The U.S. Transportation
Security Administration intends to test a new trusted traveler program this
fall that would expedite airport screening for frequent travelers, administrator
John Pistole this week told a congressional committee.
"We hope to be piloting
some initiatives starting this fall in select airports [with] U.S. carriers,"
Pistole said during a hearing held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs. "We do want to make sure to manage expectations
with the traveling public, and it's a complex issue, so I basically want to
under-promise and over-deliver that we will be doing some things that some
passengers will see as early as this fall."
TSA intends to work with
U.S. airlines to collect information on those travelers "willing to share
information about themselves," Pistole said. That would help TSA "make
informed judgments."
Pistole in March told Congress that the "one-size-fits-all approach" currently used for airport security
is not "efficient or beneficial for the traveling public" and that he
had "several working groups"
exploring program options. This week, he added: "We want to spend as much time as possible on those that
we don't know much about, and the least of amount" on people who, for
example, have flown more than 100,000 miles annually for the past 20 years.
"The challenge, as we know, becomes the practical application of that."
The U.S. Travel
Association issued a statement supporting TSA's efforts to create a program
"similar to trusted traveler programs operated by
U.S. Customs and Border Protection," including Global Entry for frequent international travelers.
During its legislative summit this week, the Global
Business Travel Association "encouraged attendees to ask Congress to
support key business travel initiatives, including ... implementing a trusted
traveler program," according to a statement.
Getting
'Smarter' On Pat-Downs
Senators also used the hearing to scold TSA for what
some deem as overly invasive or
otherwise unnecessary pat-downs at airport security checkpoints.
"A lot of people in
America think you are going overboard and you are missing the boat on terrorism
because you are doing these invasive searches on 6-year-old girls," said Sen.
Rand Paul (R-Ky.). "You said that you see flying as a privilege. There are
those of us that see it otherwise, the Supreme Court included. I think I feel
less safe because you are doing these invasive exams on a 6-year-old, and it
makes me think that you are clueless, that you think she is going to attack our
country and that you are not doing your research on the people who would attack
out country. It absolutely must involve a risk assessment for those of us who are
traveling."
In response, Pistole said, "Unfortunately,
we know that terrorists have used children under 12 years old as suicide
bombers. We also know that two grandparents had chosen to be suicide bombers.
It's informed by the intelligence. But I agree with you, we need to be smarter
in how we go about doing things and we need to use more common sense."