TSA's 'reverse screening' the ultimate in insane policy

So you thought the TSA strip searches of granny in the wheelchair, or the infant that received special screening made your eyes roll and blood boil when trying to board a commercial flight?

The folks that brought you X-Ray vision in the past most recently wanted to try what amounts to “on you honor” boarding of passengers at some airports.

But this time Congress was able to cross that great divide that stymies so much on Capitol Hill and have at least liftoff for the Treating Small Airports with Fairness Act bill recently passed unanimously in the U.S. House of Representatives. A companion bill made its way through the Senate.

TSA is lesser known by its real name, the Transportation Security Administration, and is part of the Department of Homeland Security. They work — and so far have done a great job — to keep us safe in our daily lives following the attacks of 9-11.

Their screening operations have requested $3.7 billion for the 2016 budget, but could not find a way to staff small airports such as in Klamath Falls, Ore. and Sheridan, Wyo. with enough rubber gloves and X-ray equipment. So they came up with the novel idea of “reverse screening.”

What this means is if you wanted to fly to Portland from the Crater Lake Klamath Regional Airport in southern Oregon, all you had to do was say you were not carrying any firearms or explosives.

Or in my case in 2006, a previously opened bottle of Irish Whiskey that I had hoped to take with me to Hawaii. I was not a savvy traveler then — or now for that matter — and innocently put the jug in my carry-on where the TSA people found it, told me to send it via checked luggage.

But that’s an entirely different story for another time, maybe like the enormous safety pin that was once used before lanyards for media credentials. It made it all the way to Maui in 2012

Oregon Congressman Greg Walden, R-Hood River, one of the authors of the recent bi-partisan bill, recently conducted an interview on Portland radio station KXL and offered an enlightening take on what TSA had in mind.

He was stunned they would even consider this “workaround” considering its potential for disaster. Reverse screening allowed passengers to board a plane, fly to Portland, deplane and bus to be screened before boarding another flight.

Problem is, these unscreened passengers are already inside a secure areas of the respective airports.

“This flies in the face of the whole reason we have TSA, to make sure nobody gets on a plane that wants to do ill and harm,” Walden said. “So we fought back with legislation.” The bill, a joint effort of the Senate with Oregon’s Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley.

There are areas where reverse screening would be OK, Walden said. ”They do it is some remote areas of Alaska, maybe in a situation like that because you are not on the lower-48; there may be unique situations in some very remote areas where that happens.”

But aside from being a regional airport, Klamath Falls also home to training for Oregon Air National Guard F-15 pilots. While a longshot, as it seems most terrorism targets are, what sitting ducks.

One of the many ironies that Walden pointed out was Muslim-extremists were busted prior to 9-11 attempting to establish a terrorism training area near Klamath Falls.

When this legislation got the traction its authors hoped, TSA indicated they would end the practice — or so they say. But as a fallback, Walden still wants the teeth of the law to follow closely on the behinds of the TSA, just in case.

“While it’s not in law yet, I think we should go ahead and do that,” Walden said. “My guess is they (TSA) don’t want it in statute which is why I think we should go ahead and put it in one.”

Any agency that uses such lame logic in the first place should not have a way to return to their old ways. Washington, D.C. can easily take away what they give you, Walden said. “They don’t always follow the law.”

Or have a lick of common sense.