TSA

The Homeland Security Department plans to begin a controversial airline passenger screening program as early as January -- as long as it can win over skeptical lawmakers. The department's Transportation Security Administration plans to take over the responsibility for screening passengers against government terrorist watch lists beginning in 2009, TSA Administrator Kip Hawley told the House Homeland Security Transportation Subcommittee Tuesday.

If a pair of Transportation Security Administration officers strolling by a Sea-Tac Airport ticket counter wish you happy holidays and ask where you're traveling, it might be more than just Christmas spirit. Travelers at Sea-Tac and dozens of other major airports across America are being scrutinized by teams of TSA behavior-detection officers specially trained to discern the subtlest suspicious behaviors. TSA officials will not reveal specific behaviors identified by the program -- called SPOT (Screening Passengers by Observation Technique) -- that are considered indicators of possible terrorist intent.

Foreign travelers will be required in the future to provide biometrics at airports when departing from the United States. Recently DHS officials testified before Congress that the department was moving forward with implementing US-VISIT biometric exit procedures at U.S. airports to improve national security. DHS plans to publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking before the end of calendar year 2007 outlining its plans to incorporate US-VISIT biometric exit procedures into travelers' airline check-in process. These security measures will accompany the biometrics already nescesary--fingerprints and a digital photograph--upon entering the United States.

A front page story in the June 13th issue of the Buffalo News had to have raised some eyebrows. The story entitled "Screening at Airport Sizing Up Behavior" revealed that as of mid-May, ten behavioral detection officers have been working at the airport.

PHOENIX – The Phoenix airport on Friday became the first in the United States to test new X-ray technology that can see through people’s clothes and show the body’s contours with blush-inducing clarity.

The Real ID Act was passed in the House of Representatives on Feb 10, 2005. It will require all citizens to prove their own identity in May of 2008. You must supply your birth certificate, photo id, verified social security number and identification that notes your full home address. It puts the burden on each state for licensing and other requirements, which according to the latest numbers will cost each state at least 11 billion dollars.