March 26, 2003
Letter to Senators Warner and Allen
and Representative Moran
Letter to Senators Warner and Allen
and Representative Moran
PO Box 8208
Alexandria, VA 22306-8208
March 26, 2003
The Honorable John William Warner
United States Senate
225 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-4601
The Honorable George F. Allen
United States Senate
204 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-4604
The Honorable James P. Moran
U.S House of Representatives
2239 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-4608
Dear Senators Warner and Allen and Representative Moran:
As your constituent and a frequent traveller, I am writing to urge you to oppose the CAPPS II program. I am deeply concerned that this program will create a permanent blacklist of Americans who cannot travel freely, and hinder the security at our nation’s airports.
I have read that innocent people have already been stopped and banned from flying because their name appeared on government “no fly” lists — and have been unable to clear their names in the federal bureaucracy. This national system would only increase the delays and blacklist even more innocent Americans – regular people traveling for work or vacations.
Terrorists will learn how to circumvent the system. Identity thieves could easily sidestep this check by presenting a false driver’s license or passport, undercutting the system’s entire mission. And the constant false alarms might divert the attention of airport security officers from legitimate threats to security.
If adopted, the most intrusive and dangerous element of the program – the construction of an infrastructure for conducting background checks and maintaining dossiers on people who fly – would depend on shadowy intelligence/law enforcement databases. The use of these secret databases would remove meaningful public oversight and control over these un-American background checks.
Once again, I urge you to oppose this invasive and untrustworthy system.
I look forward to hearing from you on this important matter.
Sincerely,
James Landrith
April 1, 2003
Mr. James Landrith
P.O. Box 8208
Alexandria, Virginia 22306-8208
Dear Mr. Landrith:
Thank you for contacting me regarding an airline passerger surveillance system, announced by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), to assess the background and potential threat of air travelers. I appreciate hearing your views on this matter.
As you may remember, Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, which was signed into law (P.L.107-71) by President Bush on November 19, 2001. The Act established a new Transportation Security Administration (TSA), responsible for the security of all modes of transportation.
TSA has implemented and continues to develop programs to ensure the physical safety of our nation’s travelers and aviation industry from terrorism. The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System II (CAPPS II), which you mentioned in your letter, is an automated screening system authorized by Congress. It is designed to assess the background and potential threat of everyone who makes a reservation to fly. The computer network will authenticate the identity of every passenger, match the name against a government watch list, and determine whether that person’s background and behavior constitute a terrorist threat.
I understand concerns regarding the privacy of air travelers, and CAPPS II is being designed with the utmost concern for the individual privacy rights of American citizens. It is a passive system activated by a traveler’s airline reservation request. When the system is implemented, airlines will begin asking passengers for a slightly expanded amount of reservation information: the passenger’s full name plus address, phone number and date of birth. This is the only public source information that TSA will collect for CAPPS II.
Please know that I will continue to monitor the development and implementation of CAPPS II. Should legislation regarding this matter come before Congress, I will be sure to consider your views. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
With kind regards, I am
Sincerely,
John Warner
JW/krw
May 2, 2003
Mr. James Landrith
PO Box 8208
Alexandria, Virginia 22306
Dear Mr. Landrith:
Thank you for contacting me on the issue of airport screening and the implementation of the Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening (CAPPS II) System. I appreciate your concern.
As you may know, a limited form of profiling has been employed by the Federal Aviation Administration for screening baggage and passengers since 1997. The original Computerized Assisted Passenger Pre-screening (CAPPS) System was intended to replace the traditional form of profiling which was more dependent on the discretion of individual airport security officers or airline personnel. Although the criteria used was never published, various reports have stated that having a Middle Eastern name or traveling to a country which sponsors terrorism (according to U.S. standards) may cause one to be singled out as a terrorist threat. Other criteria examined included when passengers bought their tickets, their method of payment and their travel histories.
While this program was in effect for several years, the air carriers and their airport screening operations didn’t always use the system. With passage of the “Aviation and Transportation Security Act,” (P.L. 107-71), the new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is working to employ the system at all airports and considering additional measures to improve airport security. The federal government assumed full responsibility for all airport screening as of November 19, 2002.
Late last year, TSA awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Management and Data Systems to assist in developing CAPPS II. TSA expects to test CAPPS II this spring and implement it throughout the U.S. commercial air travel system by the summer of 2004. Data used to perform the electronic pre-screening is limited to the same data airlines collect during the normal reservation and ticketing process. The information obtained will be matched with other commercial databases which are routinely used millions of times a day by private enterprises in connection with job candidates or market research and which are already subject to legal and privacy protections. As proposed, TSA will not see the data used to generate and electronically screen prospective passengers. Once a passenger’s travel is complete, the scoring information is supposed to be deleted.
As you note, critics have raised concerns that the electronic screening could result in some individuals with outstanding parking tickets or late credit card payments from being denied from flying. According to TSA, credit ratings, and outstanding parking tickets … “will not lead to enhanced scrutiny at the airport. The vast majority of passengers identified by CAPPS II should score “green” and need only normal screening, dramatically reducing the number of travelers who undergo additional screening at the security checkpoint. A small percentage of passengers with scores in the “yellow” range will need to have some additional scrutiny. Few of the close to two million passengers who fly each day will trigger “red,” blocking them from flying and drawing the attention of law enforcement.”
Once the CAPPS I system is developed, Congress and a vigilant public will need to properly manage this information. I believe that with additional time and effort a better balance can be found between concerns for improved safety and security and individual privacy and civil liberties. As Congress begins to exercise its oversight responsibilities over the actions of the new Transportation Security Administration, I will keep your concerns in mind.
For your consideration, I invite you to visit my new and updated website at http://www.house.gov/moran that contains information on topics that may be of interest. Thank you again for contacting me.
Yours truly,
James P. Moran
JPM/int1