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Congressional Hearing on TSA Body Scanner Program Today; DHS Claims Right To Strip Search All Air Travelers
The Subcommittee on National Security of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing on "TSA Oversight: Whole Body Imaging" On March 16, 2011. Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) President Marc Rotenberg has been asked to testify. The hearing is expected to explore the privacy impact, health concerns, and questions of effectiveness that have been raised about the program.
X-ray Backscatter Image from TSA Scanner
Credit: Wikipedia
Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) introduced legislation in 2009 that passed the House, 310-108, that would prevent the TSA from deploying body scanners as the primary screening technique in US airports. EPIC held a public conference earlier this that explored public objections to the TSA program. For more information, see EPIC: EPIC v. DHS and EPIC: Whole Body Imaging Technology.
The Subcommittee hearing will take place at 9:30am in room 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. http://oversight.house.gov/
Witnesses include:
Representative Sharon Cissna, Alaska State House of Representatives, District 22
Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center
Fred Cate, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, Indiana University, Senior Policy Advisor of the Hunton & Williams' Center for Information Policy Leadership
Dr. David Brenner, Higgins Professor of Radiation Biophysics at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, Director of the Center for Radiological Research, Director of the Columbia University Radiological Research Accelerator Facility
Stewart Baker, Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Lee Kair, Assistant Administrator for Security Operations, Transportation Security Administration
Robin Kane, Assistant Administrator for Security Technology, Transportation Security Administration
The hearing will be streamed live at http://oversight.house.gov.
DHS: We Have the Authority to Routinely Strip-Search Air Travelers
The Department of Homeland Security told a federal court that the agency believes it has the legal authority to strip search every air traveler. The agency made the claim at oral argument in EPIC's lawsuit to suspend the airport body scanner program. The agency also stated that it believed a mandatory strip search rule could be instituted without any public comment or rulemaking.
EPIC President Marc Rotenberg urged the Washington, DC appeals court to suspend the body scanner program, noting that the devices are "uniquely intrusive" and ineffective. EPIC's opening brief in the case states that the Department of Homeland Security "has initiated the most sweeping, the most invasive, and the most unaccountable suspicionless search of American travelers in history," and that such a change in policy demands that the TSA conduct a notice-and-comment rule making process. The case is EPIC v. DHS, No. 10-1157.
On March 10, 2011, EPIC President Marc Rotenberg presented arguments against the TSA body scanner program before the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. EPIC has said that body scanners are "invasive, unlawful, and ineffective," and that the TSA's deployment of the devices for primary screening violates the U.S. Constitution and several federal statutes.
EPIC's opening brief states that the Department of Homeland Security "has initiated the most sweeping, the most invasive, and the most unaccountable suspicionless search of American travelers in history." EPIC has also cited the agency's failure to respond to the First EPIC Petition and the Second EPIC Petition, widely supported by a broad coalition of organizations, which challenged the deployment of the devices and called for a public rule making.
Inspector General Finds Homeland Security’s Contract Management Process Noncompetitive
The Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security released a report finding that the agency's contract files did not "contain[] sufficient evidence of justification and approval, market research, and acquisition planning" for the $1.3 billion dollars in noncompetitive contracts the agency entered into in fiscal year 2010. The noncompetitive process raises doubts that the agency secured the "best possible value" for the goods and services and that the contracts were awarded to "eligible and qualified vendors." The IG recommended that the agency’s Chief Procurement Officer pursue corrective action plans. EPIC previously criticized the agency’s contracting practices regarding whole body scanners.
Source: Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
For more information, see EPIC: EPIC v. DHS and EPIC: Whole Body Imaging Technology.
For related information see EPIC: EPIC v. DHS: Body Scanners (Suspend the Program) and EPIC: EPIC v. DHS (FOIA).
Source: EPIC
