Panel: Don't treat fliers like terrorists

Travelers at the Denver International Airport line up
at the TSA checkpoint

Editor's Note:  Laughable!!!  The recommendations put forth by the U.S. Travel Association are laughable in that they are obviously intended to create unnecessary divisions within our society.  They want you to provide them with the ability to more easily invade your privacy by granting permission to access "everything" about you, which, in the end, will NOT guarantee you a place at the front of the line.  If you choose to participate in these tyrannical measures, you are contributing to the demise of our nation; to the enslavement of it's people.  They begin by alienating segments of society, similar to what happened to the Jewish people during WWII.  Eventually you will qualify for elimination, as well.  During the Holocaust, people did not speak up until it was too late.  Millions of people suffered and died at the hands of tyrants.  Stereotyping, Preferential treatment, etc.  Is this the society we want?  Are you willing to stand by while your fellow citizens are treated like terrorists simply because they don't have a perfect credit score or employment history?  When will you stand up?  Will you wait until they come for you and your children? Boycott the airports.  Don't travel by airplane.  Organize protests.

It is time to Wake Up!  You too, can join the Global Political Awakening!

"First they came…" is a famous statement attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group. The text of the quotation is usually presented roughly as follows:

First They came... - Pastor Martin Niemoller
First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

CNN-Calling for an airport screening process that maximizes security but cuts down on passenger hassles, the U.S. Travel Association on Wednesday recommended key changes to the current system.

The group, along with a panel of experts, suggested creating a trusted traveler program that would allow fliers who volunteer certain information about themselves to go through less rigorous security before their flight.

It also proposed allowing each traveler to check one bag without a fee to reduce the amount of luggage going through security checkpoints.

"We need to do better," said Jim Turner, a former ranking Democratic member of the House Homeland Security Committee and co-chairman of the panel, during a news conference in Washington.

"We owe it to the traveling public to make the system make more sense."

Traveler frustration with the current routine -- which includes the familiar rules about taking off shoes, going through a metal detector or full-body scan (or both) and facing the possibility of a pat down -- prompted the report, titled "A Better Way," the U.S. Travel Association said.

What are the chances Congress would approve any portion of the plan? It's very difficult to get action in this area, Turner admitted.

But if implemented, the recommendations could shorten wait times at security checkpoints and allow the Transportation Security Administration to screen passengers based on risk, the report said.

'Shrink the haystack'

Right now, "everyone who checks in is treated as a potential terrorist," said Tom Ridge, the former secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and co-chairman of the panel.

The group called it a "one-size-fits-all solution" in which children and the elderly can be pulled aside for extra screening. But having everyone go through the system isn't the way to eliminate risk, Ridge said.

"If you want to find a needle in a haystack, you shrink the haystack," he said.

That's where the trusted traveler program would come in, designating some passengers as low-risk based on information such as a background check, employment history, lack of criminal record and other factors.

Once travelers enroll in the program and their identity is confirmed at the airport with the help of biometric information, they would be subject to less security, Ridge said.

The program should be extended to qualified international passengers, the panel recommends.

The TSA screens more than 628 million airline passengers every year at U.S. airports, and the vast majority present little to no risk of committing an act of terrorism, TSA Administrator John Pistole said in a speech earlier this month.

In response to Wednesday's report, TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball said Pistole's vision for the future of airport security screening is "one that is more risk-based and intelligence-driven, shifting away from a one-size-fits-all approach at checkpoints."

"Last fall, [Pistole] directed the agency to explore ways to further develop this strategy, with plans to announce more details this year. We welcome dialogue with stakeholders and the traveling public as the process moves forward," he said.
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