PM
Ron Paul introduces HR 6416, the American Traveler Dignity Act:
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.
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