President Obama, last Tuesday, signed a bill that will change the way the military are screened at airports by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The bill, H.R. 1801, is titled the “Risk-Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act.” It, basically, directs the TSA to bring military personnel and their families into its risk-based programs along with the frequent fliers and trusted travelers who are already covered.
In the words of the bill, TSA in consultation with the Department of Defense, “shall develop and implement a plan to provide expedited security screening services for a member of the armed forces, and, to the extent possible, any accompanying family member, if the member of the armed forces, while in uniform, presents documentation indicating official orders for air transportation departing from a primary airport.”
The bill was introduced by former military and Northwest pilot, Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.). It passed the House on a 404-0 vote and faced no objections in the Senate. Rep. Cravaack noted
“With all the contention and political gridlock we’ve witnessed over the past several months, what’s most important is that we come together to agree where we can,” Cravaack said in a statement after the vote.
“In respect to our men and women in uniform and in the best interest of our national security, this bipartisan initiative is the least we could do for our military personnel and their families traveling our nation’s airports while serving our country,” he continued.
This bill is a logical extension of the move towards expanding the trusted traveler programs across the country. Soon procedures will be put into place to have military personnel move through similar screening lanes to the PreCheck Expedited Screening program launched last October that frequent fliers and trusted travelers use. The PreCheck program is already functioning at airports serving Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, Detroit, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Los Angeles. It will expand in “early 2012 to Salt Lake City and John F. Kennedy.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
