Air Travel Rules are Official Secrets

[Guest guest]

Regarding the below article, I am reminded of my

mother’s technique for having her luggage left alone

when she had to drive across the border: She would

spread out her sanitary pads across the top of her

suitcase. Perhaps a snotty handkerchief tucked in

one’s bra would discourage a breast exam at the

airport… Just a thought. By the way, I remember my

mom also carried her valuables in her bra when

travelling—I wonder if that’s what they are really

after.

 

" A secret law? I didn't think that happened to

Americans, " she said. Chenoweth-Hage was given the

choice of submitting to the pat-down or not flying. " I

was resolved to see the regulation, " she said,

explaining that she drove to Reno. She has not flown

since.

 

The Arizona Daily Star

Published: 12.12.2004

 

Air-travel rules are official secrets

Authority to pat you down is one such regulation

By Lance Gay

SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

 

WASHINGTON - Want to see the federal government's

regulation authorizing airport security personnel to

pat you down before boarding a plane?

 

You can't. It's a secret rule.

 

Would you like to read the government regulation that

says all passengers must present identification before

being allowed on an aircraft, or what sort of

identification meets the government requirement?

Sorry, you're out of luck. That's a secret law, too.

 

They're just two of several secret regulations issued

after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The

intelligence bill that Congress sent to President Bush

this week establishes a new " privacy council " that's

responsible for reviewing government activities and

ensuring that privacy rights of Americans are

protected.

 

The secret laws are affecting ordinary Americans, from

no-fly lists to requirements imposed since 9/11 that

Americans declare their identities before they fly.

 

Helen Chenoweth-Hage, a former Republican

congresswoman from Idaho, was stopped from flying from

Boise to Reno, Nev., last month because she asked to

read the regulation authorizing Transportation

Security Administration employees to pat her down at

the airport gate.

 

Chenoweth-Hage was told she couldn't see the directive

because the TSA said it was sensitive security

information and so could not be publicly released.

 

" A secret law? I didn't think that happened to

Americans, " she said. Chenoweth-Hage was given the

choice of submitting to the pat-down or not flying. " I

was resolved to see the regulation, " she said,

explaining that she drove to Reno. She has not flown

since.

 

She stressed she's not opposed to airport security and

wants to see the government scrutinize passengers for

likely terrorists. " But this is such a departure from

what our founders set up. They wanted to make sure we

didn't have a secret government, " she said.

 

The secret rules are an outgrowth of a 1974 law that

allowed the Federal Aviation Administration to

withhold from public disclosure any information

" detrimental to the safety of persons traveling in air

transportation. "

 

After 9/11, Congress transferred airport security to

the newly created TSA in the Department of Homeland

Security and broadened the FAA rule to cover anything

that might be " detrimental to the security of

transportation. "

 

The government is now declaring all forms of

interstate transportation - including airplanes,

buses, trains and boats - covered by the cloak of

" sensitive security information " and moving to keep

information from public scrutiny, said Todd Tatelman,

an attorney with the Congressional Research Service.

 

Even the wording of regulations authorizing government

employees to carry out the procedures is kept secret.

 

TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser said the regulations

aren't available for public reading because that might

provide terrorists with information on airport

operations.

 

" We don't want terrorists to know our standard

operating procedures, " Kayser said.

 

He said the pat-down procedure was publicly announced

and well-publicized before it was put in place in time

for Thanksgiving travel. He said the agency is

averaging 10 to12 complaints each week from the 1.2

million travelers using the nation's airports.

 

" It is addressing a specific threat, and that threat

has not been done away with, " Kayser said. He said new

technologies using machines that sniff people

electronically for the presence of explosive materials

could eventually replace the intrusive procedures, but

those machines are currently only experimental.

 

Privacy advocate Steven Aftergood of the Federation of

American Scientists warns that the secret rules show

that Congress has given the executive branch too much

power without sufficient checks.

 

The Society of Environmental Journalists fears that

the procedure will be used to withhold Freedom of

Information Act information on roads used by trucks

carrying nuclear wastes, for example.

 

The TSA is even imposing its law on other government

agencies. In May, the U.S. Coast Guard declared

emergency plans by shipping companies and terminal

operators should be " sensitive security information "

because the government has determined they " must be

protected from improper disclosure in order to ensure

transportation security. "

 

The Department of Homeland Security has also taken

steps to ensure that government employees don't spill

the beans on what's in the documents. Two unions

representing federal employees say nondisclosure

documents require employees and contractors to sign

pledges to keep the sensitive information secret. The

agency threatens civil penalties against anyone who

discloses such information.

 

The TSA has conducted nine investigations of air

marshals for allegedly talking to the media about

their operations. Two marshals were threatened with

arrest and prosecution. But Clark Ervin, Homeland

Security's inspector general, noted that unlike the

release of government secrets, the release of

sensitive security information isn't currently a

prosecutable offense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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