`Intrusive' Physical Checks at U.S. Airports Will Continue, TSA Chief Says
New rules requiring “intrusive” pat-downs of some passengers at U.S. airport security checkpoints will remain in place, the head of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration said today.
“We’re not changing the policies,” TSA Administrator John Pistole said on the CNN’s “State of the Union” program. “Clearly it’s intrusive. It’s not comfortable. It really comes down to what is that balance between privacy and security.”
Under the new security rules, passengers who refuse full- body scans or who set off alarms during those procedures are required to undergo thorough pat-downs by security personnel.
Representative John Mica, a Florida Republican, said the complaints about the physical searches were “the tip of the iceberg of problems with the TSA.”
“I don’t think the roll-out was good and the approach was even worse,” Mica said on CNN. “This does need to be refined.”
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican, said the pat-downs were both intrusive and ineffective.
“They’re not using common sense, they’re not using intelligence,” Jindal said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. “There’s no reason for them to be doing these body searches of six-year-old, 12-year-old girls traveling from Louisiana to visit their grandparents.”
House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Congress will hold hearings on whether the security body searches are appropriate.
‘Very Controversial’
“I think the pat-downs are going to be very controversial,” Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program. “I don’t think any of us would want to undergo that. But most people understand we’ve got to keep airplanes safe.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that security experts should “keep trying to get it better and less intrusive and more precise.”
Pistole said the policies will stay in place while security officials are “trying to be informed by the latest intelligence.”
Mica, who will become chairman in January of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, renewed his call to consider privatizing airport security. Mica said a pilot program at five airports that have used private screeners for two years showed his idea has merit.
“The results that came back convinced me that private screeners can perform statistically better.” He said.
The TSA has grown to 67,000 employees, Mica said.
“I’ve got a heck of a big overhead and I’m not getting the results,” he said of the agency.
Pistole ordered the more-thorough checkpoint procedures nationwide this month. He said they are necessary to ensure that all passengers are screened and to avoid an attack such as the Christmas attempt last year. A Nigerian man with explosives hidden in his underpants tried to blow up a jet as it landed in Detroit.
Clinton, when asked by CBS if she would submit to a security pat-down, said “Not if I could avoid it. I mean, who would?”
To contact the reporters on this story: David Lerman at dlerman1@bloomberg.net Juliann Neher in Washington at jneher1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net
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