In the first of hopefully a continuing series, I would like to examine a piece of legislation in the US Congress that did not get much attention, but should have. With so much occurring on a daily basis, important items can be overlooked. This is especially true in Congress where only marathon C-Span viewers can truly be up to date.
The legislation I would like to bring to the Kos community is HR 559, or the Fair, Accurate, Secure and Timely Redress Act of 2009 (FAST Redress Act). In simpler terms, it is legislation to allow people incorrectly listed on the "no-fly watch list", a better method to get off of it. The legislation was introduced by Congresswoman Yvette Clarke from Brooklyn. It passed in early February by a vote of 413-3 with (from what I can see) very little notice from the traditional media. The only reason I even know about this piece of important legislation is because I have a friend who is wrongly included on the "no-fly" list.
Here is some more info from a Rep. Clarke press release:
Every day, thousands of innocent Americans are misidentified as terrorist suspects, causing them to be delayed, denied, or even detained when attempting to board an airplane, have access to their workplace, or interact with the government in any number of other ways. This occurs when a person’s name is similar to a name on the terrorist watchlist, a database that currently contains over 1.1 million entries.
H.R. 559, the FAST Redress Act, requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a redress process by creating a "comprehensive cleared list." Any individual who feels they have been misidentified as a terrorist suspect may voluntarily provide the government with personal information which can be used to determine that the person in question is not actually on the terrorist watchlist. That person is then added to the cleared list, allowing them the freedom that Americans have come to expect.
When doing research of the coverage, I did find a NYT editorial endorsing the legislation. The piece also mentions that the Senate should quickly take up the legislation. I know a month is about the equivalent of a day for our Congress, but why has the Senate not yet voted on such a slam-dunk piece of legislation??? If you think it is important to give folks an actual method to get off the no-fly list, I encourage you to call your Senators and ask the same question.