HCR 8: Urging the Transportation Security Administration to reconsider its use of pat-down search procedures adopted on October 28, 2010, and to conduct pat-down searches using less invasive but equally effective procedures; and urging the United States Congress to exercise greater oversight of the Transportation Security Administration.
00 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 8 01 Urging the Transportation Security Administration to reconsider its use of pat-down 02 search procedures adopted on October 28, 2010, and to conduct pat-down searches 03 using less invasive but equally effective procedures; and urging the United States 04 Congress to exercise greater oversight of the Transportation Security Administration. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS efficient air travel is a cornerstone of Alaska's economy and quality of 07 life, and no one should have to sacrifice their dignity in order to travel; and 08 WHEREAS many Alaskans can access urban centers only by air travel; and 09 WHEREAS Alaska is not adjacent to any other state, and those who want to travel by 10 land to another state must travel through another country, which requires a passport; and 11 WHEREAS, as a result of a change in nationwide policy, the Transportation Security 12 Administration, on October 28, 2010, began implementing new pat-down procedures that 13 involve a more intrusive, full-body search, during which Transportation Security 14 Administration personnel make inappropriate physical contact with sensitive or private areas 15 of the body; and
01 WHEREAS the Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the federal 02 government charged with protecting the nation's transportation systems to ensure freedom of 03 movement for people and commerce; and 04 WHEREAS the Transportation Security Administration is responsible for screening 05 airline passengers and personnel for weapons, explosives, and other contraband that pose a 06 threat to airport security and is responsible for the safety of the general public; and 07 WHEREAS current Transportation Security Administration screening policy involves 08 airline passengers and personnel passing through advanced-image technology scanners or 09 undergoing a pat-down search administered by Transportation Security Administration 10 employees, or both; and 11 WHEREAS the advanced-image technology scanners used by the Transportation 12 Security Administration capture images that depict the shape and outline of a person's full 13 body as it appears underneath the person's clothing; and 14 WHEREAS, finding advanced-image technology scanners to be overly invasive, 15 many airline passengers and personnel choose the option of undergoing a pat-down search; 16 and 17 WHEREAS the new procedures are offensive and humiliating to many individuals on 18 whom they are imposed and are egregious whether imposed in public or private; and 19 WHEREAS, for survivors of physical and sexual abuse, invasive physical searches 20 may cause revictimization; and 21 WHEREAS, for individuals with medical conditions, including those with 22 prosthetics, joint replacements, drainage tubes, pacemakers, or other physical evidence related 23 to a medical condition, invasive physical searches may be particularly traumatic and 24 demeaning, may cause physical harm, and may endanger the person's health; and 25 WHEREAS reports have indicated that, in some instances, overzealous 26 Transportation Security Administration employees have carried out the new procedures in a 27 manner sufficiently aggressive to rise to the level of an inappropriate invasion of personal 28 privacy from which an individual would ordinarily be protected under the laws of Alaska; and 29 WHEREAS travelers who refuse the new screening procedures are not free to 30 proceed beyond security checkpoints to continue their travel; and 31 WHEREAS encouraging travel by ensuring the right of individuals to move about
01 without fear of undue invasions of privacy is essential to preserving a free society, 02 safeguarding the flow of commerce, and promoting and sustaining goodwill among nations; 03 and 04 WHEREAS the advanced-image technology scanners and new pat-down search 05 procedures may discourage air travel, causing significant economic and personal hardship to 06 Alaskans; 07 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Transportation 08 Security Administration to reconsider the new pat-down search procedures that were adopted 09 on October 28, 2010, and adopt less invasive but equally effective procedures; and be it 10 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 11 Congress to exercise a greater degree of oversight of the Transportation Security 12 Administration, including investigation of policies that may violate the privacy rights of law- 13 abiding individuals and a scientific study of the harmful effects of full-body scanning. 14 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 15 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 16 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Janet A. Napolitano, United States Secretary of 17 Homeland Security; the Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 18 Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John 19 Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, 20 Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable John S. Pistole, 21 Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration; and the Honorable Lisa 22 Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, 23 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.