Washington Wire: TSA Eases Carry-On Laptop Screening

The days of fishing laptops out of carry-on luggage at airport security checkpoints have ended for business travelers who use cases that meet new "checkpoint friendly" standards. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration on Aug. 16 began allowing passengers to leave their laptops in bags that permit a clear and unobstructed image of the laptop when undergoing X-ray screening. In order to qualify, the bag must contain a designated section for laptops that unfolds completely to lie flat on the X-ray belt. It must contain no metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, underneath or on top of the laptop-only section, contain no pockets and contain nothing other than the laptop. Most qualified bags became available for purchase in mid-August, TSA said. The bags were developed in cooperation with the private sector. More than 40 companies submitted prototypes. "This is a solid example of government collaborating with the private sector to conceptualize and produce a product that really works to improve and advance the security process," said TSA administrator Kip Hawley. "We put the challenge out there and bag manufacturers overwhelming responded with innovative products that provide a win-win for travelers and TSA." Examples and images of checkpoint-friendly designs are posted on the TSA Web site at www.tsa.gov.

GAO Calls Airport Screening Checks Waste of Money
A congressional report has called a program designed to spot gaps in airport screening a "waste of money'' because it doesn't take the further step of investigating how bombs and weapons breach the checkpoints. A U.S. Government Accountability Office report released Aug. 14 said the Transportation Security Administration performed 20,000 covert tests at 450 airports since 2002 without recording the reason why screeners failed to detect suspicious materials. The TSA disputed the report and said it has deployed new technologies including tougher X-ray machines to examine carry-on baggage and backscatter imaging machines that allow screeners to detect malicious materials hidden under travelers' clothing. House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) is planning hearings on the subject this month.

State Department Begins Passport Card Production
The U.S. State Department has begun producing a new U.S. Passport Card, designed to ease travel between the United States and Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean at land and seaport entries. The card will fulfill requirements under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative that travelers present a single identity document that also denotes citizenship that takes effect June 1. The card cannot be used for international air travel, the State Department said, although it otherwise carries the same rights and privileges of a regular passport and is valid for 10 years for an adult and 5 years for children aged 15 or less. Applicants who submitted documents should receive their card by mid-September, the State Department said. The card costs $45 for adults applying for a passport for the first time and $35 for children. Current passport holders can apply for the card as a renewal and pay only $20. Additional information on applying for the card is available at the State Department Web site at www.travel.state.gov.