Political Quotes

“Madam President, this amendment would significantly improve the privacy protections for passengers being screened by TSA whole body scanners, also referred to as advanced, imagining technology, or AIT. In 2010, the TSA greatly expanded the use of AIT machines at airport checkpoints around the United States. The image produced by an AIT machine is highly revealing and many passengers are uncomfortable being screened by the technology. Unfortunately, TSA's policy for passengers who refuse AIT screening is to conduct a full pat-down, hardly an ideal alternative for someone with privacy concerns. There is a promising option to address the ongoing privacy concerns with AIT. New software, called automatic target recognition, can be installed on existing AIT machines to enhance privacy by eliminating passenger-specific images and instead detecting potential threat items and indicating their location on a generic outline of a person. This month, TSA will begin testing the new software at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International, and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Senate amendment No. 51 would require TSA to have automatic target recognition software installed on all AIT machines by January 1, 2012. This will provide ample time for TSA to thoroughly field test the software and work with the manufacturers to make necessary adjustments.…”