Tell TSA to Provide Passenger Advocates
- van: Concerned Citizens
- ontvanger: Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano and TSA Administrator John Pistole
The Transportation Security Administration recently issued a letter of apology to two elderly women who filed complaints against TSA employees.
Lenore Zimmerman, 85, was taken to a private room, where she had to remove her pants and other clothes after she asked to forgo screening, which she feared would interfere with her defibrillator. Ruth Sherman, 89, was also asked to remove her pants so that screeners could inspect her colostomy bag. Both of these incidents are violations of TSA policy.
Passengers shouldn't fear humiliation and degradation at the hands of TSA employees. If the screening crews included trained passenger advocates, travelers could ask for advocates to intervene when they feel they are being inappropriately searched.
Sign now to urge Homeland Security and the TSA to provide on-site passenger advocates to help protect vulnerable travelers from further indignities.
We the undersigned urge you to provide on-site passenger advocates as members of all TSA screening crews. After the indignities suffered by Lenore Zimmerman and Ruth Sherman, two elderly women who were searched in violation of TSA policy, we believe it is particularly important to protect vulnerable travelers from further indignities. Passengers shouldn't fear humiliation and degradation at the hands of TSA employees. We therefore call on you to train passenger advocates who can intervene when travelers feel they are being inappropriately searched.
