Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said Sunday that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was not in line with the Constitution and that the government should not assume the responsibility for providing security for airlines.
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, the Republican presidential candidate said the TSA undermines Americans’ civil liberties by forcing airline passengers into searches in order to board their flights.
“It totally voids the concept of the 4th Amendment,” Paul said. “It doesn’t make us safe. It undermines our liberties.”
The congressman noted he voted against the Department of Homeland Security, which he called a “bureaucratic monster.” Paul said government shouldn’t be responsible for providing security for the airlines.
“It shouldn’t be government,” Paul said. “The people who protect very dangerous chemical plants, they’re private sources. … The assumption that the government has to do this is the wrong assumption.”
Last week, Paul’s son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), had an incident with the TSA.
Rand reportedly set off an alarm when he went through a scanner at the Nashville airport. The senator wanted to go through the machine again and refused to undergo a pat down. He said that led to him being detained by the TSA, but the agency denies that.
Paul subsequently passed through another scanner without an alarm and was able to board a later flight to Washington, D.C.
(Source: The Hill)
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4 Responses
1. The airports are often government owned (albeit by state and local governments)
2. Virtually all airports are devoted to interstate commerce
3. The current security concerns are directed against foreign enemies, the defense against which is a totally Federal responsibility
4. No one is required to use an airport. Once can take trains, buses or cars. One can drive to Canada or Mexico to take a flight, or one can use a private airplane.
Until 9-11, airport security was managed by the airports. What benefit was there in moving these functions to the federal gov’t and creating a huge agency (TSA)?
The functions could have been kept local with federal standards.
For an “anti-big government” group, it’s amazing how many things were federalized in the previous administration.
To akuperma – he means it is not the federal goverment’s job – the Constitution limits federal power, States and Municipalities have the right to make a TSA if they wish, as do private companies, but the federal government is not supposed to be that strong according to the Constitution.
Protecting the borders and the airways (which are interstate)is certainly the Federal government’s job. Whether a new agency is needed or it can be done by the FBI is another matter.