Submitted Comments

274. 22 October 2004, 11:01:51 AM PST

When I grew up we were taught the USA was a free country and only 'evil' countries like the USSR or Nazi germany required "your papers" to travel. We were taught we had rights of freedom and privacy. People should be able to travel within the USA anomymously, at any time, on one way tickets, and paid for in cash, if we so choose. Please stop treating all travelers like terrorists. People don't need their identity questioned, just keep the bombs and guns off the plane, the reinforced cockpit door and the other passengers will keep 9/11 from ever recurring. Please don't put our travel records in any database.

273. From Neil G, Colorado Springs, CO, 22 October 2004, 11:01:37 AM PST

Tracking our citizens is in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. It does *not* make us "safer". TSA has a disturbing record of handling these private records in the past and there is little or no evidence that they are protecting me or my country with this information.

271. From Erik M, Chapel Hill, NC, 22 October 2004, 10:33:31 AM PST

Internal borders are being created and we have an ever growing mess on our hands. use this money for proven safety measures instead of a system fraught with errors and abuses of privacy.

270. From George V, Westminster, CO, 22 October 2004, 10:32:55 AM PST

Please, take a look at what you are doing and where - we all live in the United States, an up untik-recently respected leader in democracy around the world. Yet as of late we have been instituting laws more fit for a totalitarian communist or facsist state than a democracy. People have lost their civil liberties, their trust for one another, and much of their hope that this world is changing for the better. Don´t be like the rest of the administration in working to create laws which help no one and harm everyone. Give us our civil rights back instead of massively mislabeling many of us for no good reason. This is America, after all.

269. From William M, Gig Harbor, WA, 22 October 2004, 10:20:27 AM PST

The "Clear Skies Initiative" allowed pollution levels to increase, the "Healthy Forests Act" allowed clear-cutting of old growth forests and "No Child Left Behind" has stripped Federal funding from local schools.

Now comes "Secure Flight," another euphemistically-titled program that will do exactly the opposite of what it professes.

When did the government get permission to prevent US citizens from freely moving around the country? I am all for making the skies safe, but we have much larger security holes than this one.

Before we opt for a police state, let's spend our time and money on things we know will work like cargo screening and better training for TSA personnel.

268. From Tim S, Aurora, IL, 22 October 2004, 10:16:57 AM PST

If the TSA is to protect our airplanes, then they should--not be the window dressing joke they are today. If we want to capture the bad guys (like terrorists), we should establish some Bureau of Investigation at the Federal level to find and capture the bad guys. For the bad guys not in the U.S., we should establish some Central Intelligence Agency to help find the international bad guys.

The TSA should be tasked to ensure no bombs/explosives get on our planes, nor any guns or actual weapons (like real knives, not tiny pocket knives) get into our planes via carry-on. They should not care who we are, where we are from, or where we are going. For instance, my son and I should be able to go through security at our local airport just to watch the planes land and take off (i.e., have no tickets for traveling, and no need to show ID).

The TSA should not get any passenger information, whether for testing (as they want to do with passenger information from June 2004) or for actual usage of the stalinistic "Secure Flight". One last point: even the terrorists of 9/11 infamy had legitimate-looking ID's, credit cards, and frequent flier cards--would they be "red-flagged" by "Secure Flight"?

267. From Tim S, Aurora, IL, 22 October 2004, 10:16:47 AM PST

If the TSA is to protect our airplanes, then they should--not be the window dressing joke they are today. If we want to capture the bad guys (like terrorists), we should establish some Bureau of Investigation at the Federal level to find and capture the bad guys. For the bad guys not in the U.S., we should establish some Central Intelligence Agency to help find the international bad guys.

The TSA should be tasked to ensure no bombs/explosives get on our planes, nor any guns or actual weapons (like real knives, not tiny pocket knives) get into our planes via carry-on. They should not care who we are, where we are from, or where we are going. For instance, my son and I should be able to go through security at our local airport just to watch the planes land and take off (i.e., have no tickets for traveling, and no need to show ID).

The TSA should not get any passenger information, whether for testing (as they want to do with passenger information from June 2004) or for actual usage of the stalinistic "Secure Flight". One last point: even the terrorists of 9/11 infamy had legitimate-looking ID's, credit cards, and frequent flier cards--would they be "red-flagged" by "Secure Flight"?

266. From Andre C, 22 October 2004, 10:16:07 AM PST

I am a person who has never flown but I have thought about doing so next year to get to my vacation destination. Programs such as those currently being circulated through the Congress and Senate would make me choose to drive instead. I do not need the hassle of a system which has shown its flaws so amazingly well (Senator Ted Kennedy)!

I am an American citizen and therefore believe in my rights to personal privacy no matter what The Patriot Act or this increasingly fascist and corrupt government says. I am tired of being guilty until proven innocent; in this light I feel that this system is an extension thereof. The recent trend in using scare tactics, are below the ideals that this country is touted to have. Further more, I do not think that the American people should have to pay for this decrease in their personal privacy or the furthering of an agenda which we have not been able to make decisions on as is the right of every citizen in this country.

Think about what Superman�s motto was; TRUTH, JUSTICE and the AMERICAN WAY. While Superman might be a fictional character, he was written to exemplify what America and its people are and should be about. I can see very little truth or justice in this country currently; and the American way seems to be; �do unto others before they do it to you�.

I would urge you to reconsider this system and its use against the American people. Also remember this; the American people have a history of fighting for what they believe in and when they have been wronged. This county is great because of the freedoms that we have and can feel while traveling.

Thank You for Your Time.

265. From P K, Santa Clara, Ca, 22 October 2004, 10:12:43 AM PST

It has become obvious the the TSA is afraid of the American citizen. Therefore the TSA will do everything possible to protect the corporate interests from the citizens who fly on the nations airways. The TSA has adopted powers far greater than the Constitution allows and likely the Courts would allow, were they able to rule on them.

264. From Fred L, St. Louis, MO, 22 October 2004, 09:58:58 AM PST

I traveled for business on a plane in the month of June. For that, I am rewarded by having you invade my privacy without my permission, collect financial data that you will turn over to a private, unsecured, contractor which now opens me and my family up to identity theft and possible financial ruin. In addition, I could end up on a watch list because of your, or your contractor's, errors and with what seems to be no recourse in resolving that possible situation. Instead of taking my tax dollars to invade and rape my privacy, why aren't you using them to invest in equipment that will screen cargo and mail instead of just luggage. How about trying to put in place a better system to match luggage point-to-point? You know, doing something that DOES make me feel more secure when I travel. One last thing...why do you need more records to run your little test? Didn't you collect enough within the last two years from American Airlines and Jet Blue? That invasion of privacy - I mean data - is less than 2 years old and wouldn't it be good enough...it is after all only a test, right??? The last time I checked, this is still America and I am an American. You need to stop abusing people and their privacy rights under the guise of "Security".


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