The TSA is out of control
Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., former Chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee and the current top Republican on the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, blasts TSA's invasive "pat downs" during a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives on November 17, 2010. Duncan also questions the role of lucrative government contracts in TSA's new naked body scanning machines. The text of the speech is copied below:
"Mr. Speaker:
A nationwide revolt is developing over the body scanners at the airports, and it should.
Hundreds of thousands of frequent fliers who fly each week are upset about getting these frequent doses of radiation.
Parents are upset about being forced to have their children radiated or being touched inappropriately by an unrelated adult.
There is already plenty of security at the airport, but now we are going to spend up to $300 million to install 1,000 scanners.
This is much more about money than it is about security.
The former secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, represents Rapiscan, the company which is selling these scanners to his former department.
Far too many federal contracts are sweetheart, insider deals.
Companies hire former high ranking federal officials, and then magically, those companies get hugely profitable federal contracts.
The American people should not have to choose between having full-body radiation or a very embarrassing, intrusive pat-down every time they fly, as if they were criminals.
We need a little more balance and common sense on this."
Gov't says full-body scanners at airports are safe
An independent group of experts agrees, as long as radiation doses are kept within the low limits set for the scanners. Still, a few scientists worry that machines might malfunction, raising the risk of cancer.
Security and Terrorism Expert Bruce
Schneier: TSA Scans "Won't Catch
Anybody"
What's the motive behind introducing this new level of security? It's politics. You have to be seen as doing something, even if nothing is the smart thing to do. You can't be seen as doing nothing.
Schneier on Security
He wrote,
Beyond Fear
In this book, Bruce Schneier coined the phrase "security theater"
See who's profiting from TSA scanners
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