Kucinich, Lee slam proposed screening
Originally published in the Oakland Tribune
Kucinich, Lee slam proposed screening
Passenger plan described as a dangerous step toward Big Brother
By Sean Holstege, STAFF WRITER
Rep. Barbara Lee and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich are urging Congress to halt government tests on a color-coded airline passenger screening system called CAPPS II.
The proposed system has been controversial because it would identify every traveler by running background criminal and financial checks before they board a plane. A government computer would cross-check that information against the latest counter-terrorism intelligence and federal watchlists to flag passengers who might pose a risk to aviation.
Reps. Kucinich, D-Ohio, and Lee, D-Oakland, began circulating a letter last week to stop the tests, which have cost an estimated $100 million so far. Kucinich told the Tribune Friday he is trying to raise awareness of a program he calls a first step toward Big Brother in a Congress he says is largely unaware.
The CAPPS II program came under renewed attack last month when the public learned that Northwest Airlines had shared millions of passenger records with NASA, making it the second airline in a year to divulge personal, financial and travel information to a federal agency.
In a letter to be sent this week to the Transportation Security Administration's top official, Rear Adm. David Stone, Lee, Kucinich and 14 other co-signers, including two Republicans, questioned the effectiveness of CAPPS II and pondered what they called threats to civil liberties.
"Members of Congress and the public have no real assurances that the system will not rely upon medical, religious, political or racial data in the creation of a person's risk assessment," lawmakers wrote, adding, "individuals singled out by the program will have no way of knowing why they have been targeted. They will not know if they are victims of a technical inaccuracy or falsely accused."
CAPPS II architects insist that the program will instantly purge all data after each assessment and no private records will be stored by the government.
Currently, one traveler in seven is flagged by an outdated system that cannot effectively identify people. The TSA says it will only ask each traveler for his name, birthdate, address and phone number because today the government doesn't know who is flying.
The Department of Homeland Security has created a privacy officer, who would handle complaints and clear names.
Lawmakers noted that passenger screening has already been broadened to snare violent criminals, and, raising the specter of CAPPS II morphing into a sinister domestic snooping tool, urged "that the program be suspended indefinitely until these serious concerns are addressed."
In a recent interview, Lee said: "This is a very dangerous time and there is a lot of potential for abuse. CAPPS II allows the government to invade our privacy. There's no end to this."
When asked, Kucinich did not offer any ideas of how to stop terrorists boarding planes less intrusively, but questioned government motives.
"This administration has forfeited the trust of the public. They take us into a war based on a lie, now they say we're just gathering this information to see who's in the planes. Oh really? This is a breakdown of trust that goes far beyond Watergate," Kucinich said.
"There is concern across the political spectrum about Big Brother coming to town. We are rapidly becoming a national security state, where individual liberties and privacy are sacrificed in the name of fighting terrorism," he said.
"Fortunately, the Bay Area has a congressional delegation that is very aware of the challenge," Kucinich said.
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