Spokane7
33°
The House has voted 58-9 in favor of HB 573, legislation from Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, to restrict the use of full-body imaging for airport security in Idaho. Hart told the House, “It’s my opinion that the use of these devices to screen every individual … would be an unreasonable search of those persons.” He also said he was concerned that the scanners might not be safe. “What if they harm our bodies?,” he asked. “What if they’re not medically sound? What if they’re going to cause cancer sometime down the road?”
Rep. Branden Durst, D-Boise, spoke out against the bill, citing the Christmas Day incident in which a Nigerian national concealing explosives in his underwear attempted unsuccessfully to take down a U.S. airplane. “This is a national security issue,” Durst said. The bomber’s concealed explosives would have been detected by a full-body imaging scanner, Durst said. “It’s about maintaining security for the United States. … What’s more important to us, security or privacy?” Rep. Russ Mathews, R-Idaho Falls, backed the bill, saying Americans shouldn’t sacrifice freedoms in the name of security. The bill now moves to the Senate.
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WildWest on March 18 at 1:45 p.m.
Serious steps must be taken to protect the flying public and now Idaho GOP majority has determined the safety of Idahoans is not important.
Body scanners are not a silver bullet against terrorist threats, its apart of a comprehensive global strategy to prevent attacks. A free society must make difficult choices and balance the fundamental desire for freedom with the basic need for security.
Again Idahoans are at the mercy of paranoid rural legislators who use conservative rhetoric of fear to incite the uniformed that a machine will harm your rights.
If they oppose scanners what about The Patriot Act?
It certainly appears Republicans of Idaho not committed to keeping Idahoans and our state safe from attack.
PalouseDave on March 18 at 9:04 p.m.
Full body scanners will not protect the flying public anymore than a can of Raid protects you against a tsunami. These scanners only give the appearance of safety so that people will keep flying.
In Anchorage I observed a Saudi man dressed in traditional Saudi garb walk right through the security checkpoint. He was talking on his cell phone, had change and keys in the inside pocket of his garb and had his European style wallet in his right hand. He didn’t show a boarding pass or ID. He walked right past the security agent, a woman, who was supposed to check his ID and boarding pass. He walked right past everyone, walked right through the magnetometer, and exited the security area toward the gates. Not one single TSA agent batted an eyelash. As he walked past me I was in security with my bags taken apart, my shoes and belt removed and my clothes pulled apart for a security check.
At Dulles I was standing in line at the Arby’s inside security. As the line progressed, the manager moved through the line to change a toy display just ahead of me. The manager pulled a 6 inch serrated edge folding knife from his pocket. I asked him how he managed to get that knife through security when the rest of us had our bags taken apart. He immediately folded the knife, put it in his pocket and left the store. There were numerous TSA agents right next to us eating lunch in his restaurant and they didn’t even care.
Full body scanners do not enhance your flying safety. This is a good move for Idaho.
SamEdi on March 20 at 1:53 a.m.
Backscatter type scanners are not tested for long-term or frequent exposure, so TSA security officers should begin asking questions about working in the vicinity of the scanners. The Millimeter wave type scanners have never been tested for health effects in any way ever.
I remember President Bush explaining that the terrorists wanted to attack us because they didn’t like our was of life. So is this the way we fight terrorism? By giving up our rights and therefore a way of life? That sounds more like cowardly surrender to me. Especially when you consider that there were somewhere in the region of 3.5 billion commercial air passengers last year and ONE idiot with a dud explosive.
Oh, and the dud explosive I mentioned before was PETN, which the scanners do not pick up.
CMV on March 21 at 9:32 a.m.
Full body scanners will NOT protect us from terrorism. Seeing all passengers naked (whether or not they destroy the image) is very wrong. It violates article 12 of the International Bill of Human Rights and the 4th Amendment. I’m not a criminal and therefore I should not be treated like one when I fly.
Why are we allowing this???? There are non-invasive methods to detect hidden explosives, guns, etc. Additionally, there’s no research that shows that the scanners are safe for people who fly frequently in the long run. Sure, they made their “assessment”, but assessments are not based on facts. Also, people who do your x-ray at a hospital has an x-ray licence. Apparently, the TSA workers operating the scanners have “additional training.” That’s SO scary and unnaceptable to me.
It really enfuriates me how the media is trying to manipulate the opinion of all of us by smiling while giving the news about the scanners, showing people that say is no big deal, etc, showing manipulated polls, etc. Don’t fall for it!
Anyway…. Who is getting a financial gain out of the scanners? Think about it!